Mastering Blockchain: Unlocking the Power of Cryptocurrencies, Smart Contracts, and Decentralized Applications

Cover
Copyright
Table of Contents
Preface
	Conventions Used in This Book
	Using Code Examples
	O’Reilly Online Learning
	How to Contact Us
	Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. Origins of Blockchain Technology
	Electronic Systems and Trust
	Distributed Versus Centralized Versus Decentralized
	Bitcoin Predecessors
		DigiCash
		E-Gold
		Hashcash
		B-Money
		Bit Gold
	The Bitcoin Experiment
		The 2008 Financial Crisis
		The Whitepaper
		Introducing the Timestamp Server
		Storing Data in a Chain of Blocks
	Bringing Bitcoin to Life
		Compelling Components
		Achieving Consensus
		An Early Vulnerability
		Adoption
	Summary
Chapter 2. Cryptocurrency Fundamentals
	Public and Private Keys in Cryptocurrency Systems
	The UTXO Model
	Transactions
		The Merkle Root
		Signing and Validating Transactions
		The Coinbase Transaction
		Bitcoin Transaction Security
	Hashes
		Block Hashes
	Custody: Who Holds the Keys
		Wallet Types: Custodial Versus Noncustodial
		Wallet Type Variations
	Security Fundamentals
		Recovery Seed
	Mining
		Mining Is About Incentives
		Block Generation
	Consensus
		Proof-of-Work
		Proof-of-Stake
		Other Concepts for Consensus
	Stakeholders
		Brokerages
		Exchanges
		Custody
		Analytics
		Information
	Summary
Chapter 3. Forks and Altchains
	Bitcoin Improvement Proposals
	Understanding Forks
		Contentious Hard Forks
	The Bitcoin Cash Fork
	Altcoins
		Litecoin
		More Altcoin Experiments
	“2.0” Chains
		NXT
		Counterparty
	Privacy-Focused Cryptocurrencies
		Dash
		Monero
		Zcash
	Ripple and Stellar
		Ripple
		Stellar
	Scaling Blockchains
		SegWit
		Lightning
		Other Altchain Solutions
	The Ethereum Classic Fork
	Summary
Chapter 4. The Evolution to Ethereum
	Improving Bitcoin’s Limited Functionality
		Colored Coins and Tokens
		Mastercoin and Smart Contracts
		Understanding Omni Layer
	Ethereum: Taking Mastercoin to the Next Level
		Ether and Gas
		Use Cases: ICOs
		Decentralized Autonomous Organizations
		Key Organizations in the Ethereum Ecosystem
	Decentralized Applications (Dapps)
		Use Cases
		Challenges in Developing Dapps
	Deploying and Executing Smart Contracts in Ethereum
		The Ethereum Virtual Machine
		Gas and Pricing
		Interacting with Code
	Summary
Chapter 5. Tokenize Everything
	Tokens on the Ethereum Platform
		Fungible and Nonfungible Tokens
		Is a Token Necessary?
		Airdrops
		Different Token Types
	Understanding Ethereum Requests for Comment
		ERC-20
		ERC-721
		ERC-777
		ERC-1155
	Multisignature Contracts
	Decentralized Exchange Contracts
	Summary
Chapter 6. Market Infrastructure
	Evolution of the Price of Bitcoin
	The Role of Exchanges
		Order Books
		Slippage
		Depth Charts
		Jurisdiction
		Wash Trading
		Whales
		Derivatives
	Cryptocurrency Market Structure
		Arbitrage
		Counterparty Risk
		Market Data
	Analysis
		Fundamental Cryptocurrency Analysis
		Technical Cryptocurrency Analysis
	Arbitrage Trading
		Timing and Managing Float
		Float Configuration 1
		Float Configuration 2
		Float Configuration 3
	Regulatory Challenges
		Banking Risk
		Exchange Risk
		Basic Mistakes
	Exchange APIs and Trading Bots
		Open Source Trading Tech
		Rate Limiting
		REST Versus WebSocket
		Testing in a Sandbox
		Market Aggregators
	Summary
Chapter 7. Decentralizing Finance and the Web
	Redistribution of Trust
		Identity and the Dangers of Hacking
		Wallets
		Private Keys
		Naming Services
	Decentralizing Finance
		Important Definitions
		Stablecoins
	DeFi Services
		Lending
		Savings
		Derivatives
	Decentralized Exchanges
		Decentralized Versus Centralized Exchanges
	Flash Loans
		Creating a Flash Loan Contract
		Deploying the Contract
		Executing a Flash Loan
		Flash Loans for Arbitrage
		The Fulcrum Exploit
	Privacy
		Zero-Knowledge Proof
		Zcash
		Ring Signatures
	Web 3.0
	Summary
Chapter 8. Catch Me If You Can
	The Evolution of Crypto Laundering
	FinCEN Guidance and the Beginning of Regulation
	The FATF and the Travel Rule
	Skirting the Laws
	Avoiding Scrutiny: Regulatory Arbitrage
		Malta
		Singapore
		Hong Kong
		Bahamas
	Crypto-Based Stablecoins
		NuBits
		Digix
		Basis
		Tether
	Initial Coin Offerings
		Founder Intentions
		Token Economics
		Whitepaper
	Exchange Hacks
		Mt. Gox
		Bitfinex
		Coincheck
		NiceHash
	Other Hacks
		Bloomberg TV BTC Stolen
		EtherDelta Redirection
		CryptoLocker and Ransomware
		SIM Swapping
	Summary
Chapter 9. Other Blockchains
	What Are Blockchains Good For?
	Databases and Ledgers
	Decentralization Versus Centralization
		Participants
		Key Properties of Distributed Verifiable Ledgers
	Ethereum-Based Privacy Implementations
		Nightfall
		Quorum
	Enterprise Implementations
		Hyperledger
		Corda
		DAML
	Blockchain as a Service
	Banking
		The Royal Mint
		Banque de France
		China
		US Federal Reserve
		JPMorgan
	Permissioned Ledger Uses
		IT
		Banking
		Central Bank Digital Currencies
		Legal
		Gaming
		Health Care
		Internet of Things
		Payments
	Libra
		The Libra Association
		Borrowing from Existing Blockchains
		Novi
		How the Libra Protocol Works
	Summary
Chapter 10. The Future of Blockchain
	The More Things Change
	Blockchains to Watch
		How Monero Works
		Mimblewimble, Beam, and Grin
	The Scaling Problem
		Sidechains
		Sharding
		STARKs
		DAGs
		Avalanche
		Liquid
		Lightning
		Ethereum Scaling
	Privacy
	Interoperability
	Tokenize Everything
	Summary
Index
About the Authors
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