Emerging technologies such as blockchain and AI have reached the pinnacle of visibility, acceptance, and also some speculation from various academics and industry experts. With a common aim to reduce operational inefficiency and add transparency, these two emerging technologies are now in great demand. From disruptive start-ups to large-scale enterprises, everyone is racing toward the opportunity to become a leader in blockchain- and AI-based solutions. This book aims to prepare you for the next leap of convergence of these two technologies and guide you to become technically capable of building these solutions.

This chapter provides a brief overview of the current blockchain landscape. The key topics covered in this chapter are as follows:

• Blockchain versus distributed ledger technology versus distributed databases
• Public versus private versus permissioned blockchain
• Privacy in blockchains
• Understanding Bitcoin
• Introduction to Ethereum
• Introduction to Hyperledger
• Other blockchain platforms – Hashgraph, Corda, and IOTA
• Consensus algorithms
• Building DApps with blockchain tools