Absolute Essentials of Ethereum (Absolute Essentials of Business and Economics)

"Absolute Essentials of Ethereum is a concise textbook which guides the reader through the fascinating world of the emerging Ethereum ecosystem, from the basics of how its blockchain works, to cutting-edge applications. Written by an experienced educator, each chapter is designed to progress potential students from class to class. Technical concepts are clearly explained for those new to the topic, and readers are supported with definitions and summaries in each chapter. Real-life case studies situate the overviews in a contemporary context. Topics covered include the Ethereum Execution and Consensus layers, Ethereum governance and community, Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs), Decentralised Finance (DeFi), Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Layer 2. This book is the ideal text to support undergraduate and postgraduate courses on blockchain technologies, cryptocurrencies, Web3 and fintech, as well as for those who want to know how Ethereum really works"-- Provided by publisher Cover Endorsements Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Contents Preface Acknowledgements 1. Introducing Ethereum What Is Ethereum? Technical Decentralisation Political Decentralisation The Ethereum Ecosystem Notes References 2. Ethereum: The Execution Layer (EL) World State Ethereum Accounts Externally-Owned Accounts (EOA) Contract Accounts Ethereum Transactions Ether and Transaction Fees Transaction Structure Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) Smart Contract Case Studies ERC-20 ERC-721 Decentralised Applications (dApps) Notes 3. Ethereum: The Consensus Layer (CL) Blocks and Blockchains Proof of Stake (PoS) or Staking Validators Slots and LMD GHOST Epochs and Casper-FFG Aggregation Rewards and Penalties Beacon Block Advanced Staking Topics Staking Pools Maximum Extractable Value (MEV) Blockchain Forks What Is Ethereum, Really? Notes 4. Ethereum Governance and Culture Ethereum Governance Ethereum Culture 5. Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) Early History of Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) The DAO Hack The Modern DAO Technical Components Social Components Financial Components Notes References 6. Decentralised Finance (DeFi) DeFi Summer 2020 Stablecoins Decentralised Exchanges (DEXs) Initial Coin Offering (ICO) Automated Market Makers (AMMs) Liquidity Pools (LPs) Borrowing and Lending Platforms Derivatives Exchanges DeFi Infrastructure Oracles Bridges DeFi DAO Governance Total Value Locked (TVL) DeFi Risks and Opportunities Notes Reference 7. Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) Fungible versus Non-Fungible ERC-721: The NFT Token Standard The Properties of an NFT The Commercial and Legal Side of NFTs Notes 8. Ethereum Layer 2 and the Roadmap The Scalability Trilemma Rollups Optimistic Rollups Zero-Knowledge Rollups The Ethereum Roadmap Single Leader Selection/Single Slot Finality (The Merge) Proto-danksharding (EIP 4844) (The Surge) Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS) (The Scourge) Account Abstraction (The Splurge) Conclusion Note Appendix: Introduction to Bitcoin Bitcoin Network Bitcoin Identity Bitcoin Transactions Bitcoin Consensus Glossary Index