Blockchain, Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies

This book aims to serve as an introduction, reference, consultation, and dissemination mechanism-and not as a source of confusion-on the conceptualization of Blockchain technology and its interrelation with cryptocurrencies, the generation of value and trust around a diversity of use cases and applications in our contemporary society.

I wrote this text with the intention of using colloquial and accessible language; however, due to the type of literature, it contains many technical terms. Even so, I sought to consider all possible audiences, from my grandparents to students, professionals, entrepreneurs, and any enthusiast interested in understanding how new technologies affect the daily construction of a modern society based on trust (or its absence) and, similarly, on the creation of value (or its lack).
One of the objectives is to generate a conceptual framework in the description of some concepts involving Blockchain, as well as its applications and the vast range of definitions surrounding cryptocurrencies. It is known that trust is one of the foundations of value exchange and, currently, the foundations are being established according to technological evolution and the traceability of identity through a whole ecosystem of technologies around Blockchain, such as mathematical algorithms, databases, distributed systems, digital identity, traceability, transparency, among other technologies that support the complexity of this new digital paradigm.

The legal, political, and technical debate surrounding the value that the adoption of Blockchain technology and the use of cryptocurrencies can provide as mechanisms for exchanging value is a present and increasingly heated debate in all areas, given the diverse, heterogeneous, and global nature of the interests of all participants in financial and value exchanges.
Blockchain technology is so relevant that it already has applications that impact the transparency of the real estate process. Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto aims to create a global blockchain for property registration as a tool that will unlock idle capital, help five billion people modernize their property rights, and provide the necessary information to resolve real estate conflicts or disputes, and may even combat terrorism by undermining the terrorists' business model.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, De Soto played a pivotal role in ending the violence of the Peruvian terrorist group Shining Path by getting the Peruvian government to recognize the land titles of impoverished smallholders. By making property rights and claims public and globally verifiable, he allowed the poor to securely unlock the value of their land; helped to appease disputes by clearly indicating who owned each property; and strengthened local land ownership. Hernando de Soto's main argument is that perhaps the best way to combat terrorism is to combat its business model. "What he proposes is precisely to destabilize the business models of the Islamic State, the FARC, and Al-Qaeda, as well as all types of terrorism. His argument is that the best way to destabilize terrorists is to change their business model."