- In 2009, a new digital currency called Bitcoin
was born on the internet.
It delivered the ability for payments
to be made confidently, directly between any parties,
without intermediaries, central authority,
and government oversight.
Its successes expanded the realm of the possible
and reinforced the notion that digital innovation
has the power to continually surprise and disrupt.
The ultimate long-term implications of Bitcoin
and all the cryptocurrencies that have followed
is still a story to be told.
No doubt, there will be many twists
and turns along the way, just as there have been so far.
What we do know is that the core technology
that has powered Bitcoin from day one,
the underlying distributed ledger called blockchain,
has emerged as its own force,
with the potential to be even more impactful
and disruptive than the life it gave to cryptocurrency.
Despite its existing challenges and some adoption hesitancy,
which continues to shrink,
blockchain innovation is growing its capabilities
and increasing its value.
The impact of blockchain technology
is being experienced across many industries,
ranging from finance to supply chain
and from gaming to government.
Given the current trajectory of blockchain adoption
and its expanding value,
its most important and remarkable days are ahead.
This course has provided you with a basic introduction
to blockchain technology.
I covered what it is, how it works,
and the challenges and risks associated with it.
However, there's a lot more to know,
and I hope I've inspired you
to continue your blockchain learning path.
What should you do next?
LinkedIn Learning offers many courses
on blockchain and cryptocurrencies,
including many that I've created for you.
I suggest taking Blockchain: Beyond the Basics next.
That will go into a lot more technical detail
and elaborate on many of the concepts
this course summarized at a high level.
After that, I suggest taking
my Cryptocurrency Foundations course.
Beyond that, you can take a look
at Securing Cryptocurrencies
and my course on non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.
You'll also find excellent courses from other instructors
on Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solidity,
which is a Ethereum programming language, and much more.
Blockchain and its associated ecosystem of technologies
and required skills will provide opportunities
for organizations and great career options
for individuals like you.
I'm excited about
the seemingly endless possibilities of blockchain.
I hope you are too!
Good luck and thank you for learning with me.