Tag: blockchain

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Latest read: Beyond Bitcoin

Beyond Bitcoin: The Economics of Digital Currencies by Hanna Halaburda and Miklos Sarvary is a wonderful read to learn about digital currencies and the state of Bitcoin. The authors clearly defined the real world use of digital currencies.

Beyond BitcoinBeyond Bitcoin explores the emerging and dynamic universe of digital currencies, to understand how they developed and what the future holds for our economy.

The authors use an economic framework to explore platform-based digital currencies that are centrally managed by the businesses that introduced them. The book ends with a comparison between various cryptocurrencies.

The authors use an economic framework to explore platform-based digital currencies that are centrally managed by the businesses that introduced them. The book ends with a comparison between various cryptocurrencies.

The history of currencies is rather fascinating and the third chapter covers currencies we are familiar with including BerkShares, Food Stamps and Mortgages. Also addressed are gaming currencies including World of Warcraft, and Diablo; virtual worlds including Eve Online and SecondLife and social networks including Facebook Credits or Amazon Coins.

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Blockchain Cloud Cyberinfrastructure Education Globalization Innovation Network OpenSource Reading Technology

Latest Read: Blockchain Basics

The Blockchain Basics by Daniel Drescher. This is a very basic blockchain book. I would recommend this to someone completely unfamiliar with blockchain. Daniel hits his mark as he places a repeated template for each step. In this design, I felt the book had trouble flowing for anyone who has already read a blockchain textbook.
Blockchain BasicsDaniel pushes the elementary lessons through 25 steps.

There is a very basic outline to the security of the blockchain. Again this book has a specific target audience: Newbie.

I have to admit that I was bored reading the text. yet was impressed by the lessons and related topics that are presented.

Yet his lessons and related topics are simple to follow. For an overall tip of the iceberg, you can fly through this book and then move to Don Tapscott, William Mougayar and Melanie Swan.

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Blockchain Cloud Cyberinfrastructure Design Education Globalization Innovation IoT Network OpenSource Reading Technology

Latest Read: Decentralized Applications Harnessing Bitcoin’s Blockchain Technology

Decentralized Applications Harnessing Bitcoin’s Blockchain Technology by Siraj Raval is my follow up to three previous blockchain books. This kinda forks hard left after chapter two and drifts.
Decentralized Applications Harnessing Bitcoin's Blockchain TechnologyMy first book Don Tapscott’s The Blockchain Revolution was interesting in broad strokes. William Mougayar’s The Business Blockchain was better.

Melanie Swan wrote an even better overview to in her book Blockchain: A blueprint for a new economy. Melanie provides a great overview (looking back from 2015) to address decentralized apps (Dapps), decentralized autonomous organization (DAOs), decentralized autonomous corporations (DACs) and decentralized autonomous societies (DASs). There is such a deeper dive required to wrap your arms around decentralized autonomous blockchains.

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Blockchain Cloud Cyberinfrastructure Education Globalization Innovation Network OpenSource Reading Technology

World Economic Forum: The Blockchain

The blockchain is the future of financial infrastructures. This is certainly an ambitious look at how blockchain can reshape financial services. The World Economic Forum posted a PDF view of the Blockchain’s pragmatic impact upon global financial services and this is a very visual read addressing a great deal of research.
The future of financial infrastructure An ambitious look at how blockchain can reshape financial services

The key areas of focus are blockchain technologies that can push simplicity and efficiency:

  1. Blockchain has the potential to drive simplicity and efficiency by establishing new financial services infrastructure and processes
  2. Distributed ledger technology will form the foundation of next generation financial services infrastructure in conjunction with other existing and emerging technologies
  3. Similar to technological advances in the past, new financial services infrastructure will transform and question traditional orthodoxies in today’s business models
  4. The most impactful distributed ledger technology applications will require deep collaboration between incumbents, innovators, and regulators, adding complexity and delaying implementation

The opportunity to create new financial service infrastructure based upon high level information security. Therefore, the blockchain is looking to launch next generation financial services infrastructure. The report’s use case focus considers how blockchain technology can benefit multiple scenarios across future financial services.

In conclusion this report is a follow-up to a Deloitte/World Economic Forum report Disruptive Innovation in Financial Services. This report analyzes blockchain across nine sectors of financial services.

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Blockchain Cloud Cyberinfrastructure Design Education Globalization Innovation IoT Network OpenSource Reading Technology

Latest Read: Blockchain – Blueprint for a New Economy

When Melanie Swan’s book Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy written under the O’Reilly series was available I was eager to start reading. This is a thoughtful overview to the Blockchain. There is much to learn about the role of cryptocurrency and the blockchain but this is not the sole focus of her work.

Blockchain - Blueprint for a New EconomyMelanie, like Tapscott paints a wide brush across the Blockchain. Too similar to Tapscott perhaps? No. If the blockchain’s focus was just security then it would command a smaller, narrow focus on IT infrastructure. Yet Melanie provides a wider arena to learn how Blockchains especially in healthcare hold enormous possibilities.

My first book Don Tapscott’s The Blockchain Revolution was interesting. William Mougayar’s The Business Blockchain was better. My thirst for knowledge continues.This is possibly the best of the three at providing a deeper dive to the possibilities of a truly changing technology.

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