Navigating the Blockchain ,Revolution: Decentralization Finance, and Beyond E-Book
Editors: Monica Bhutani
76,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: Bentham Science Publishers
- Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
- Sprache: Englisch
A comprehensive and practice-oriented exploration of blockchain technology, tracing its evolution from Bitcoin to Ethereum and beyond. This volume explains blockchain’s foundational principles, such as decentralization, immutability, and cryptographic security, before moving into real-world applications across finance, supply chain management, healthcare, governance, and emerging tech ecosystems. With contributions from leading researchers and practitioners, the book examines both opportunities and challenges ranging from scalability and energy consumption to regulatory clarity and security. Readers also gain insights into cutting-edge developments like smart contracts, decentralized finance (DeFi), identity systems, Layer 2 solutions, DAOs, and blockchain’s synergy with IoT and AI. Key Features Explains the core principles of blockchain, from decentralization to cryptographic security. Traces the evolution from Bitcoin and Ethereum to DeFi, smart contracts, and dApps. Demonstrates applications across finance, healthcare, supply chain, governance, and identity management. Addresses pressing challenges, including scalability, energy use, regulatory frameworks, and security threats. Explores future trends like interoperability, DAOs, Layer 2 solutions, and integration with IoT and AI.
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025
Ähnliche
BENTHAM SCIENCE PUBLISHERS LTD.
End User License Agreement (for non-institutional, personal use)
This is an agreement between you and Bentham Science Publishers Ltd. Please read this License Agreement carefully before using the book/echapter/ejournal (“Work”). Your use of the Work constitutes your agreement to the terms and conditions set forth in this License Agreement. If you do not agree to these terms and conditions then you should not use the Work.
Bentham Science Publishers agrees to grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable limited license to use the Work subject to and in accordance with the following terms and conditions. This License Agreement is for non-library, personal use only. For a library / institutional / multi user license in respect of the Work, please contact: [email protected].
Usage Rules:
All rights reserved: The Work is the subject of copyright and Bentham Science Publishers either owns the Work (and the copyright in it) or is licensed to distribute the Work. You shall not copy, reproduce, modify, remove, delete, augment, add to, publish, transmit, sell, resell, create derivative works from, or in any way exploit the Work or make the Work available for others to do any of the same, in any form or by any means, in whole or in part, in each case without the prior written permission of Bentham Science Publishers, unless stated otherwise in this License Agreement.You may download a copy of the Work on one occasion to one personal computer (including tablet, laptop, desktop, or other such devices). You may make one back-up copy of the Work to avoid losing it.The unauthorised use or distribution of copyrighted or other proprietary content is illegal and could subject you to liability for substantial money damages. You will be liable for any damage resulting from your misuse of the Work or any violation of this License Agreement, including any infringement by you of copyrights or proprietary rights.Disclaimer:
Bentham Science Publishers does not guarantee that the information in the Work is error-free, or warrant that it will meet your requirements or that access to the Work will be uninterrupted or error-free. The Work is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied or statutory, including, without limitation, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to the results and performance of the Work is assumed by you. No responsibility is assumed by Bentham Science Publishers, its staff, editors and/or authors for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products instruction, advertisements or ideas contained in the Work.
Limitation of Liability:
In no event will Bentham Science Publishers, its staff, editors and/or authors, be liable for any damages, including, without limitation, special, incidental and/or consequential damages and/or damages for lost data and/or profits arising out of (whether directly or indirectly) the use or inability to use the Work. The entire liability of Bentham Science Publishers shall be limited to the amount actually paid by you for the Work.
General:
Any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with this License Agreement or the Work (including non-contractual disputes or claims) will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Singapore. Each party agrees that the courts of the state of Singapore shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with this License Agreement or the Work (including non-contractual disputes or claims).Your rights under this License Agreement will automatically terminate without notice and without the need for a court order if at any point you breach any terms of this License Agreement. In no event will any delay or failure by Bentham Science Publishers in enforcing your compliance with this License Agreement constitute a waiver of any of its rights.You acknowledge that you have read this License Agreement, and agree to be bound by its terms and conditions. To the extent that any other terms and conditions presented on any website of Bentham Science Publishers conflict with, or are inconsistent with, the terms and conditions set out in this License Agreement, you acknowledge that the terms and conditions set out in this License Agreement shall prevail.Bentham Science Publishers Pte. Ltd. No. 9 Raffles Place Office No. 26-01 Singapore 048619 Singapore Email: [email protected]
PREFACE
Blockchain is among the disruptive technologies of the 21st century owing to its impact on redesigning the systems of data protection, finance, and other distributed architectures. Of the many global significance that this technology has, this is the most important one because of the potential of this technology to change the different sectors, including the banking sector, supply chain management, the health sector, and the government. Navigating the Blockchain Revolution: This work aims to present the readers with an understanding of the core concept of blockchain technology, the various possibilities offered by this technology, and the problems that this sector encounters as it navigates into the global market.
