Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy

by Melanie Swan

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

Concepts, features, and functionality of Bitcoin and the blockchainUsing the blockchain for automated tracking of all digital endeavorsEnabling censorship?resistant organizational modelsCreating a decentralized digital repository to verify identityPossibility of cheaper, more efficient services traditionally provided by nationsBlockchain for making better use of the data-mining networkPersonal health record storage, including access to one’s own genomic dataOpen access academic publishing on the blockchainThis book is part of an ongoing O’Reilly series. Mastering Unlocking Digital Crypto-Currencies introduces Bitcoin and describes the technology behind Bitcoin and the blockchain. Blueprint for a New Economy considers theoretical, philosophical, and societal impact of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies.

Genres: Business, Technology, Finance, Nonfiction, Computer Science, Economics, Technical

260 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 22, 2014

Reviews

[Alex Danila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lacking technical details in general. A better title would be: Blockchain-use cases.
Interesting ideas, but closer to fiction than to reality.

[Monika Radclyffe · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book may as well be classified as fiction. Doesn't even explain what blockchain is at all.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's some good overview and some good ideas in this book, but much of it is just a catalog of existing projects, and much of the rest is speculation (some of it outlandish). The book is brought back to Earth in the end with a sober look at the problems that Bitcoin faces ... but it's ultimately just another list.

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book on the conceptual potential for Blockchain. However, I went into it believing more in it's potential and came out less enthusiastic. Seems years and years away from any truly meaningful development and will require significant buy-in. If you're interested in Blockchain technology, definitely a good book to start with.

[Yernar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Доходчиво и интересно

[Бекарыс Нуржан · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ну, такой справочник блокчейн-игроков, претендующий на всеобъемлющее описание возможностей применения технологии. Впрочем, не сильно помогает, так как не объясняет суть технологии. Но дальше гуглить помощью этой книги полезно.

[Vladimir Sechkarev · Rating 2 out of 5]

Я не смог ее дочитать. Признаю.
Проблема в том, что эта книга совершенно не о том, о чем должна быть. Фактически, она сводится к перечислению возможных приложений блокчейна. С комментариями. И это вообще не то, что надо.
Получается так: есть технология, и она крутая. Вроде как. Вот вам двести ссылок на статьи, где написано, какая эта технология крутая.
И у меня, собственно, один вопрос: а ЗА СЧЕТ ЧЕГО, за счет каких своих внутренних свойств она обладает таким широким спектром применения? Что в ней кардинально нового? Как одна и та же технология может применяться для покупки кофе и подсчета голосов на выборах?
Книга на этот вопрос не отвечает и отвечать не собирается. В ней нет вообще ни слова о том, как блокчейн устроен внутри. (Ну и ладно, я это и так знаю; а вот на вопрос выше, несмотря на всю его логичность, мне не ответил до сих пор ни один источник.) Я не хочу дайджест! Я хочу пищу для размышлений!
Да и дайджест-то за 2014 год, я уверен, что он уже устарел десять раз.
А жаль. Автор отлично шарит в теме, это невооруженным глазом видно, только вот пишет не о том, эх, не о том...
И стиль! Ну невозможно же. Громоздкие безглагольные конструкции в 2017, серьезно? Вы книгу пишете или речь для съезда КПСС?..
(А еще я хотел почитать про эмиссию биткоинов и тоже почти ничего на эту тему не нашел, сплошное разочарование)

[Shritesh Bhattarai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are undoubtedly the most hyped technology ever. This book is all about taking that hype to the extreme and listing every way blockchains can change the world. Most of the book reads like PR press releases for business people with buzzwords galore. But hey, sometimes you might just need a book with lots of ideas and little substance to make you think about all the possibilities of this technology and let your mind run wild.

[alejandro · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is good, has all the current use cases for blockchain tech. As for the rest of the book it's mostly "in theory" meaning things that blockchain might be able to do. I can sympathize with the author, however, as the Blockchain industry is so new that most of what the industry heads talks about is also theoretical.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are many promises for blockchain related technology, but not much about how blockchain enables those promises, nor how it would work in the real world.

