区块链是一种分布式账簿，可以跨多个节点进行复制，同时保持事务的不可变性、透明性以及加密安全存储。区块链技术是加密货币的支柱，它在金融、政府、媒体和几乎所有其他行业都有应用。本书的第2版经过了彻底的更新和修订，详细描述了这一**技术及其在现实世界中的实现。

本书从区块链的技术基础入手。讲述了分布式系统的基础知识、加密技术以及如何保护数据安全。你将学习到加密货币背后的机制以及如何使用以太坊(Ethereum)这一去中心化虚拟机开发应用程序。你还将探究其他区块链解决方案，了解Hyperledger下的业务区块链框架。这是一项由Linux基金会主持的、旨在推动区块链技术的协力成果。你也会看到如何实现除货币外的区块链解决方案、带区块链的物联网、区块链可扩展性以及这种引人入胜的强大技术的远景。

伊姆兰·巴希尔(Imran Bashir)，has an M.Sc. in Information Security from Royal Holloway, University of London, and has a background in software development, solution architecture,infrastructure management, and IT service management. He is also a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the British Computer Society (BCS).

Imran has sixteen years" of experience in the public and financial sectors. He worked on large scale IT projects in the public sector before moving to the financial services industry.Since then, he has worked in various technical roles for different financial companies in Europe"s financial capital London. He is currently working for an investment bank in London as Vice President in the Technology department.

Preface
Chapter 1: Blockchain 101
    The growth of blockchain technology
    Distributed systems
    The history of blockchain and Bitcoin
        Electronic cash
        Blockchain
            Blockchain defined
                Peer-to-peer
                Distributed ledger
                Cryptographically-secure
                Append-only
                Updateable via consensus
        Generic elements of a blockchain
            How blockchain works
            How blockchain accumulates blocks
        Benefits and limitations of blockchain
        Tiers of blockchain technology
        Features of a blockchain
    Types of blockchain
        Distributed ledgers
        Distributed Ledger Technology
        Public blockchains
        Private blockchains
            Semiprivate blockchains
            Sidechains
            Permissionecl ledger
        Shared ledger
        Fully private and proprietary blockchains
        Tokenized blockchains
        Tokenless blockchains
    Consensus
        Consensus mechanism
        Types of consensus mechanisms
        Consensus in blockchain
    CAP theorem and blockchain
    Summary
Chapter 2: Decentralization
    Decentralization using blockchain
    Methods of decentralization
        Disintermediation
        Contest-driven decentralization
    Routes to decentralization
        How to decentralize
        The decentralization framework example
    Blockchain and full ecosystem decentralization
        Storage
        Communication
        Computing power and decentralization
    Smart contracts
    Decentralized Organizations
        Decentralized Autonomous Organizations
        Decentralized Autonomous Corporations
        Decentralized Autonomous Societies
        Decentralized Applications (DApps)
        Requirements of a Decentralized Application
        Operations of a DApp
            DApp examples
                KYC-Chain
                OpenBazaar
                Lazooz
    Platforms for decentralization
        Ethereum
        MaidSafe
        Lisk
    Summary
Chapter 3: Symmetric Cryptography
    Working with the OpenSSL command line
    Introduction
        Mathematics
            Set
            Group
            Field
            A finite field
            Order
            An abelian group
            Prime fields
            Ring
            A cyclic group
            Modular arithmetic
        Cryptography
        Confidentiality
        Integrity
        Authentication
Chapter 4: Public Key Cryptpgraphy
Chapter 5: Introducing Bitcoin
Chapter 6: Bitcoin Network and Payments
Chapter 7: Bitcoin Clients and APIs
Chapter 8: Alternative Coins
Chapter 9: Smart Contracts
Chapter 10: Ethereum 101
Chapter 11: Further Ethereum
Chapter 12: Ethereum Development Environmrnt
Chapter 13: Development Tools and Frameworks
Chapter 14: Introducing Web3
Chapter 15: Hyperledger
Chapter 16: Alternative Blockchains
Chapter 17: Blockchain - Outside of Currencies
Chapter 18: Scalability and Other Challenges
Chapter 19: Current Landscape and What"s next
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Index