Blockchain: An Essential Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Blockchain Technology, Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and the Future of Money

By Herbert Jones

Do you want to find out what Blockchain is, how it works, and what it can do for you?

This book could be the answer you are looking for...

This book is the ultimate beginner's guide to understanding blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and the future of money.

In this guide, we shall be discussing everything there is to know about cryptocurrencies, their impact on the future of money and trade, and most importantly, how you can prepare yourself for the disruptive technology that is the blockchain. 

Here is just some of the information covered in this book:

- The History of Money

- What is the Blockchain Technology?

- History of the Blockchain

- A Chronological Development of Blockchain Related Technologies

- Benefits of the Blockchain Technology

- Disadvantages of Using Blockchain Technology

- Understanding Ethereum

- How Ethereum Developed

- How Ethereum Works

- How Smart Contracts Work

- The Application Possibilities for Smart Contracts

- How Mining Works

- How to Get Started with Blockchain and Implementing Blockchain into Business Operations

- Blockchain-Based Applications You Can Integrate Into Your Business

- How to Get Started with Smart Contract and Ethereum Web Development

- Understanding Cryptocurrencies and their Emergence

- How Cryptocurrencies Work

- Bitcoin Lifecycle: How Cryptocurrency Transactions Work

- How to Invest In Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies

- And Much More!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Herbert Jones
• Release date: Aug 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393104704

Book preview

© Copyright 2017 by Herbert Jones

All rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the author. Reviewers may quote brief passages in reviews.

Disclaimer: No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, or transmitted by email without permission in writing from the publisher.

While all attempts have been made to verify the information provided in this publication, neither the author nor the publisher assume any responsibility for errors, omissions or contrary interpretations of the subject matter herein.

Any persons or organizations referred to herein are composites for the purpose of illustration and do not represent real persons or organizations.

This book is for entertainment purposes only. The views expressed are those of the author alone, and should not be taken as expert instruction or commands. The reader is responsible for his or her own actions.

Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations, including international, federal, state and local laws governing professional licensing, business practices, advertising and all other aspects of doing business in the US, Canada, UK or any other jurisdiction is the sole responsibility of the purchaser or reader.

Neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility or liability whatsoever on the behalf of the purchaser or reader of these materials. Any perceived slight of any individual or organization is purely unintentional.

Introduction

This book is the ultimate beginner’s guide to understanding blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and the future of money.

Trade has always been at the heart of man’s life. In the early days, trade took the form of barter. As civilizations and trade developed and flourished, barter trade took a back seat and currency in the form of cowry shells and beads came to the fore. Since knowing how many shells to trade for X merchandise lacked clarity, society developed various forms of money to complement growing global trade and interconnectedness.

Since then, money has taken many forms. In the early 1930-40’s, the cowboy and gold prospecting era, gold was the standard and the federal government had tons of gold stocked up in the Federal Reserve. As time went by and society changed and interacted freely, a need for easier transportable forms of money arose; this is how credit cards and online banking came into being.

Today, however, a new form of currency, cryptocurrencies, is changing our view of money, global trade, and our storage and interaction with money.

In this guide, we shall be discussing everything there is to know about cryptocurrencies, their impact on the future of money and trade, and most importantly, how you can prepare yourself for the disruptive technology that is the blockchain.

Section 1

Money as We Now Know It: The Past & Present

Before we can discuss the disruptive role cryptocurrencies play in the future of money, we have to look at the history of money because it is in this history that we learn why currencies such as bitcoins, altcoins, Litecoins, and other cryptocurrencies that use the blockchain technology came into being.

Understanding how money came into being and how we used it in the past shall help us understand how and why currencies that use the blockchain technology are revolutionizing money and how we use it.

The History of Money

Money as we know it today is not one thing, per se. Today, money is a series of interconnected technologies that have developed over time starting from barter trade, beads, gold, coins, and then paper money.

In relation to what experts have to say about our historical use of money, two main ideas spring out. The first one is that, as indicated earlier, the need for currency, i.e. money, came from problems with the reliability of barter trade in that by bartering, it was impossible to tell if what you bartered for was worth what you gave in return. The other theorem is that governments are responsible for creating money as a way to settle debt. Both ideas have merit. Here is why.

If you look at the barter trade idea and trace it back to its roots (which is a long time ago), the story you will reveal is one where swapping one good for the other was the order of the day. For instance, if John Doe was a pot maker and at the approach of winter, he needed blankets, he would go to Jane Smith, a weaver and if she needed pots, they would barter.

As you can imagine, this sort of trading had an element of inequality in that there was no pre-agreed upon rate at which to barter. A large pot could trade for 2, 5, 10, or even 20 blankets depending on the temperament and the desperateness of the traders. This meant that this form of trade was open to manipulation because in an instance where you had pots, desperately wanted blankets, but could not find someone to trade with at a favorable rate, you would end up bartering your pots for less than their worth.

As is visible, such inequality and difficult of trade precipitated the introduction of standards, which is how, as the story goes, man decided to come up with a convenient way to trade by creating a standard using valuable things such as beads, shells, and coins. This standardization meant that specific items would have a trade standard. For instance, a pig, chicken, or even X amount of pots and blankets would translate into