Started reading a published copy of this book. It was great and full of insights about branding. Readers of this book will benefit from its contents.

THE REAL BUSINESS OF BLOCKCHAIN

You might say I belong to the “Hold on for dear life” (HODL) school of thought where cryptocurrencies are concerned. Yes, I understand the use case; yes, I can appreciate the appeal. Yet whenever someone tells me that I should seriously consider investing in crypto in a big way because the value of one or another has gone this way or that, the advice I’d like to give them in return is simply, “HODL!”

So perhaps out of an excess of caution I remain skeptical about cryptocurrency in general (and about some more than others). But I’m much more optimistic about and excited for cryptocurrency’s underlying technology blockchain, all the more so after reading the book The Real Business of Blockchain by authors David Furlonger and Christophe Uzureau of the consultancy firm Gartner.

Blockchain, of course, is a combination of technologies and techniques that allow for transactions to be recorded in a distributed ledger among nodes within the participating network. The appeal, to simplify, is its security and transparency: because every node in the network has a copy of the ledger of the transactions that have taken place, it is easy to trace any single transaction; likewise, the distributed nature of the ledger ensures the security of each transaction. More, because blockchain runs on algorithms, it is the firmament upon which most smart contracts are built—for so long as conditions are met, transactions can be automated, executed, and recorded within a blockchain framework.

Because it’s still early days, Furlonger and Uzureau opine that there is still a frontier of potential available to firms that find the right application of blockchain to fit their circumstances. “Beyond operational improvements and increased efficiency,” they write with their original emphasis, “fully mature blockchain solutions will allow you to reeingineer business relationships, monetize illiquid assets, and redistribute existing data and value flows in ways that could reinvent how your business engages in a digital world. That is the real business of blockchain.”

Hence, in the The Real Business of Blockchain, Furlonger and Uzureau describe various use-cases for blockchain, many already underway, to highlight the many possibilities and opportunities available to companies. Whether blockchain-led or blockchain-inspired, a private blockchain or a truly distributed blockchain, there are many interesting examples that are sure to inspire the tech-savvy and forward-looking reader.

An interesting book about a fascinating topic like blockchain. It helps you understand the buzz and how it can be applied to business,
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.