Foundations of Blockchain: The pathway to cryptocurrencies and decentralized blockchain applications

Cover
Copyright and Credits
Packt Upsell
Contributors
Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter 1 - Introduction
	What blockchain is
	What blockchain isn't
	Blockchain definitions
	How are blockchains different from databases?
	History of blockchain
		Blockchain 2.0
	The motivations behind blockchain
	Characteristics of blockchain
	Background of DLT
	The different types of blockchain
		Public blockchain (permissionless)
		Private blockchain (permissioned)
		Consortium blockchain
	Overview of blocks
		Block attributes
		Structure of the block
		Block header
		Linking blocks
	Influence of Moore's law on blockchain technology
	Summary
Chapter 2 - A Bit of Cryptography
	Cryptography in blockchain
	Classical cryptography
	Cryptographic primitives
	Symmetric key cryptography
		Stream cipher
		Block cipher
			Data Encryption Standard
			Advanced Encryption Standard
				An example implementation of AES
	Asymmetric key cryptography
		Prime factorization
		Discrete logarithm
		Elliptic-curve
		RSA cryptosystem
			RSA parameter generation
			Encryption and decryption using RSA
			An example implementation of RSA
		Elliptic-curve cryptography
			Operations on elliptic curves
				Point addition
				Point doubling
			Computing the public key
			Technical details of secp256k1
		Digital signatures
			How does it work?
				Signing process
				Verification process
			Elliptical Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA)
			ECDSA example to create and verify a digital signature
	Cryptographic hashing
		Hashing algorithms
			Message Digest
			Secure Hash Algorithms (SHA)
			Hashing example using an SHA-256 algorithm
		Merkle hash trees
	Encoding schemes
	Summary
Chapter 3 - Cryptography in Blockchain
	Hashing in blockchain
		Linking blocks in a blockchain
		Linking blocks using an SHA256 hashing algorithm
			Block structure
			Blockchain functionality
			Creating a blockchain
		Byzantine failure problem in blockchain
			How does Proof of Work ensure Byzantine fault tolerance?
			How does Proof of Work use cryptography?
			An example implementation of Proof of Work
				Example of finding a nonce to solve Proof of Work
	Digital signatures in blockchain
		Creating an identity
		Signatures in transaction
		Asset ownership in blockchain
			Transferring an asset
			Transmitting the transaction
			Claiming the asset
		Blockchain wallets
	Summary
Chapter 4 - Networking in Blockchain
	Peer-to-peer (P2P) networking
		History of P2P network
		P2P networking architecture
	Network discovery
	Block synchronization
	Building a simple blockchain in a P2P network
		Validating a new block
		Selecting the longest chain
			Conflict resolution
		Block exchange between peers
			Initial block synchronization
			Broadcasting scenarios
		Application interfaces
		Diving into the code
			The server interface
			Block and blockchain interface
			Running the blockchain nodes
	Summary
Chapter 5 - Cryptocurrency
	Bitcoin basics
		Getting started with Bitcoin Core
			Setting up a Bitcoin full node
				Installing a Bitcoin full node
				Compiling from source code
			Running the Bitcoin node
			Communicating with the Bitcoin node
			Communicating using scripting language through the JSON-RPC implementation
	Keys and addresses
		Public and private keys
		Bitcoin public addresses
	Transactions
		Transactions at a high level
		Transaction input and output
		Transaction output
		Transaction input
		Transaction verification
			Script
				Script example
			Locking and unlocking scripts
				Types of transaction script
	Mining and consensus
		Mining a block
			Verification of transactions
			Aggregating transactions into a block
				Coinbase transactions
			Mining a block using the Proof of Work algorithm
		Mining pool
	Blockchain
		Block structure
			Block header
		The genesis block
		Merkle trees
	Blockchain networks
		Testnet
		Regtest
	Bitcoin hard forks and altcoins
	A simple cryptocurrency application
		Transactions
			Transaction output
			Transaction input
			Transaction structure
			UTXO
			Transaction validation
			Transaction signing
		Wallet
			Key management
			Wallet balance
			Creating transactions
				Consuming UTXOs
				Constructing a transaction
		Transaction management
			Transaction pool
			Broadcasting
		Blockchain
		Application endpoints
	Summary
Chapter 6 - Diving into Blockchain - Proof of Existence
	MultiChain blockchain platform
		Why choose MultiChain?