[Vn Le · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non technical book for nontechnical people

[Joe Cosentino · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up to get a better understanding of the technology underlying most cryptocurrencies (blockchain) and specifically to get a better idea of use cases and the long term thesis for the technology. While the writing was a bit dense at times and the ideas very hypothetical (some bordering on science fiction), the book was easily digestible for someone not very technical, and I can say definitively that I have a better understanding of the fundamentals of blockchain. This book was about 3 years old when I read it, so some issues were probably a bit out-dated, but overall I thought it was useful. I have to commend the author, Melanie Swan, as writing this book on a nascent technology was probably a herculean undertaking.
This book is decidedly non-technical; the book just starts with fairly high level introduction to the mechanics and fundamentals of blockchain. Most of the book is spent exploring current and potential business uses for the technology and cryptocurrencies in general. The last few chapters explore some risks and limitations.
Swan is definitely bullish on the future of the technology and also likely libertarian-leaning based on the positions she takes on decentralization and government minimization. This strong bullishness is useful to put the current market euphoria surrounding cryptocurrencies in context. My biggest problem with the book is that she barely explores what to me is the fundamental issue with blockchain: instability of currency and lack of widespread adoption. Swan takes for granted that blockchain/cryptocurrencies will take off on a mass scale. I think it's pretty clear (especially with hindsight from 2014-2018) that currency volatility is a major impediment to mass-adoption, and without mass-adoption, we likely won't see stable currencies. While most of her other arguments are well thought out, she pretty much breezes over/ignores this issue, which to me is an obvious flaw in the logic.
Anyway, this was a quick read and very digestible, and I think it helped me accomplish my goals set out before reading (i.e. better understanding of technology, use cases, and bull case). I say I'd recommend, but perhaps there is a more current book on blockchain that would accomplish the same goals.

[Phan.nn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sách đọc lại, năm 2020. Các tiên đoán vẫn hợp thời.

Sách không đi sâu kỹ thuật, chuyên ngành. Sách cung cấp cái nhìn tổng quan từ khi blockchain ra đời, ứng dụng thực tiễn trong quá khứ, hiện tại (2014) và tiềm năng trong tương lai.

Blockchain đang ở giai đoạn 1.0: tiền tệ và các chức năng phụ trợ liên quan. Thế giới đa tiền tệ mã hoá. Cá nhân và tổ chức đều có thể phát hành tiền mã hoá tương tự như việc lập các kênh Youtube hay Facebook để truyền thông.

Blockchain đang tiến lên giai đoạn 2.0: Hợp đồng thông minh, mới chỉ vài viên gạch đầu tiên. Đặc trưng là các ứng dụng phân tán, các tổ chức, công ty tự quản phi tập trung. Hình dung đơn giản các tổ chức, công ty này như một ô tô tự lái, con người chỉ cần cung cấp điểm đến và trả tiền, còn lại ô tô tự xử theo chương trình cài đặt sẵn. Thanh toán người với máy, máy với máy.

Blockchain được tiên đoán sẽ lên giai đoạn 3.0: Gồm các chính phủ tự quản phi tập trung (có thể tồn tại song song và bổ sung cho chính phủ tập trung), blockchain 3.0 hoàn toàn có thể thực hiện chức năng tư pháp và bầu cử theo rất nhiều thể thức khác nhau với nhiều ưu điểm. (Quan điểm cá nhân là sẽ có chính phủ tự quản (có thể không hoàn toàn) tập trung và sau đó là các phong trào phi tập trung lên ngôi chứ không thì khó, sẽ bị đàn áp từ đầu).
Blockchain 3.0 còn dự đoán sẽ hợp nhất thông tin toàn nhân loại, thiết bị IoT, AI… Có thể điều khiển AI luôn thân thiện và phục vụ con người.
Blockchain 3.0 có thể là không gian rộng lớn cho tất cả các dạng trí thông minh trong tương lai nhờ cơ chế giao dịch, blockchain và cơ chế đồng thuận khác.

[Rishabh Rathore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Blockchain Book.It is good for someone who is fed up of not being able to understand the difference between blockchain, cryptocurrencies,Bitcoin.She has done a great job of clarifying the clutter. The book talks about the utopia of blockchain being the second internet revolution the world is going to see. It focuses on the idea of decentralization and makes argument for the same.But their were few idea were I was not comfortable with like the human mind-file being uploaded on blockchain like human thoughts feelings and intents.I am really thrilled to see the new economy of the crypto-coin trying to shake the traditional banking systems also how the blockchain can become a everyday tech which is going to make a very huge impact on the world, that render the border and geographical separations like a joke.
At last it really good beginner course book.You should give it a try.

[Alankrit Mittal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to read a book that can give a in depth and balanced of the new trend in the market that is blockchain. I was disappointed by this book as it does not explore blockchain in as much depth as I would have liked it to do.
This a good book for the person who have no technical background and is neither interested in the tech professionally nor hope to be in the future but just want himself/herself to keep updated which what is happening in the most influential industry of the time.
I would have liked the book even more if the negative side and limitation of the technology may have been discussed even more as the author was lining on the optimistic side of it more than required and come out as very excited about the technology and its future prospects , therefore , was not able to give the balanced opinion on the topic.

