In this first chapter of the second part of the book, I have covered three fundamental concepts of a blockchain—assets, transactions, and hashes. I explained that one of the main purposes of the blockchain is transferring valuable assets using a shared ledger and compared it with the current solution of keeping separate digital records in an Excel of central database.
In the section about transactions, I covered how these assets are transferred from one to another entity using a managed peer-to-peer network. I explained that assets are recorded in a transaction on the blockchain in a digital shared ledger that holds the full history of the assets transferred, and which is distributed to each entity that is part of the blockchain, so that each entity has the same truth.
I went through some examples of transferring assets, including cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Litecoin, but also more interesting assets such as real-world goods, and financial products. I covered how the structure...