		The basics of MultiChain
		MultiChain functionalities
			Permission management
			Asset management
			Stream management
	Setting up a blockchain environment
		Running MultiChain nodes
	Getting started with MultiChain
		Creating a chain
		Connecting to an existing chain
		Checking the blockchain
		Working with streams
	Proof of Existence architecture
		Publishing the document
		Verifying the document
	Building the Proof of Existence application
		MultiChain JSON-RPC driver
		Proof of Existence library
		Proof of Existence web server
			Publishing the document
			Verifying the document
		Executing and deploying the application
	Summary
Chapter 7 - Diving into Blockchain - Proof of Ownership
	Digital assets and identity
	Proof of ownership
	Smart contracts
	Choosing the smart contract platform
	NEO blockchain
		Building blocks of a NEO blockchain
		NEO technology
			Consensus algorithm
			NEO smart contract
			Additional NEO projects
		NEO nodes
			Getting started
				Setting up a full node
				Setting up a neo-python environment
				Setting up a JSON-RPC interface for the node
		NEO network
			Test network
			Private network
		NEO transactions
			Transferring an asset
		Creating a decentralized application
			Basic smart contract
			Proof of ownership application
				Creating the smart contract
				Executing the smart contract
				Interface for the application
	Ethereum blockchain
		Ethereum nodes
		Getting started
			Setting up a node
			Setting up a development environment
		Creating a decentralized application
			Basic smart contract
			Proof of ownership application
				Creating the smart contract
				Executing the smart contract
				Interface for the application
	Summary
Chapter 8 - Blockchain Projects
	Categorizing the blockchain projects
		Financial projects
		Non-financial projects
	Financial blockchain projects
		Cryptocurrencies
			Traceable cryptocurrencies
			Untraceable cryptocurrencies
				Zcash
		Crypto tokens
			Coin offerings
		Ripple payment network
			Ripple use cases
				Cross-border payments
				Ripple tokens as a currency bridge
			Ripple network
				Ripple consensus algorithm
				Ripple token (XRP)
		Cryptocurrency exchanges
			Decentralized exchanges
				Kyber Network
	Non-financial blockchain projects
		Asset management
			Factom
				Design
				Factom products
		Social media platforms
			Steem
				Voting model in Steem
				Steem tokens
				Consensus in Steem
		Digital identity
			ShoCard Identity Management
				ShoCard architecture
		Blockchain in the Internet of Things (IoT)
			IOTA
				Design
				IOTA in IoT
		Data storage
			Filecoin
				IPFS
				Filecoin consensus
				Filecoin's decentralized storage network (DSN)
				Filecoin markets
			BigchainDB
				Features of BigchainDB
				The life cycle of BigchainDB transactions
				Use cases
		Distributed computing
			Golem
				Golem ecosystem
		Blockchain platforms
			Ethereum
				Ethereum token
				EVM
				Blockchain consensus
				DApp development
				Ethereum network
	Links for the projects
	Summary
Chapter 9 - Blockchain Optimizations and Enhancements
	Blockchain optimizations
		Transaction exchange
			Blockchain relay networks
			Invertible bloom lookup tables
		Off-chain transactions
			Off-chain state channels
				The Lightning Network
				Routed payment network
			Sidechains
		Block size improvements
			Motivations to increase the block size
			Concerns on increasing the block size
			Proposed solutions
	Blockchain enhancements
		Sharding
			The motivation for database sharding
			Sharding in blockchain
				Components in a shard
				Design of a sharded blockchain
				Cross-shard communication
		Evolution of the consensus algorithm
			Proof of Stake (PoS)
			Proof of Activity (PoA)
			Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus models
				Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT)
				Federated Byzantine Fault Tolerance (FBFT)
			Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET)
		Cross-chain protocol
			Interledger protocol (ILP)
				Interledger components
				Design of Interledger
		Privacy enhancement
			Zero-knowledge proof
				General examples
			zk-SNARKs
			Zcash transactions
			Private transactions
	Summary
Chapter 10 - Blockchain Security
	Transaction security model
		Risks of the security model
	Decentralized security model
		Centralization due to cryptocurrency exchanges
			Mt. Gox
			Bitfinex
			Coinrail
		Centralization in mining pools
	Attacks on the blockchain
		Double-spend attacks
			Double-spending in Bitcoin transactions
				Creating the first transaction
				Creating the transaction to double-spend
		51% attack
			Implications of the attack
			Avoiding the attack
		Eclipse attacks
			Eclipsing the node
			Implications and analysis of the attack
			Vulnerabilities and countermeasures
	Threats of quantum computing
	Summary
Chapter 11 - When Shouldn't We Use Blockchain?
	Distributed databases versus distributed ledger technology (DLT)
		Decentralized control of information
		Confidentiality of information
		Robustness
		Performance
	What can we store on a blockchain?
		Storing data as transactions
		Storing minimal data
		Storing data that requires minimal changes
	Centralized versus decentralized application architecture
	Properties of blockchain
		Immutability
		Non-repudiation
		Security
		Redundancy
		Reduced cost
		Transparency
	Decision models for blockchain
		Karl Wüst and Arthur Gervais
		Birch-Brown-Parulava model
		Framework to evaluate the suitability of blockchain
		Generalized decision model
	Summary
Chapter 12 - Blockchain Use Cases
	Tracking provenance in the supply chain
		Pain points in a supply chain
		Blockchain as a solution
		Blockchain implementation of the supply chain
	Financial system
		Pain points in the payment system
		Blockchain as a solution
		Blockchain implementations of a payment system
			Ripple
			Stellar
	Crowdfunding
		Pain points in crowdfunding
		Blockchain as a solution
		Blockchain implementation of crowdfunding using an ICO
	Non-profit autonomous organizations
		Pain points in non-profit autonomous organizations
		Blockchain as a solution
		Blockchain implementation of a non-profit DAO
	Summary
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