Is there a Neutral Book on Blockchain Technology?

Question

Hello,I am engaged in some technical research on blockchain technology but I'd like a neutral (non-hype) textbook which covers all the technical details.I've seen books such as "Blockchain And Distributed Ledgers by Alexander Lipton" but, reading from the end, I saw it advocated blockchains as solutions for eg., health records.I think this automatically disqualifies the book from presenting a credible understanding of the technology, and likewise, the author seems to have material interests in hyping it.Could anyone advise?I'm looking to avoid books engaged in hype, by people with a material stake in the technology, where "applications" do not include insane proposals such as publishing private health data to a public blockchain.

quickthrower2 · Accepted Answer

Not all details, but you could start here: https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf. Then look at the Bitcoin source code.

ezedv · Answer

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hayst4ck · Answer

I would start with merkle trees: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle_treeHere's a blog post which is probably basically what you want: https://medium.com/system-design-blog/merkle-tree-and-its-ap...

ggwp99 · Answer

Regarding the last part, I would encourage you to look into ZK Proofs in blockchain, Merkle Trees and sharing private data on the blockchain. That may possibly change your mind on the idea of publishing private health data to a public blockchain.

JoeMayoBot · Answer

I recently read the O'Reilly report "NFTs, the Metaverse, and Everything Web 3.0". Blockchains are a part of that discussion; though what I gained from it was a broad perspective of what Web 3.0 is and how it is different. It's around 65 pages and sounded credible to me.

rainytuesday · Answer

Blockchain is maybe casting too wide a net. Each implementation will have different technical details. In the ethereum space I think the highest level of technical analysis you will find is in the domain of MEV-bots.

keiferski · Answer

As someone else said, I highly recommend reading the original Bitcoin paper. It is straightforward and while obviously pro-blockchain, almost entirely devoid of marketing hype.

mjburgess · Answer

For future reference, Imran Bashir's "Mastering Blockchain" seems serviceable. I'm persuaded by its comprehensiveness, as well as it listing actual downsides.

FeistySkink · Answer

Not a book, but Gary Gensler's Blockchain and Money MIT course is pretty good. Recordings are available on YouTube.