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

Real-world applications

Ethereum has proven its usefulness several times in the past few years through successful applications, and has already disrupted some business models. One of the most interesting ones is slock.it (https://slock.it/). This is an application founded by Stephan Tual and the Jentzsch brothers in 2015, aiming to create an infrastructure for a better sharing economy.

Using Ethereum's blockchain, slock.it is willing to link any kind of physical object to a smart contract to allow anybody to use the object. An example often used by the founders is the renting of a flat. With slock.it, you can link your door lock to a smart contract, enabling someone who wants to rent your flat to pay the price linked to the smart contract, which will automatically unlock the door. This setup eliminates a trusted third party that you would usually have to...