It’s called blockchain, and it represents the greatest technological leap forward since the Internet.

The digital revolution of the 90s ushered in the widespread use of the World Wide Web and with it a new age of accessible digital information. The next generation, powered by blockchain, represents a mass disruption of a digital world that still relies on governments, old-fashioned financial institutions, tech titans, and authoritative middle men. The blockchain disruption is redefining how we interact with technology and what is possible in the digital world as it forges a new world order that is distributed and democratic.

Blockchain is the simple but ingenious protocol that facilitates interactions that are anonymous, and yet also secure. Blockchain is best known for making Bitcoin possible, but the true potential of blockchain extends far beyond cryptocurrency.

Blockchain is not just a technology for a few geeks and anti-government conspiracy theorists to play around with in their mom’s basements. This is a widespread technological disruption that will change the world for generations to come. It is already happening. The blockchain disruption is creating winners and losers, and you can’t afford to be left behind.

Blockchain expert Gordon Summers delivers the most complete guide to this fascinating new technology. Carefully researched and technically robust, The Blockchain Disruption remains an eminently enjoyable read for the blockchain newbie and seasoned expert alike.

Inside this book:

• TWO KEY INNOVATIONS OF BITCOIN


• THE CONSENSUS PROTOCOL


• ECONOMIC CONSENSUS


• SMART CONTRACTS


• PROOF-OF-WORK VS. PROOF-OF-STAKE


• ECONOMIC PROBLEMS IN THE TRADITIONAL CONSENSUS PROTOCOL


• UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BITCOIN AND BLOCKCHAIN


• BITCOIN AS THE LARGEST OPEN GLOBAL BLOCKCHAIN


• PARALLELS TO THE EARLY INTERNET


• SCALING POTENTIAL


• IMMUTABILITY


• MINING


• A MODEL FOR CLEARING


• WHO IS SATOSHI NAKAMOTO?


• USING BLOCKCHAIN TO ESTABLISH TRUST AND PROVE IDENTITY


• THE CONCEPT OF DIGITAL IDENTITY


• THE INTERNET OF THINGS AS A DEMOCRACY OF DEVICES


• THE BIG PROBLEMS HOLDING BACK THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MASSIVELY SCALABLE INTERNET OF THINGS


• THE FUTURE FOR TECH GIANTS


• CONSENSUS ALGORITHMS IN BITCOIN AND BLOCKCHAIN: A TECHNICAL EXPLORATION


• SHA-256 AS A FRAUD DETECTION TOOL


• VALIDATION RULES


• FORKS


• AN INTRODUCTION TO ETHEREUM


• IS ETHEREUM A COMPUTER?


• WHY ARE ETHEREUM'S VARIOUS ATTRIBUTES SO IMPORTANT?


• THE COMMODITIZATION OF TRUST


• THE ETHEREUM BLOCKCHAIN PROTOCOL


• CODE EXECUTION


• GAS


• RECEIPTS


• HIGH-LEVEL LANGUAGES


• THE ABI


• MINING IN ETHEREUM


• MERKLE TREES


• BLOCKCHAIN MARKETS AND THE REDEFINITION OF MODERN CAPITALISM


• THE FUTURE OF PEER-TO-PEER MARKETS


• CAPTURING VALUE IN THE NEW WORLD OF PURELY DECENTRALIZED PEER-TO-PEER MARKETS


• AND MUCH MORE!