Bitcoin is starting to come into its own as a digital currency, but the blockchain technology behind Bitcoin could prove to be much more significant. This O’Reilly report takes you beyond the currency (Bitcoin 1.0) and smart contracts (Bitcoin 2.0) to demonstrate how the blockchain might 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 economics, 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 describes the definition and technical background of Bitcoin and blockchain technology. Bitcoin: A Blueprint for a New World Currency considers theoretical, philosophical, and societal impact of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies.
Melanie Swan founded and participated in new markets startups GroupPurchase and Prosper, and developed virtual world digital asset valuation and accounting principles for Deloitte. She was also involved in the early stages of the Quantified Self movement, and founded DIYgenomics. Melanie is an instructor at Singularity University, and an Affiliate Scholar at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.
