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

Summary

This chapter started with an introduction to Bitcoin and explained how a transaction works from the user's point of view. Then, an introduction to transactions from a technical point of view was presented. After this, the public and private keys used in Bitcoin were discussed. In the next section, we introduced addresses and their different types, followed by a discussion on transactions and their types and usage.

Following on from this, we looked at blockchain, with a detailed explanation of how blockchain works and the various components included in the Bitcoin blockchain. In the last few sections of the chapter, mining processes and relevant concepts such as hardware systems, their limitations, and bitcoin rewards were introduced.

In the next chapter, we will examine concepts related to the Bitcoin network, its elements, and client software tools.