A ‘blockchain’ is a cryptographically secured, decentralized and distributed global ledger of transactions and assets. Most people are familiar with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, which use Blockchain as an underlying technology to confirm, record and track each coin to eliminate the “double-spending problem”.

Blockchain technology can be extended beyond cryptocurrencies, such as tracking real estate ownership and simplifying title transfer, with distinct advantages such as lower cost, increased transparency and decentralization.

Because of it’s many potential uses and interest in Blockchain technology, engineers with programming knowledge and experience are highly sought after and well-paid as described in a February 2018 article by TechCrunch. Increasingly we are seeing engineers from companies such as Google leave their high-paid jobs to become Blockchain engineers due to the applicability of this emerging technology.

Current Applications of Blockchain Technology:

To promote knowledge and facilitate the development of Blockchain engineers I have collected many of the best resources for learning more about Blockchain and its uses and underlying technology in this post, including online courses and TED talks.

After reading this post you will have learned about one of the most interesting technologies which has the potential to drastically alter almost every industry.

Online Resources Explaining Blockchain

Blockchain Training Courses

Blockchain Related Social Media Accounts

Online Videos on Blockchain

Don Tapscott Describing Blockchain and its Uses in Business

A fantastic description of the power and ability of blockchain. Describes importance of Blockchain’s ‘immutable records’ using example of Hernando De Soto, land title and Honduran government abuse of power. Also covers improving remittance, identity/privacy and Intellectual Property protection and monetization.

Bettina Warburg

A great TED Talk discussing Blockchain Technology.

Visual Demo of Blockchain

The above Video is a fantastic deep dive into the technology underlying Blockchain including how the cryptography and hash works.

Python and the Blockchain Video

A fantastic video by Anthony Barker at Pycon Canada 2016 covering the Blockchains of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Stellar and their strengths/weaknesses in regard to Remittance use-case.