Book Image

Blockchain for Decision Makers

By : Romain Tormen
Book Image

Blockchain for Decision Makers

By: Romain Tormen

Overview of this book

In addition to cryptocurrencies, blockchain-based apps are being developed in different industries such as banking, supply chain, and healthcare to achieve digital transformation and enhance user experience. Blockchain is not only about Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies, but also about different technologies such as peer-to-peer networks, consensus mechanisms, and cryptography. These technologies together help sustain trustless environments in which digital value can be transferred between individuals without intermediaries. This book will help you understand the basics of blockchain such as consensus protocols, decentralized applications, and tokenization. You'll focus on how blockchain is used today in different industries and the technological challenges faced while implementing a blockchain strategy. The book also enables you, as a decision maker, to understand blockchain from a technical perspective and evaluate its applicability in your business. Finally, you'll get to grips with blockchain frameworks such as Hyperledger and Quorum and their usability. By the end of this book, you'll have learned about the current use cases of blockchain and be able to implement a blockchain strategy on your own.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
Title Page

Cryptography

We talked about cryptography and hash functions in the first chapter where we defined what it was:

It is a mathematical function where, knowing the output, it is almost impossible to find the correct input. But knowing the input of the function, it is very easy to find the correct output. This is made possible because a hash function always returns the same output for the same input.

A hash is a result of a mathematical function that is a transformation applied to an input that generates an output. Y = f(x) is a mathematical function where x is the input and Y is the output.

In mathematical terms, we have the following:

"Knowing Y, it is almost impossible to find x. But knowing x, it is very easy to find Y."

The hash function is essential to make information and transactions secured along the blockchain.

There are basic properties around a hash function...