While there are many books on blockchains, this guide focuses on blockchain applications for business. The target audience is business students, professionals, and managers who want to learn about the overall blockchain landscape -- the investments, the size of markets, major players and the global reach -- as well as the potential business value of blockchain applications and the challenges that must be overcome to achieve that value. We present use cases and derive action principles for building enterprise blockchain capabilities. Readers will learn enough about the underlying technologies to speak intelligently to technology experts in the space, as the guide also covers the blockchain protocols, code bases and provides a glossary of terms. We use this guide as the textbook for our undergraduate and graduate Blockchain Fundamentals course at the University of Arkansas. Other professors interested in adopting this guide for instructional purposes are welcome to contact the author for supporting instructional materials.

Learn the foundations of blockchain technology - its core concepts and algorithmic solutions across cryptography, peer-to-peer technology, and game theory. Key FeaturesLearn the core concepts and foundations of the blockchain and cryptocurrenciesUnderstand the protocols and algorithms behind decentralized applicationsMaster how to architect, build, and optimize blockchain applicationsBook Description Blockchain technology is a combination of three popular concepts: cryptography, peer-to-peer networking, and game theory. This book is for anyone who wants to dive into blockchain from first principles and learn how decentralized applications and cryptocurrencies really work. This book begins with an overview of blockchain technology, including key definitions, its purposes and characteristics, so you can assess the full potential of blockchain. All essential aspects of cryptography are then presented, as the backbone of blockchain. For readers who want to study the underlying algorithms of blockchain, you’ll see Python implementations throughout. You’ll then learn how blockchain architecture can create decentralized applications. You’ll see how blockchain achieves decentralization through peer-to-peer networking, and how a simple blockchain can be built in a P2P network. You’ll learn how these elements can implement a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, and the wider applications of blockchain work through smart contracts. Blockchain optimization techniques, and blockchain security strategies are then presented. To complete this foundation, we consider blockchain applications in the financial and non-financial sectors, and also analyze the future of blockchain. A study of blockchain use cases includes supply chains, payment systems, crowdfunding, and DAOs, which rounds out your foundation in blockchain technology. What you will learnThe core concepts and technical foundations of blockchainThe algorithmic principles and solutions that make up blockchain and cryptocurrenciesBlockchain cryptography explained in detailHow to realize blockchain projects with hands-on Python codeHow to architect the blockchain and blockchain applicationsDecentralized application development with MultiChain, NEO, and EthereumOptimizing and enhancing blockchain performance and securityClassical blockchain use cases and how to implement themWho this book is for This book is for anyone who wants to dive into blockchain technology from first principles and build a foundational knowledge of blockchain. Familiarity with Python will be helpful if you want to follow how the blockchain protocols are implemented. For readers who are blockchain application developers, most of the applications used in this book can be executed on any platform.

This monograph provides a comprehensive and rigorous exposition of the basic concepts and most important modern research results concerning blockchain and its applications. The book includes the required cryptographic fundamentals underpinning the blockchain technology, since understanding of the concepts of cryptography involved in the design of blockchain is necessary for mastering the security guarantees furnished by blockchain. It also contains an introduction to cryptographic primitives, and separate chapters on bitcoin, ethereum and smart contracts, public blockchain, private blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain applications.This volume is of great interest to active researchers who are keen to develop novel applications of blockchain in the field of their investigatio. Further, it is also beneficial for industry practitioners as well as undergraduate students in computing and information technology.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of fundamental topics related to blockchain. Throughout, the authors explore different vital issues and specific areas of blockchain. For convenience, the authors present the elementary description, visualize the working procedure of blockchain paradigm, and highlight the areas it can be applied in real life. They explain the blockchain process from a diverse perspective i.e. distributed Internet of Things (IoT), interdependent networks, intelligent mining, etc. They also analyze the interconnection of a blockchain network and such novel research areas to show a pathway towards a new research direction. This book also holds the core challenges and open research issues of blockchain technology, considering existing applications. Chapters include consensus mechanisms of blockchain, blockchain applicability in centralized and decentralized internet of things, blockchain interoperability from the perspective of interdependent networks, and blockchain for resource-constrained devices. Specifies the importance of theoretical methods in dealing with problems in the context of blockchain for interdependent decision making; Provides a comprehensive investigation of blockchain algorithms and the recently developed methods based on this algorithm; Provides basics and mathematical foundations needed to learn and deploy blockchain.

