Blockchain is perceived to be a disruptive game-changing technology that will have an impact as huge as the internet in the next two decades. This programmable economy has use cases and applications in almost every industry. Blockchain has grown from being a buzzword to something of great interest to enthusiasts and real implementers. Evangelists are not confined to proof of concepts (PoCs), but have started real implementations and have started demonstrating concrete achievements. Although the adoption is slow, Gartner projects (at https://www.gartner.com/ on June 3, 2019) that adoption will be $3.1 trillion by 2030.
Blockchain is a world where users are in full control of transactions and the information around them. The information flowing around is true, trusted, accurate, consistent, accepted, complete, timely available, widely available, transparent, and immutable. Blockchain, a type of distributed ledger technology (DLT), removes the risk of a central point of failure, while the underlying cryptography and algorithms will ensure the security in this immutable world. As the trust is in the blockchain network itself, there is no need for a trusted central third party. Welcome to the blockchain world, a world of distributed double-entry systems.
This chapter starts with accounting systems, centralized and decentralized ledgers, and coins the term distributed double-entry system. This chapter gradually moves toward the definition and analogy of blockchain and demonstrates the power of equity offered by peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. Here, you will also walk through various types of blockchain networks, such as permissioned and permissionless or public and private. This chapter then graduates toward the layered structure of the blockchain architecture and structure of transaction, as well as the blocks and the transaction flow. Finally, it covers how you can approach a blockchain solution and defines the cloud approach to ease blockchain adoption—from PoC to production using a Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform such as the Oracle Blockchain Platform (OBP).
