Imran Bashir - Mastering Blockchain: A deep dive into distributed ledgers, consensus protocols, smart contracts, DApps, cryptocurrencies, Ethereum, and more

Mastering Blockchain

Third Edition

A deep dive into distributed ledgers, consensus protocols, smart contracts, DApps, cryptocurrencies, Ethereum, and more

Imran Bashir

BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI

Mastering Blockchain

Third Edition

Copyright 2020 Packt Publishing

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Producer: Ben Renow-Clarke

Acquisition Editor Peer Reviews: Suresh Jain

Content Development Editor: Edward Doxey

Technical Editor: Aniket Shetty

Project Editor: Carol Lewis

Copy Editor: Safis Editing

Proofreader: Safis Editing

Indexer: Manju Arasan

Presentation Designer: Pranit Padwal

First published: March 2017

Second edition: March 2018

Third edition: August 2020

Production reference: 1290820

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

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ISBN 978-1-83921-319-9

www.packt.com

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Imran Bashir has an M.Sc. in Information Security from Royal Holloway, University of London, and has a background in software development, solution architecture, infrastructure management, and IT service management. He is also a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the British Computer Society (BCS). Imran has extensive experience in both the public and financial sectors, having worked on large-scale IT projects in the public sector before moving to the financial services industry. Since then, he has worked in various technical roles for different financial companies in Europe's financial capital, London.

I would like to thank the talented team at Packt, including Ben Renow-Clarke, Edward Doxey, Aniket Shetty, and Carol Lewis, who provided prompt guidance and extremely valuable feedback throughout this project. Edward Doxey provided extremely valuable advice that helped immensely in being able to properly structure the content of the book. I am also very thankful to the reviewer, Pranav Burnwal, who provided valuable feedback that helped to improve the material in this book.

I thank my wife and children for putting up with my all-night and weekend-long writing sessions. Above all, I would like to thank my parents, whose blessings on me have made everything possible.

Disclaimer: The information and viewpoints expressed in this book are those of the author and not necessarily those of any of the author's employers or their affiliates.

Pranav Burnwal is currently serving as co-founder and CTO for Edufied, a Blockchain-based SaaS product. Pranav has a background in research and development, and has been working with cutting-edge technologies for a good number of years. These technologies include blockchain, big data, analytics (log and data), the cloud, and message queues.

With over 5 years' experience in blockchain, Pranav has established in excess of 12 pilot solutions on blockchain platforms, four live exchanges, six crypto wealth management systems, and many more awesome projects that are currently under development. Pranav has worked in a variety of domains, including BFSI, HLS, FMCG, and the automobile sector.

Pranav has been an active community member in multiple communities, offline as well as online. He was regional head for the Blockchain Education Network (BEN), and a volunteer at TechStars. He also organizes and attends hackathons.

Pranav has also served as a technical reviewer for multiple books on blockchain, including Mastering Blockchain 2nd Edition, and Foundations of Blockchain.