Welcome to Blockchain For Dummies! If you want to find out what blockchains are and the basics of how to use them, this is the book for you. Many people think blockchains are difficult to understand. They may also think that blockchains are just about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, but they’re so much more. Anyone can master the basics of blockchains.

In this book, you find helpful advice for navigating the blockchain world and cryptocurrencies that run them. You also find practical step-by-step tutorials that will build your understanding of how blockchains work and where they add value. You don’t need a background in programming, economics, or world affairs to understand this book, but I do touch on all these subjects because blockchain technology intersects all of them.

About This Book

This book explains the basics of blockchains, smart contracts, and cryptocurrencies. You probably picked up this book because you’ve heard about blockchains and know they’re important, but you have no idea what they are, how they work, or why you should care. This book answers all these questions in easy-to-understand terms.

This book is a bit different from just about any other blockchain book on the market. It provides a survey of all the key blockchains in the public market, how they work, what they do, and something useful you can try with them today.

This book also covers the landscape of blockchain technology and points out some of the key things to be aware of for your own blockchain projects. Here, you find out how to install an Ethereum wallet, create and execute a smart contract, make entries into Bitcoin, and earn cryptocurrencies.

You don’t have to read the book cover to cover. Just flip to the subject that you’re interested in.

Finally, within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you’re reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist. If you’re reading this as an e-book, you’ve got it easy — just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

Foolish Assumptions

I don’t make many assumptions about you and your experience with cryptocurrency, programming, and legal matters but I do assume the following:

• You have a computer, a smartphone, and access to the Internet.
• You know the basics of how to use your computer and the Internet.
• You know how to navigate through menus within programs.
• You’re new to blockchain and you aren’t a skilled programmer. Of course, if you are a skilled programmer, you can still get a lot out of this book — you just may be able to breeze past some of the step-by-step guidelines.

Icons Used in This Book

Throughout this book, I use icons in the margin to draw your attention to certain kinds of information. Here’s what the icons mean:

The Tip icon marks tips and shortcuts that you can use to make blockchains easier to use.

The Remember icon marks the information that’s especially important to know — the stuff you’ll want to commit to memory. To siphon off the most important information in each chapter, just skim through these icons.

The Technical Stuff icon marks information of a highly technical nature that you can skip over without missing the main point of the subject at hand.

The Warning icon tells you to watch out! It marks important information that may save you headaches — or tokens.

Beyond the Book

In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this product also comes with some access-anywhere goodies on the web. Check out the free Cheat Sheet for more on blockchains. To get this Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and type Blockchain For Dummies Cheat Sheet in the Search box.

Where to Go from Here

You can apply blockchain technology to virtually every business domain. Right now there is explosive growth in financial, health care, government, insurance industries, and this is just the beginning. The whole world is changing and the possibilities are endless.