Congratulations! You've unlocked a 50% discount.

Thanks for visiting sumizeit.com. As a new user, you can use coupon code WELCOME for a 50% discount off a premium subscription.

TIME TO CLAIM

Star

New Feature! Download infographics with key insights from bestselling non-fiction books.

Download Now

Blockchain Book Summary

Book Summary

By Stephen P. Williams




15 min
Audio available

Brief Summary

Every day, new and innovative products emerge within the tech sector, but it is far less often that a mechanism is introduced that completely turns the world of technology on its head…

Blockchain, the latest in disruptive technology, not only benefits the technical world, but its many diverse applications can revolutionize a variety of industries including medicine, sustainability, transportation, and even animal welfare.

Blockchains are comprehensive, digital ledgers intended to remove the middle-man from economic transactions while maintaining top-quality security and reliability. Due to its highly structured encryption, hackers are unlikely to gain access to the chain.

Today, we are driving our cars to the gas station, but with blockchain technology, it is highly probable that they will soon be driving themselves.

As blockchain technology continues to evolve, we will begin to see more and more of its capabilities integrated into our daily lives. The possibilities are endless.

About the Author

Stephen P. Williams, author of Blockchain, is a well-regarded journalist who has written for The New York Times, Newsweek, GQ, The Smithsonian, and Martha Stewart Living, as well as numerous other publications. Having earned an MA in Communications from Stanford University and a MBA in Sustainability from Bard College, Williams is the founder of a sustainable fashion startup called Wm. Williams, which relies on blockchain technology for distributed manufacturing. Currently, the writer and entrepreneur lives in New York City.

Topics

Blockchain Book Summary Preview

Key Insights

As a digital ledger software platform that is both unhackable and unchangeable, blockchain is far ahead of its time. Allowing for an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability, this distributed technology can threaten banks, businesses, and even governments based on its high-level capabilities. In Blockchain, Stephen P. Williams provides a thorough overview of this radical concept while highlighting potential outcomes that may arise from its implementation, for better and for worse.

A Digital Ledger

It began as a platform for Bitcoin. Some philosophers refer to it as the next enlightenment.

But what, exactly, is blockchain?

Simply put: blockchain is a digital ledger--or a book where monetary transactions are recorded and tracked.

Sounds pretty dull, right?

However, without the existence of ledgers, civilizations would never have been able to build cities or effective markets.

While history has taught us that ledgers are important, they are not always reliable tools. Some corporations (such as Enron) have even been known to keep a second set of records which are aimed at hiding their true financial undertakings.

To avoid this type of illegal activity, brokers and bankers are often able to certify the legitimacy of a ledger for a fee, but again, this method is far from fail-proof.

Essentially, a blockchain fills in this validity gap by tracking every purchase or sale that a consumer or company makes. Blockchain has a system in place for verifying these transactions, eliminating the need for third-party involvement.

Unlike a paper ledger system of the past or many of the digital ledger formats that exist today, blockchain is not only publicly accessible, but it is not susceptible to hacking or corruption. Next, we will look at why this is the case.

Hack-proof

Each ‘block’ in the blockchain is essentially a set of data points.

Think of groups of stars where each constellation is a block in the galaxy’s chain. However, before these sets of stars are able to form constellations, each star is assessed and verified for accuracy and reliability through a set of highly-specified protocol.

One such verification protocol is referred to as proof of work. With this, every set of data points is subject to a complex math problem that needs to be solved before the block can be added to the chain. In order to solve this mathematical challenge, significant computational resources are required, which makes it very implausible that a hacker would be able to get through and manipulate the chain.

So, if hackers can’t solve the mathematical problems required to get their blocks added to the blockchain, who can?

This is where miners come in. Miners are people that are trained to compete to solve blockchains. From the problem-solving process, a cryptographic hash (a string of numbers and letters) is generated along with a timestamp. Both identifiers are used to connect the block with the remainder of the chain.

Now, let’s say that a hacker was able to circumvent the problem-solving process and infiltrate the chain. What would happen?

When the hacker tried to change the information in a single block, all of the hashes for the entire blockchain...

Please login to access the full text and audio summary for FREE

Users get access to two FREE summaries. Become a pro user for unlimited access.

Login
Congrats! You've unlocked a 50% discount. Use coupon code WELCOME for 50% off Sumizeit Premium.

Save time with unlimited access to text, audio, and video summaries of the world's best-selling books.
Become a pro user

book summary - Blockchain by Stephen P. Williams

Blockchain

Book Summary

15 min
Read now Download PDF Take a Quiz

More Like This


The Bitcoin Standard
Saifedean Ammous

Financial Freedom
Grant Sabatier

The Millionaire Real Estate Agent
Gary Keller, Dave Jenks, and Jay Papasan

The Snowball
Alice Schroeder

Learn Something New Every Day with Sumizeit

Here’s Why Sumizeit Is Worth It

Try Sumizeit to get the key ideas from thousands of bestselling nonfiction titles. Listen, read, or watch in just 15 minutes.

High-Quality Titles

Highest quality content

Our book summaries are crafted to be unbiased, concise, and comprehensive, giving you the most valuable insights in the shortest amount of time.

New book summaries added constantly

New content added constantly

We add new content each week, including New York Times bestsellers.

Learn on the go while commuting, exercising, etc

Learn on the go

Learn anytime, anywhere - read, listen or watch summaries on IOS, tablet, laptop, and Kindle!

You can cancel your subscription anytime

Cancel anytime

Changed your mind? No problem. Cancel your subscription anytime.

Collect awards while learning

Collect Achievements

Learning just got more rewarding - track your progress and earn prizes using our mobile app.

Sumizeit provides other features as well

And much more!

Improve your retention with quizzes. Enjoy PDF summaries, infographics, offline access with our app and more.

Our users love Sumizeit

Join thousands of readers who learn faster than they ever thought possible.

4.6 out of 5

400 ratings on
Apple Store

Quality
As featured in
  • icon
  • icon
  • icon
  • icon

People ❤️ SumizeIt

Olga Z.

I love this app! As a busy executive, I don't have time to read entire books, but I still want to stay informed. This app provides me with concise summaries of the latest bestsellers, so I can stay up-to-date on the latest trends and ideas without sacrificing my precious time.

Chen L.

Very good development in last months. Content updates on a regular basis and UI is getting better and better.

Erica A.

Great product. Have used them for a long time. One of my favorite things about them is that they are able to summarize a whole book into just 10 minutes.

William H.

This app has been a lifesaver for my studies. Instead of struggling to finish textbooks, I can quickly get the key points from each chapter. It's helped me improve my grades and understand the material much better.