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

Extended protocols on top of Bitcoin

Several protocols, as discussed in the following sections, have been proposed and implemented on top of Bitcoin to enhance and extend the Bitcoin protocol, as well as to be used for various other purposes instead of just as a virtual currency.

Colored coins

Colored coins are a set of methods that have been developed to represent digital assets on the Bitcoin blockchain. Coloring a bitcoin refers colloquially to updating it with some metadata representing a digital asset (smart property). The coin still works and operates as a Bitcoin, but additionally carries some metadata that represents some assets. This can be some information related to the asset, some calculations related to transactions, or any arbitrary data. This mechanism allows issuing and tracking specific bitcoins. Metadata can be recorded using the Bitcoin's OP_RETURN opcode or optionally in multi-signature addresses. The metadata can also be encrypted if required...