ARTICLE

Blockchain Basics

From Blockchain in Action by Bina Ramamurthy

What’s all the fuss about the blockchain? Find out in this article.

Take 40% off Blockchain in Action by entering fccramamurthy into the discount code box at checkout at manning.com.

From Bitcoin to blockchain

The initial excitement about blockchain technology was about enabling peer-to-peer transfers of digital currency to anybody in the world, crossing human-created boundaries (like the borders of countries) without any intermediaries such as banks. This excitement was further heightened by the realization that this peer-to-peer capability could be applied to other non-cryptocurrency types of transactions. These transactions involve assets, such as titles, deeds, music and art, secret codes, contracts between businesses, autonomous driver decisions, and artifacts resulting from many every day human endeavors.

DEFINITION A transaction recorded on a blockchain contains a peer-to-peer message that specifies the operations executed, data parameters used for the execution of operations, the sender and receiver of the message, transaction fee, and timestamp of its recording.

A transaction record may contain other details based on the protocol and the application. Bitcoin has been continuously in operation from its launch. At the time of this writing, according to online charts, it’s delivering over 200,000 transactions per day…