First, the book aims to acquaint the reader with the basic idea of blockchain through the process of creating Bitcoin, Ethereum, and smart contracts. The early chapters create the basis for realizing that blockchain is much greater than cryptocurrencies' underlying technology. Further sections show that different sectors explained how blockchains are introduced and used to unmask certain issues—whether to secure the monetary operations, enhance the supply chain traces, or, among others, defend healthcare information.
Being aware of the problems related to the adoption of blockchain, this book also tackles the major concerns of scalability, power usage, and regulations issues. Readers will be able to get a realistic picture of the future of blockchain technology just by analyzing the current solutions and further advancements being made.
Furthermore, this book discusses some of these applications when overlaying blockchain with other promising technologies such as IoT and AI. The last chapters shed light on the future, presenting further developments like blockchain connection and decentralized autonomous organisms, which can change numerous branches and how companies work.
Thus, this book aims to be a source of practical information and inspiration for professionals, academics, and enthusiasts. Regardless of whether you are approaching the subject from scratch or enhancing your prior knowledge, this book is set to offer inspiring perspectives on blockchain’s broad and growing applications in our new digital world. Our intention with this guide is to provide the necessary insights for readers to go forward into the continuous advancement of blockchain technology.
List of Contributors
Comprehensive Introduction to Blockchain Technology: Principles, Applications, and Future Prospects
Nivedita Palia1,*,Deepali Kamthania2Abstract
Blockchain is an immutable digital ledger system that eliminates the need for centralized storage and authority, enabling decentralized financial transactions. It is made up of timestamped, immutable information blocks that are managed by a collection of nodes rather than by any one node. Using cryptographic methods, every block is connected and secured. Blockchain provides a secure and transparent solution by redefining faith, possession, and identity in financial systems. This chapter thoroughly reviews blockchain technology, focusing on why we need it. Next, the chapter discusses blockchain technology's characteristics, type, architecture, and work. Further, the chapter presents some areas of application and challenges it faces.
INTRODUCTION
In the past few years, the word blockchain has changed from a specialised thing to an enormous transforming power with the potential to revolutionize several sectors. It has transformed contracts, financial transactions, and records into digital form. Blockchain technology (BT) was initiated in 2008 with Satoshi Nakamato's introduction of Bitcoin [1]. It introduces the idea of blockchain and initiates the use of cryptocurrency in financial transactions where previously cash was used. The introduction of smart contracts started 2nd generation of blockchain and provides efficiency, security, and transparency to financial transactions.
Alternatively, 3rd generation depends on areas other than finance where blockchain is used, such as healthcare, government, science, etc. We are in the fourth generation of blockchain with Artificial Intelligence. In less than a decade, Blockchain has seen three generations. Fig. (1) summarizes the generations of blockchain.
Fig. (1)) Generations of blockchain technology.Blockchain has great potential to transform the financial sector digitally, but some pros and cons remain. In this chapter, we provide a brief survey of the BT, its types, the timeline of blockchain, its characteristics, different algorithms used, and areas of application, followed by a discussion of other challenges and future scope.
