Concepts of Blockchain

This book provides a detailed insight of the concepts, mechanics, functions, governance, and real-world applications of the blockchain technology. The book is divided into ten chapters – Introduction, Blockchain History, Blockchain Mechanics, Blockchain Functions, Blockchain Governance, Blockchain in Real World, Blockchain based cryptocurrency – Bitcoin, Blockchain based cryptocurrency – Ethereum, Blockchain Platforms, and Future of Blockchain.
We start with an overview of blockchain in the ‘Introduction’ chapter. In the next chapter, we study brief history if internet (Web 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0). We look at blockchain history and how blockchain technology has change the internet from information exchange to value exchange. The we study Blockchain Mechanics wherein we understand the key features of blockchain like cryptography, transparency, immutability, and disintermediation effect. In the next chapter “Blockchain Functions”, we go deeper to understand how blockchain functions, gain an understanding of smart contracts, blockchain security, types of blockchain and their transaction flow, and the consensus protocol. In the next chapter “Blockchain Governance”, we look at the how blockchain is governed and how it enables anonymity of users. Now, once we have the understanding of blockchain concepts and ecosystem, we look at the real world applications of blockchain like cryptocurrencies, decentralized finance (DeFI), and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). Then we look at blockchain based currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum in the context of blockchain, and how blockchain has enabled them to become an alternative to the centralized banking system. In the next chapter “Blockchain Platforms”, we look at key blockchain platforms like IBM, Hyperledger, and Corda. In the final chapter, we study the key use cases of blockchain, and conclude by discussing the future of blockchain technology.