Bitcoin is starting to come into its own as a digital currency, but the
blockchain technology behind it could prove to be much more significant.
This book takes you beyond the currency ("Blockchain 1.0") and smart
contracts ("Blockchain 2.0") to demonstrate how the blockchain is in
position to become the fifth disruptive computing paradigm after
mainframes, PCs, the Internet, and mobile/social networking.
Author Melanie Swan, Founder of the Institute for Blockchain Studies,
explains that the blockchain is essentially a public ledger with
potential as a worldwide, decentralized record for the registration,
inventory, and transfer of all assets--not just finances, but property
and intangible assets such as votes, software, health data, and ideas.
Topics include:
- Concepts, features, and functionality of Bitcoin and the blockchain
- Using the blockchain for automated tracking of all digital endeavors
- Enabling censorship?resistant organizational models
- Creating a decentralized digital repository to verify identity
- Possibility of cheaper, more efficient services traditionally provided
by nations
- Blockchain for science: making better use of the data-mining network
- Personal health record storage, including access to one's own genomic
data
- Open access academic publishing on the blockchain
This book is part of an ongoing O'Reilly series. Mastering Bitcoin:
Unlocking Digital Crypto-Currencies introduces Bitcoin and describes
the technology behind Bitcoin and the blockchain. Blockchain: Blueprint
for a New Economy considers theoretical, philosophical, and societal
impact of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies.