TIMELINE OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY
The emergence of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency in 2008 hyped the term “blockchain,” but its fundamental ideas and principles have been applied since the 1980s. David Chamu [2] in 1983 proposed the concept of blind signatures for digital transactions. It is a cryptographic technique designed for a safe, automated payment system for enhancing user privacy. Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta 1991 [3] introduced a method for timestamping digital documents by ensuring the validity and integrity of the time of creation. Their pioneering work set the foundation for further development in BT. Reusable Proof of Work (RPoW) was introduced by Hal Finney in 2004 [4] to improve the idea of proof of work, which was initially implemented to combat spam in the digital world. In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto [1] gave the concept of bitcoin (BTC) in the paper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” defining the decentralized, secure, and transparent transaction system without intervening central authority. On 12th January 2009 [5, 6], the first Bitcoin transaction of 10 BTC occurred between Santoshi Nakamoto and Hal Finney. This historic transaction initiated the era of global cryptocurrency. The world’s first bitcoin exchange, “Bitcoin Market” was set up in 2010 [7]. It enables users to transact Bitcoin for U.S. dollars. The first BTC ATM [8] was installed in a Waves Coffee House in Vancouver, Canada, in 2013. It was operated by Robocoin, which allowed users to convert cash for BTC and vice versa. Vitalik Buterin in the year of 2013 presented the idea of a smart contract in his Ethereum white paper [9]. He set up the foundation for the decentralized platform, which can handle decentralized applications (dApps). Officially, in the year 2014, Ethereum launched Blockchain Technology [10]. Concurrently in the same year, the Linux Foundation initiated the Hyperledger project. Free software supports enterprise-grade BT in supply chain management, healthcare, finance, education, etc [11]. The establishment of the R3 consortium and the launch of Ethereum's first live release: “Frontier” are the two significant events that took place in the year 2015, which will influence the evolution of BT [12, 13]. The Decentralized Autonomous Organization project was developed on the Ethereum Blockchain and raised US$ 150 million in 2016 [14]. In 2017 Digital Trade Chain platform was announced. Seven European banks collaborated to create the platform. Later it was renamed as we. Trade [15]. Table 1 summarizes the significant events that occurred in the evolution and global spread of BT [1-23]. Since 2008, BT has drawn interest from all over the world. Many nations are implementing this technology in various areas such as healthcare, supply chain, finance, agriculture, etc. This chapter briefly explained the different aspects of the BT, its area of applications, challenges, and future scope.
NEEDS OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY
The global financial system regularly handles trillions of cash while serving billions of people. Such ambitious goals come with a various issues that the finance industry has been facing for a long time. These problems consist of the expenditure of several representatives, delays, additional paperwork, and data leakage, causing enormous losses for a company every financial year. BT may be able to resolve these issues faced by the global economic system [25]. Additionally, the cost of the current stock market is driven up due to the existence of regulators, brokers, etc. Using the decentralized method, and stock market efficiency can be improved by using smart contracts. For a very long time, the financial sector has faced various challenges. They search for a comprehensive solution that can solve all existing problems. BT has the ability to address all business problems; it executes every investor-company interaction in a decentralized manner without brokers' interference and reduces cost [26].
TYPES OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY
Blockchain architecture is based on two main aspects: ownership of the data related with joining, such as read, write, and commit. Based on these, BT is categorized into 4 types as shown in Fig. (2). Public BT is a non-restricted distributed system. Any user can join the network, authorize the transaction, and access the current and previous records, while Private BT is restrictive in nature and allows selected members to access the network. Consortium and Hybrid BT combine the features of public and private BT. Consortium BT is also known as Federated BT, and it is administered by the group rather than a single member. Each type of BT has pros and cons, making them fit for different applications. Table 2 provides the comparative analysis for various forms of BT.
BLOCKCHAIN ARCHITECTURE
BT is a distributed, decentralized digital ledger that records transactional data in sequential blocks that are joined by a cryptographic function. Fig. (3) given below, shows an example of Blockchain. Every block is linked to the previous block using the parent block hash contained in the block header. The first node in the network is known as Block 0/ Genesis Block, which is a node without a parent node. The internal structure of the blockchain is described in Fig. (4). A block is the key element of BT. It is divided into two sections: a block header and a block body [30].
Fig. (2)) Types of blockchain technology. Fig. (3)) A blockchain example. Fig. (4)) Structure of a block.Block Header
Block Version: Specifies the version of the software used. It shows the set of guidelines the block follows.Merkle Tree Root Hash: A 256-bit hash value summarizes all the transactions.Timestamp: It recorded the current time in seconds since 1st January 1970. It helps in sequencing the blocks in chronological order.nbits: Represents the difficulty in targeting 32-bit in a format known as target threshold.The Nonce:4-byte: Field begins from zero and is used in the Proof of Work (PoW) algorithm, as well as increments for each hash computation.Parent Block Hash: 1-byte hash value that indicates the parent block. It is used to link blocks together to form a blockchain.Block Body
It consists of a transaction counter and transactions. The count of transactions depends upon the size of the block and transaction size.