Blockchain is the most disruptive technology to emerge in the last decade. The evolution of cryptocurrencies has carried with it a revolution in digital economics that has catapulted the application of blockchain technology to a new level across a variety of industries, including banking, security, networking, and more. Blockchain Technology and Computational Excellence for Society 5.0 closes the gap in existing literature by presenting a selection of chapters that not only shape the research domain, but also present supportive real-life problems and pragmatic solutions. This book presents a variety of highly relevant themes, concepts, and applications in blockchain, discussing topics such as cyber security, digital currencies, and intelligent networks, fueling awareness and interest. With its insight into various platforms, techniques, and tools, this book serves as a valuable resource for academicians, researchers, research scholars, postgraduates, professors, computer scientists, and technology enthusiasts.

How the blockchain—a system built on foundations of mutual mistrust—can become trustworthy The blockchain entered the world on January 3, 2009, introducing an innovative new trust architecture: an environment in which users trust a system—for example, a shared ledger of information—without necessarily trusting any of its components. The cryptocurrency Bitcoin is the most famous implementation of the blockchain, but hundreds of other companies have been founded and billions of dollars have been invested in similar applications since Bitcoin’s launch. Some see the blockchain as offering more opportunities for criminal behavior than benefits to society. In this book, Kevin Werbach shows how a technology resting on foundations of mutual mistrust can become trustworthy. The blockchain, built on open software and decentralized foundations that allow anyone to participate, seems like a threat to any form of regulation. In fact, Werbach argues, law and the blockchain need each other. Blockchain systems that ignore law and governance are likely to fail, or to become outlaw technologies irrelevant to the mainstream economy. That, Werbach cautions, would be a tragic waste of potential. If, however, we recognize the blockchain as a kind of legal technology that shapes behavior in new ways, it can be harnessed to create tremendous business and social value.

Build decentralized applications using BlockchainÕs core technology Ê KEY FEATURESÊÊ _ Explore the engineering mechanism of Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Ethereum. _ Know-how of peer-to-peer networks, IPFS, and decentralised databases. _ Explore the working of DApps and build your own blockchain app. DESCRIPTIONÊÊ Blockchain is a revolutionary technology that shook the core of the finance world. However, Blockchain is not just about Cryptocurrency. This book focuses on Blockchain, its features, and the core technologies that are used to build the Blockchain network. In the first section, you will learn about Blockchain in-depth. Then, the book covers the two most popular Cryptocurrencies - Bitcoin and Ethereum. You will learn how these currencies work and how you can build your applications using these currencies. Moving on, you will learn about the decentralized databases. Decentralized databases can be used to build next-generation software applications. You will learn about various databases and how to use them in detail. Lastly, you will learn how the existing decentralized applications work, their architecture, and how they are incorporated into the application for the end-user. WHAT YOU WILLÊ LEARN _ Learn to build your own P2P network. _ Cutting-edge coverage on how cryptocurrency works. _ Learn smart techniques to develop your own DApps on Ethereum platform. _ Learn to use decentralized databases including OrbitDB. WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR This book is for anyone who wants to become a Blockchain developer or wants to build an application using Blockchain. Full stack developers, software engineers, web programmers, and beginners who are interested in Blockchain can find this book a true handy guide to begin their career in Blockchain.Ê TABLE OF CONTENTSÊÊ 1. Introduction to Blockchain and decentralized network 2. Ethereum, Smart Contracts and DApps 3. Interplanetary file system 4. OrbitDB - Peer to peer distributed database 5. BigchainDB 6. TiesDB 7. BluZelle 8. Amazon QLDB 9. OpenBazaar 10. DTube 11. Ocean protocol