Primer
Basics
What is Blockchain Technology? A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
Ameer Rosic
Blockgeeks
Blockgeeks’ Guide provides an overview of the central characteristics and defining principles of blockchain technology.
Read moreWhat is Blockchain Technology?
Nolan Bauerle
CoinDesk
CoinDesk’s introduction to blockchain technology includes an index of FAQs related to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies.
Read moreCIO Explainer: What Is Blockchain?
Steven Norton
The Wall Street Journal
This Wall Street Journal article gives a holistic overview of blockchain – how it works, how it started, how it can be used, the challenges it faces, and the contemporary ecosystem (as of 2016).
Read moreA Complete Beginner's Guide To Blockchain
Bernard Marr
Forbes
This short article from Forbes explains the basics of what blockchain is, how it works, and why is it important.
Read moreBlockchain 101: An introduction
Jedidiah Bracy
IAPP
An introduction to blockchain that includes videos on the history of double-spending in finance and how hashing works within cryptocurrencies.
Read moreHBR Whiteboard Session: How Does Blockchain Work?
Karim Lakhani
Harvard Business School Digital Initiative
In this brief video, Professor Lakhani explains the fundamentals of blockchain and why they are important across industries.
Read moreBitcoin, Ethereum and Smart Contracts
A simple guide to Bitcoin
Olivia Solon
Wired
This piece from Wired focuses especially on key bitcoin fundamentals such as mining, how to buy bitcoin, exchange security, volatility, and 51 percent attacks.
Read moreWhat is Ethereum? A Step-by-Step Beginners Guide
Ameer Rosic
Blockgeeks
Blockgeeks’ Guide explains what Ethereum is, how it works and what it can be used for.
Read moreA Beginner’s Guide to Smart Contracts
Ameer Rosic
Blockgeeks
Blockgeeks’ Guide explains what a smart contract is, how it can be created using blockchain, and examples of how smart contracts could benefit various industries.
Read moreBlockchain for Business & Real-World Applications
Are you ready for blockchain?
Thomson Reuters
This Thomson Reuters report details a number of blockchain projects, provides insights from blockchain applications across different industries, and considers which blockchain use cases will become mainstream.
Read moreBlockchain basics
Sloane Brakeville & Bhargav Perepa
IBM
IBM’s guide provides basics on distributed ledgers and blockchain with a particular focus on Hyperledger. Hyperledger is an open-source project to support the development of blockchain-based distributed ledgers for business use.
Read moreHow blockchain will radically transform the economy
Bettina Warburg
TEDSummit
A TED talk on how blockchain technology can be applied in the real world and create changes in the economy.
Read moreHow the blockchain is changing money and business
Don Tapscott
TEDSummit
A TED talk that aims to demystify blockchain and explain how it holds the potential to transform money, business, government, and society.
Read moreTechnical
Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System
Satoshi Nakamoto
www.bitcoin.org
The original bitcoin whitepaper from Satoshi Nakamoto describes the digital currency as a solution to the double-spending problem by creating a peer-to-peer network. Interestingly, there is no specific mention of “blockchain” throughout the entire paper.
Read moreLearn Blockchains by Building One
Daniel van Flymen
Hacker Noon
This article from Hacker Noon takes readers through the step-by-step process of building a blockchain.
Read moreAn Introduction to Ethereum and Smart Contracts: Bitcoin and the Blockchain
Sebastián Peyrott
DZone
This piece from DZone explains (in a technical manner) how Bitcoin, Ethereum, and smart contracts mitigate the problem of double-spending.
Read moreOpen Matters: Why Permissionless Blockchains are Essential to the Future of the Internet
Peter Van Valkenburgh
Coin Center
This article from Coin Center explains the difference between permissioned and permissionless blockchain and how they manage consensus mechanisms in different situations.
Read moreBeyond Blockchain: Other DLTs
Hedera Hashgraph Thinks It Can One-Up Bitcoin And Ethereum With Faster Transactions
Jeff Kauflin
Forbes
This Forbes article examines Hedera and IOTA – two DLTs that do not use a traditional blockchain; both the IOTA Tangle and Hedera Hashgraph are based on the mathematical approach called a directed acyclic graph (DAG).
Read moreComparison of Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric and Corda
Martin Valenta & Philipp Sandner
Frankfurt School Blockchain Center
This working paper compares the most notable differences between Hyperledger Fabric, R3 Corda, and Ethereum, toward providing decision-makers with insight on what use cases are most suitable for each DLT.
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