CHARACTERISTICS OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY
BT has the following key characteristics:
Decentralization: In traditional systems, every transaction is validated by the central authority, in contrast, blockchain operates through distributed networks while maintaining data consistency.
Immutability: Only valid transactions are admitted; a transaction cannot be changed or removed after it has been stored. It guarantees a permanent and un-editable record of every transaction.
Transparency: Every participant in the network views each transaction. Details of every transaction are available for audit purposes.
Security: Each node/block in the blockchain is connected to the previous node by a cryptographic hash function, which makes the system highly secure.
Anonymity: Each participant can interact while remaining pseudonymous with blockchain, which guarantees the privacy preservation of the user.
Consensus Mechanism: It is a backbone for any blockchain application. For the proper working of blockchain, it requires some rules and, these rules are provided by a consensus mechanism. The details of some common consensus algorithms are explained below and summarized in Table 3 [31].
Proof of Work (PoW): This consensus mechanism is used by the majority of blockchains. The Bitcoin network uses this strategy [1]. It operates on the criteria that there exists a solution that is easy to verify and extremely difficult to discover. In this mechanism, a new node is added to the network after finding a solution to a complex problem. This process requires a lot of computational resources, using specialized hardware, which leads to high energy usage [32-35].
Proof Stake (PoS): It is a consensus mechanism to validate the transaction. In PoW, miners play the same role as the validator in the PoS. The lowest stake value required to become a validator in the Ethereum blockchain is 32ETH. Validators are chosen randomly in the PoS consensus mechanism to construct the new block and verify the other created blocks. In either case, rewards are given to the validators [32-35].
Delegated Proof of Stake: Daniel Larimer developed the Delegated Proof of Stake consensus algorithm. It moderates the traditional PoS consensus method by preserving an election system by selecting witness nodes for validating the blocks [43-46].
Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (pBFT): M. Castro and B. Liskov introduced the pBFT consensus algorithm. Zillique & Hyperledger Fabrics both make use of it. It works with high fault tolerance by tolerating one-third of the faulted nodes (Byzantine fault) without hampering the system’s integrity [32-35].
Proof of Activity (PoA): The PoW and PoS consensus approaches amalgamate in the PoA consensus mechanism. The starting mining procedure is like PoW. After a node is mined, a random set of validators is selected based on the PoS consensus mechanism, which then verify the freshly mined node [32-35].
Proof of Burns (PoB): It is more energy-efficient than the PoW consensus mechanism. It is based on the concept of burning “tokens”, which indicates removing unspendable addresses from circulation by directing cryptocurrency to them. Miner’s mining power in the PoW is determined based on the number of coins burned. The higher the count, the greater the mining power, which ultimately increases energy consumption [32-35].
Proof of Capacity (PoC): It is used to validate the blockchain system before deploying a complete system. It finds both technical as well as operational hurdles in the initial stage of the project lifecycle. Using allocated hard drive space, it determines mining rights. This mechanism works in two steps, naming, plotting, and mining [32-35].
Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET): It is developed based on the fair lottery method. It decides the mining rights based on a randomly selected waiting time. In this mechanism, every participant node waits for an arbitrary amount of time. It reduces the computational power consumption [32-35].
Delayed Proof of Work: It provides a security mechanism by enhancing the security of smaller blockchains by exploiting the security of safe and established blockchains [32-35].
Proof of Weight (PoWeight): This consensus algorithm was developed to improve the security of blockchain by considering users' weights instead of solely focusing on staking tokens. The weight of the participant is dependent on many factors like data storage, reputation, governance, etc [32-35].
Proof of Reputation (PoR): This consensus mechanism chooses validator blocks within the network based on reputation. The reputation within the network is built because of trust, previous performance, and their contribution within the network [32-35].
Proof of Space (PoSpace): Miners in the PoSpace algorithm prove that they are given a significant memory space on their hard disk to the blockchain network. It is more energy efficient than PoW because it depends on the availability of free storage space [32-35].
