Book Image

Mastering Blockchain - Third Edition

By : Imran Bashir
Book Image

Mastering Blockchain - Third Edition

By: Imran Bashir

Overview of this book

Blockchain is the backbone of cryptocurrencies, with applications in finance, government, media, and other industries. With a legacy of providing technologists with executable insights, this new edition of Mastering Blockchain is thoroughly revised and updated to the latest blockchain research with four new chapters on consensus algorithms, Serenity (the update that will introduce Ethereum 2.0), tokenization, and enterprise blockchains. This book covers the basics, including blockchain’s technical underpinnings, cryptography and consensus protocols. It also provides you with expert knowledge on decentralization, decentralized application development on Ethereum, Bitcoin, alternative coins, smart contracts, alternative blockchains, and Hyperledger. Further, you will explore blockchain solutions beyond cryptocurrencies such as the Internet of Things with blockchain, enterprise blockchains, tokenization using blockchain, and consider the future scope of this fascinating and disruptive technology. By the end of this book, you will have gained a thorough comprehension of the various facets of blockchain and understand their potential in diverse real-world scenarios.
Table of Contents (24 chapters)
23
Index

Tokenization

A token is a representation of an object. We use tokens in many different fields, including economics and computing. In daily life, tokens have been used to represent something of value, such as a gift voucher that is redeemable in exchange for items. In computing, different types of tokens are used, which can be defined as objects that represent eligibility to perform some operation. For example, an access token is used to identify a user and its privileges on a computer system. A hardware security token is used in computer systems to provide a means to authenticate a user (verify their identity) to a computer system. Tokens are also used in computer security mechanisms to substitute sensitive data with non-sensitive equivalents to prevent direct access to sensitive information. For example, in mobile payment systems, tokens are used to safeguard credit card information, which is represented by a token on the mobile device instead of the actual credit card data...