As you are learning in this course, blockchain is the technology that underpins Bitcoin and almost all other cryptocurrencies today, and there has been a recent explosion of interest from multiple sectors in looking to make distributed ledger technology work for their businesses. Below is a primer on how blockchain technology works, an introduction to cryptocurrency mining methods, cryptographic hash function overview, how digital signatures work, and some optional material on more advanced topics of mining algorithms.

There are countless alliances being created by leading institutions in the world with the intent of advancing standards, establishing reference architecture, encouraging blockchain interoperability and a great degree of connectivity overall. Below are two of the largest blockchain alliances globally, and they are leading the way by being completely open-source projects. Here is another example of an alliance that was recently created by Aion, ICON, and Wanchain, in a bid to allow blockchains to communicate in the same language (blockchain compatibility).

There are many resources and online publications covering Bitcoin, Blockchain, and cryptocurrencies in general, some of my personal favorites in addition to creating a Daily Google Alert for the terms “Blockchain” and “Ethereum” are:

Usefull tools

Congratulation is in order! You have officially joined the ranks of Blockchainists. You now have sufficient knowledge to teach others how the Blockchain works and even showcase some live implementations of Blockchain technology. In this course you have learned what a Blockchain is, what the major features and benefits are of Blockchain technology, interacted with some live Blockchain applications, learned about the nascent field of Cryptoeconomics, and, hopefully, now understand why so many professionals are ecstatic at the prospects that lie ahead, thanks to this technological revolution.