This book bridges the gap between purely technical and purely business-focused explanations of the blockchain.

In 25 concise steps, this book teaches the basics of blockchain technology in a non-technical fashion. Besides the technical nature of blockchain this book does not require any previous knowledge in computer science, mathematics, programming or cryptography. Due to its didactic concept, this book provides a self-contained learning path through all the components of blockchain and their underlying technical concepts and principles.

Why this Book?

If you want to learn how blockchain works, you may find yourself lost in a universe of books that either quickly skim through the technical concepts or that discuss the underlying technical principles at a highly mathematical level. The former may leave you unsatisfied because these books miss to explain the technical details necessary to understand and to appreciate blockchain while the latter may leave you unsatisfied because those books already require the knowledge you want to acquire. "Blockchain Basics" is different because it not only fills the gap between purely technical books and purely business-focused books but also teaches all concepts and principles of blockchain in a non-technical fashion. It does so by utilizing a didactic concept that is based on pictorial explanations, analogies, and metaphors.

Table of Contents

Stage 1: Terminology and Technical Foundations

  • Step 1: Thinking in layers and aspects
  • Step 2: Seeing the big picture
  • Step 3: Recognizing the potential

Stage 2: Why the Blockchain Is Needed

  • Step 4: Discovering the core problem
  • Step 5: Disambiguating the term
  • Step 6: Understanding the nature of ownership
  • Step 7: Spending money twice

Stage 3: How the Blockchain Works

  • Step 8: Planning the blockchain
  • Step 9: Documenting ownership
  • Step 10: Hashing data
  • Step 11: Hashing data in the real world
  • Step 12: Identifying and protecting user accounts
  • Step 13: Authorizing transactions
  • Step 14: Storing transaction data
  • Step 15: Using the data store
  • Step 16: Protecting the data store
  • Step 17: Distributing the data store among peers
  • Step 18: Verifying and adding transactions
  • Step 19: Choosing a transaction history
  • Step 20: Paying for integrity
  • Step 21: Bringing the pieces together

Stage 4: Limitations and How to Overcome Them

  • Step 22: Seeing the limitations
  • Step 23: Reinventing the blockchain

Stage 5: Using the Blockchain, Summary, and Outlook

  • Step 24: Using the blockchain
  • Step 25: Summarizing and going further