[Trevor Cory · Rating 2 out of 5]

It starts off okay, and does a good job of providing an overview of recent affairs, then plummets into an amateurish half baked pitch fest of what could be. In a sense you see the author's very limited imagination of society as solely an economic machine and her enthusiasm as a product of the ability to force all persons into an economized world, properly incentivized, according to her thinly veiled pleasure. The author's greatest flaw is that she seems to expound countless could be and should be statements on the presumption that all yet to be created currencies will somehow become liquid. This book, while descriptively useful, is a prescriptive sham and a terrible example of poor scholarship for the sake of expediency in discussing a trendy topic.

[Abhay Mittal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant read on the much exciting and complex topic of Blockchain. The book goes on to describe the range of opportunities which this technology brings about in the simplest of format. Easy to comprehend, mild jargons and details about the oceans of opportunities are mind blowing. The best part of this book is that it arranges the concept of Blockchain in 3 tiers. This smoothens the understanding and gives a lot of food for thought for infinite new business models.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of all of the things that blockchain can (and might) do in a future society. However, it's a bit light on the details of how blockchain works at a technical level, and it only quickly reviews potential problems with the blockchain that are yet to be solved. However, it is a very inspiring look at how revolutionary blockchain could be in the future once it goes more mainstream and once some of the problems with it are solved.

[Andrew Calverley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of the reviews are fairly insular and looking at how this book failed them in optimising their bitcoin miners.

Blockchain is transformative in the areas of public information, land rights, personal data, Information system logging, financial transactions, voting systems and a myriad of other applications.

Would have liked the authors to have used several current examples where blockchain has been used in these areas an expanded upon them. E-Estonia for example.

[Асет Нурпеисов · Rating 3 out of 5]

Книга рассказывает о практических применениях блокчейна в перспективе его внедрения в нашу жизнь. Революция свершилась. Ноосфера после появления блокчейна станет развивать столь же стремительно, как жизнь в океанах, после появления рыб или земля после появления насекомых. Теперь пространство вокруг нас не просто связано, а существует само по себе, обладая зачатками самосознания.

[Kʜᴀɴ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is mainly focused on the market impact of blockchain. The main thing they tried to explore is the future of the blockchain. There is not much technical stuff. So recommended for those people who want an idea of how this blockchain technology is reshaping the present and will reshape the near future.

[Vedat Guven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blokzincirin yapısı, iş modelleri ve nasıl bir gelecek bizi bekliyor hakkında temel kitaplardan birisi. Ancak oldukça eskide kalmış durumda. Yine de 2014'te blokzincirin geleceği nasıl gözüküyordu diye görmek isterseniz, okunabilir. Yalnız dikkatli olmak lazım; bir çok kriptopara, proje ve beklenti gündemden kalkmış durumda.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good survey of the potential of blockchain. For those seeking to understand its implications, this is a short and easy read. The book is lacking in technical details, however. If searching for technical text, you will likely be disappointed in this book.

[Ghassan Samaha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is work-under-progress: such as blockchain. However, in here I got to understand: self-bootstrapping as a new business concept. I find that very interesting, I am also very CONVINCED that the blockchain technology will bring a new level of friendliness in the context of the online.

[Hakan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Those who want to know what BlockChain is should choose to read another book. Many potential use cases are described but no information is provided about how to implement them. It can not be said that the information is up to date. an old book.

[Vlectronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a decent overview of broad concepts related to cryptocurrency and blockchain. However, it lacks true depth needed to imbue readers with a comprehensive understanding of blockchain technology, economic principles, and history.

[Quang Bao · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book! This book has everything a person who does not know Blockchain needs. All terms used in the blockchain were described and easy to understand. I highly recommend this should be the first book to read if you want to learn about Blockchain or know about it.

[K Subbu · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a software engineer, I was hoping to get a good understanding of the Blockchain technology. But this book just lists all the hypothetically possible applications of Blockchain. Does not offer any serious material on blockchain.

[Uyên Khôi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting new knowledge (to me) but still a bit overwhelm to digest. Something about blockchain seems a bit of a fantasy dream to me. To my limited assumption, maybe we can not achieve them all, but still good to trying for the better.

Nice read!

[Demetris Kellari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for people who want an overview of the potential applications of blockchain technology. Not a great source if you want to understand more about the specifics of the technology.