Proof of Importance (PoI): It finds which participant in the blockchain network is eligible to insert a new node. In the year of 2015, the New Economy Movement introduced it [32-35].
Proof of Stake Velocity (PoSV): It promotes ownership and activity in the network. In 2014, Ren proposed it. It uses an exponential growth function to compute coin age instead of a linear function used by PoS [32-35].
Proof of History (PoH): It solves the problem of time agreement using cryptographic technique to create a reliable sequence of transactions or events noted in the ledger. PoH allows execution of thousands of transactions instantly [32-36].
Proof of Believability (PoBLV): It chooses a validator by considering their previous behaviour and contribution.
Proof of Time (PoT): Verifiable delay functions (VDFs) are used by PoT to select validators. PoT chooses a validator based on each node's fixed stake and ranking score.
Proof of Existence (PoE): It is mainly used for timestamping and authentication. PoE can act as a means to verify a particular piece of existing data instantly, existing without disclosing the data itself. PoE is utilized for certifying documents by guaranteeing their transparency and consistency [32-36].
Proof of Retrievability (PoR): It is a cryptographic mechanism developed to verify that memory space providers, like cloud, etc., for storing the entire amount of uncorrupted information and has the ability to access/ retrieve it when required [32-36].
Ouroboros: It was created to maintain decentralization while handling key issues like security, sustainability, and scalability.
Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP): The Stellar network uses this protocol for transaction verification. It is created to make decentralized, efficient, and scalable consensus for distributed networks [32-36].
AREA OF APPLICATIONS
This section describes the use of BT in some major areas. Fig. (5) given below, summarizes the area of applications.
Fig. (5)) Area of the application blockchain technology [37-52].Finance and Banking: It is used for secure, safe, and transparent transactions. It consists of cross-border financial transactions, smart contracts, share trading and stock marketing, decentralized finance, fraud management, crypto-based banking transactions, and syndicated lending [37].
Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare: It is used to store and share patient records electronically and ensures preservation of data privacy. It helps trace and track pharmaceutical supply chain by identifying counterfeit drugs [38].
Food & Agriculture: It helps reduce food wastage, tracing and tracking food supply from farms to the table and tracking proper food storage, which helps identify contamination [39].
Energy Sector: It allows peer-to-peer energy trading of renewable energy and helps manage and optimize energy consumption and distribution [40].
Supply Chain Management & Logistics: It helps trace and track products (raw, intermediate, or finished) from the start to the end user by ensuring transparency and decreasing fraud [41].
Logistics & Transportation: Blockchain is used for Autonomous vehicle monitoring, creating opportunities for transportation players, monitoring fuels, and road safety [42].
Real Estate: It helps maintain property records accurately by transacting real estate transactions securely and transparently [43].
IPR and Copyright: Smart contracts are used to identify the ownership of IPR and copyright in the field of software, arts, music, fashion, literature, etc [44].
Education: It helps in credential verification and maintains students' identity [45].
e-Voting: It provides a secure voting system by verifying the identity of each voter [46].
Multimedia & Entertainment: Blockchain can help reduce intellectual property infringement, enhance transparency regarding content ownership, and enable monetizing copyright assets using smart contracts [47].
Waste Management & Tracking: Blockchain helps in keeping track of waste from its origin to its disposal location, resulting in an unchangeable and tamper-proof system [48].
Governance: Blockchain can revolutionize electronic governance by improving transparency, safety, and efficiency. The government can reduce the cases of corruption and fraud by using blockchain features and able to build trust among its citizens [49].
Insurance: Blockchain helps solve key challenges in the insurance sector, such as fraud, inefficient information exchange, reliance on brokers, and manual claim processing using smart contract for automation [50].
Internet of Things (IoT): Architectural flaws in IoT systems made security breaches possible. In a conventional IoT system, all information is stored at centralized locations. Currently, the number of interconnected devices is increasing exponentially, there is a requirement for a decentralized security system such as blockchain [51].
Crowdfunding: It is made transparent, secure, and accountable using BT. Blockchain enhances transaction time as well as cost [52].
CHALLENGES
This section of the chapter presented major challenges [53]. Fig. (6) summarizes these challenges.
Challenges faced by Blockchain Technology [].
