About The Book

INTRODUCTION

Back in late 2015, I was networking at the Blockchain Workshops, here in Sydney. The event was full of the world’s best and brightest cryptographic brains. I met more PhD’s at that one event than I have met in my entire life! I was swimming in an ocean of uber-intelligence. Everything was fine until I asked one question…

“DESCRIBE THE BLOCKCHAIN IN 5 WORDS!”

One after the other, delegates eyes gazed over with longing lust towards the vol-au-vents. I was left in an uncomfortable wall silence, surrounded by blank looks with that “Are you for real?” grimace. The question was an affront to their collective cerebral cortexes, the size of six solar systems combined.

The answers were delivered with almost indifferent enthusiasm:

  • “Crypto 2.0”
  • “Decentralized Database”
  • “Distributed Ledger Technology

Whilst their answers were all highly valid  – none describe what the blockchain can actually do. What do you make of them?

Their technical answers reflected where the technology was and, in the main, still is – lodged firmly within the technical community.

When the internet was first described by Al Gore as “The Information Super Highway” everyone got it; the media got it. It helped take the internet mainstream – people could describe it quickly.

This was the driver for me to write Down the Rabbit Hole.

I wanted to write a core primer for business people and non-technical people, like you and me, to help you understand and get beneath the Blockchain, to see its power and potential from a practical perspective,  made real by global use cases being developed across multiple industries and multiple nations – without needing a Phd in Cryptography and social awkwardness.

I saw, and continue to see, my role as that of a translator. My commitment is to take complex ideas and break them down into easy, bite-sized pieces in such a way as to give you a clear handle on the technology, what the technology can do. Perhaps most importantly I want you to see what the technology can do that you need it to do. In a nutshell I want to help you capitalize on the potential of the blockchain in a practical way.

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WHY DOWN THE RABBITHOLE?

When I first had my journey of discovery into the Blockchain back in early 2015, after some mild earlier flirtation with bitcoin, I kept hearing people say:

“Once you go Down the Blockchain Rabbit Hole you will never come back!”

As I made my journey this phrase resonated with me, getting me to think about Alice in Wonderland. When Alice followed the White Rabbit Down the Rabbit Hole, she had no idea who or what she would face; from the Mad Hatter and the March Hare through to the Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts. But Down the Rabbit Hole she found Wonderland, a new world full of riches and challenges that would change her life forever, making her look at her existing world in a completely different way…and so it is with the Blockchain.

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WHAT IS THE BLOCKCHAIN?

Blockchain is the technology that underpins Bitcoin – the world’s first cryptocurrency – a currency that is based upon cryptography.  Now get ready for your eyes to glaze over for just 20 seconds…

From a technical perspective, it is a

“Peer to peer database that is immutable”

In other words, once the database has been written to it cannot be altered.”

Now in the book I explain this in far greater detail and show you why this is important – all in plain English so you can understand what appears to be technical jibberish.

But, to put you out of your short-term misery,  let me give you a very simple example of how this technology can, and is, being used and how it can benefit you, me… everyone.

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QUICK EXAMPLE OF HOW THE BLOCKCHAIN WILL DISRUPT BANKING

I am originally from Brighton in the UK but live in Sydney, Australia. If I transfer money from the UK to Australia the banks:

  • Charge around $50 for the privilege
  • Give us an exchange rate that is 2.5%-4% below the market rate
  • And then proceed to tell us it will take three days to transfer the funds

Now, that kind of sucks, doesn’t it? Why is it that it takes 3 days? In today’s world of instant gratification, yesterday is already too late!!

With crypotcurrencies, you can transfer funds internationally in near real-time. For example, with Bitcoin for an international transfer

  • The costs are typically between 3-5c (yes that is cents – although these fees can vary, which is a bit of a downside)
  • the exchange rate is market rate less fees converting to and from bitcoin at both ends (usually around 0.5% – 1.2% in total)
  • it clears in 60 minutes (and some cryptocurrencies are enabling near immediate transfer)

This is just the tip of a massive, financial iceberg.

With some clever lateral thought and the use of some blockchain “magic dust”, both of which we will show you, we will show you how through smart contracts, you could  potentially remove the need for

  • banks,
  • accountants,
  • even lawyers

We will show you :

  • how Estonia is using the blockchain for births, deaths, marriages
  • how a social media blogging site is gaining traction that rewards people for high quality content – all paid in cryptocurrencies.
  • examples of use cases that are being built every day

By reading Down the Rabbit Hole, you will have the tools to understand and shape your own ideas and your own opportunities.

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WHY IS THE BLOCKCHAIN IMPORTANT?

The Blockchain is a technology that comes along once in a generation. It’s raw, but steeped full of potential – just like the internet was 20 years ago. Just consider the behemoth brands that have been created because of internet-based technologies – Facebook, Google, Amazon and Uber to mention but a few. Will the Blockchain create similar brands?

The Venture Capital community seems to think so. They have invested over $4bn of pure Venture Capital funds into the space so far with so much more on its way. There has also been over $20bn raised by Initial Coin Offerings. In addition:

  • IBM were reported to be committing $200m to blending IoT, Blockchain, and Watson, their Artificial Intelligence component, and
  • WangXiang in China were committing $30bn funds over seven years for innovation within Smart Cities, which combine IoT and the blockchain.

VC funds will follow behind to ensure that start-ups fill the vacuum of innovation that will be needed to fill these spaces. We are at the very beginning of a significant and seismic tsunami of disruption, most of which is currently bubbling deep under the surface, Down The Rabbit Hole and carefully hidden away – until now.

But here’s the challenge; the Blockchain is a very deep, very wide and very complex technology that we have already seen is very hard to describe easily. It brings together a whole raft of different technologies and ideas, but brings with it a new technological dimension that is a geek’s paradise – cryptography.

Cryptography is in the very DNA of Blockchain technology. With it, it has the potential to remove the need for trusted third parties – replacing them in the longer term with cryptographically protected computer code. Just think about that for one moment. Who are the trusted entities in our society?

These include bankers, lawyers, accountants, insurers. The list goes on. Each will be facing disruption with the potential that ultimately computer code could replace them. Perhaps that job could be yours?

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WHY GO DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE?

Whatever your role, Down the Rabbit Hole will give you a practical hands-on guide to the technology and its potential. Whether you want to :

  • Make your organisation more effective
  • Make yourself more valuable in your marketplace
  • Make your business more competitive
  • Teach your clients more about the technology and its implications or
  • Become the new Mark Zuckerberg

Down the Rabbit Hole will have something for you. It’ s all in non-technical English, seeking to minimize jargon wherever possible, and includes heaps of global use cases that will help give you a practical insight into how the Blockchain is being used. It also looks at the challenges and weaknesses you will face in dealing with many of the realities of adopting or driving the adoption of the technology.

By distilling the complexity of the Blockchain into components that are easy to understand and digest, you will fast-track yourself to be at the leading edge of 21st-century business thinking.

Like Alice when she followed the White Rabbit into Wonderland, all you need is an open mind to have your eyes opened to the green field of explosive opportunities in the Blockchain space that are waiting for you Down the Rabbit Hole.

Why not have a look at the book now – you can view the first 30 pages of the book free to see if it is for you or not. You can also buy the book from this page if you wish. Whatever you do, whether it is buying Down the Rabbit Hole or other material, get into this space yesterday – the opportunities are too good to waste!!