Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy

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.

• Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin Is Changing Money, Business, and the World
• The Business Blockchain: Promise, Practice, and Application of the Next Internet Technology
• Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Ethereum & Smart Contracts
• The Book Of Satoshi: The Collected Writings of Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto
• Mastering Ethereum: Building Smart Contracts and DApps
• Mastering Bitcoin: Programming the Open Blockchain
• Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Is Changing the World
• Blockchain Basics: A Non-Technical Introduction in 25 Steps
• Blockchain Technology Explained: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide About Blockchain Wallet, Mining, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Zcash, Monero, Ripple, Dash, IOTA And Smart Contracts
• The Internet of Money: A collection of talks by Andreas M. Antonopoulos