Originally published in 2018 and now in its third edition, Packt Publishing Mastering Blockchain aims to give Blockchain a complete introduction and is aimed at developers, students, and anyone with an interest in building Blockchain applications or learning about the technology that underpins blockchain applications.
The book covers both the theoretical and practical aspects of Blockchain and aims to give readers an in-depth understanding as well as a foundation for building Blockchain applications. The third edition of the book contains 22 chapters, up from 13 in the first edition. They cover all topics related to Blockchain, such as cryptography, cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, Ethereum, including four new chapters on consensus algorithms, Serenity (Ethereum 2.0), tokenization, and blockchain campaign.
InfoQ has taken the opportunity to speak to Blockchain Mastering author Imran Bashir to learn more about the book and the current Blockchain landscape.
InfoQ: What inspired you to write the 3rd edition of Mastering Blockchain?
Bashir: Since the previous edition was published, blockchain technology has come a long way. Some of the ideas that have contributed to the evolution of blockchain technology include modern cryptographic protocols, new concurrency algorithms, new privacy methods, and extensive work on scalability. In addition, innovative types of blockchain, developed to address frontiers in the underlying technology, have emerged, along with a deep interest in the adoption of blockchain technology in enterprise settings. Each of these changes inspired us to update the book with the latest industry developments.
InfoQ: The latest edition of the book includes new chapters on concurrency algorithms, Serenity (Ethereum 2.0), and tokenization. Could you briefly explain about these new developments that the Blockchain ecosystem will bring?
Bashir: This book contains new chapters on some of the latest topics, including concurrency algorithms, Ethereum 2.0, tokenization, and enterprise blockchain. Consensus algorithms are not a new algorithm from a computer science perspective but have gained renewed interest as a result of its application in the blockchain, being a distributed system. Consensus algorithms allow blockchain participants to agree on the state of the blockchain and is critical to the integrity of the protocol. Many traditional protocols such as PBFT and RAFT have made their way into the blockchain world and have been adopted to give blockchain guarantees of approval, safety and livelihood. More recent variations of these traditional algorithms like IBFT and better protocols like Hotstuff and DiemBFT have been developed which have introduced many more unique and improved builds. Also, as might be expected, tokenization has emerged as the most obvious application of blockchain technology. New ecosystems such as DeFi, payment systems, and many other DAPPs, tokens etc. have been developed on Ethereum and other platforms to make traditional processes more efficient. In addition, an entirely new ecosystem of signals has emerged, which opens up many new opportunities in many industries.
InfoQ: Since you first wrote this book, to what extent has the Blockchain economy evolved? Do you see any obstacles? Can Blockchain still be seen as a technology in finding an application?
Bashir: The Blockchain economy has indeed evolved. A recent report suggests that people are looking to invest in Bitcoin more than gold. Bitcoin recently passed the $ 20,000 mark, and it is a clear sign that blockchain has impacted the economy. In addition, decentralized finance, with over $ 16 billion locked in, is a clear sign that blockchain has become part of our economy. Even if it is not fully managed, scams and deception occur, many people prefer traditional finance, not many people understand it, it is a small fraction of the total economy, but… it is already a fact.
InfoQ: The new edition of the book includes an extended coverage of Blockchain scalability. Could you explain what progress has been made in this area?
Bashir: Much work has been done on scalability. Solutions such as ZK-rollups, lightning network, state channels, plasma are all the new technologies developed, showing great progress in this field. Scalability solutions such as ZK-rollups, lightening network, state channels, plasma are all new technologies developed to address the scalability issue of blockchain. This trend is only expected to grow.
InfoQ: When it comes to other factors that have limited Blockchain ‘s large – scale adoption, such as privacy, governance and compliance, etc., how has the overall landscape changed?
Bashir: In general, I think there is more adoption, people know more about it, even though it has the same Bitcoin, the underlying technology, ie blockchain is still relevant and in my personal experience, people have grown much more curious about cryptocurrencies and blockchain in general. Of course, in the general public, this interest is largely due to cryptocurrencies. However, a great deal of industry and academic commitment has been seen in the last few years, which is evident from the new innovations and the abundance of quality research papers in this field.
InfoQ: Speaking of Blockchain’s use beyond money and finance, what other areas does Blockchain look to apply for?
Bashir: Blockchain introduced with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, other businesses can benefit from this unique technology. Already a wide range of applications of blockchain technology has found its way into real estate, medical, IoT, machine learning, game industry, government, health, music, media and even sports industry. The essential advantage of blockchain technology is that it shares secure and ready data with other partners or peers in the network. This will immediately reduce the cost of additional infrastructure, data transfer challenges and security arrangements. Actors in an ecosystem can interact directly with each other without any third-party, which makes this a much more cost-effective way compared to traditional reliable third-party models. In particular, in health care, a medical supply chain can benefit from blockchain by stopping the administration of medications. IoT can provide P2P communication, security guarantees with Blockchain and concurrency algorithms to achieve efficiency and security with relatively lower implementation costs and less challenge.
InfoQ: Last but not least, in recent years we have seen the rise of Enterprise Blockchain. Could you explain what it is about and what are the main challenges it faces?
Bashir: An enterprise blockchain allows an enterprise to benefit from blockchain technology. A public blockchain is not very suitable for many enterprise use cases due to performance, privacy and accessibility control requirements. However, they can be modified to allow enterprise usage issues to be implemented on the blockchain. An enterprise blockchain can run within an organization or consortium of a different organization with the primary goals of achieving efficiencies in business processes and reducing cost. One prime example may be the ability to securely share data with other organizations that will provide greater trust or run an interbank payment and settlement network without the need for costly settlement processes.
Imran Bashir
The M.Sc. Imran Bashir in Information Security from Royal Holloway, University of London, and has a background in software development, solution architecture, infrastructure management and IT service management. He is also a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) and the British Computer Society (BCS). Imran has extensive experience in both the public and financial sectors, having worked on large scale IT projects in the public sector before moving into the financial services industry. Since then, he has worked in a number of technical roles for various finance companies in the European capital of finance, London.