INTRODUCTORY TO

BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY
& SMART CONTRACTS
BY: KHALID SHUREIH
BLOCKCHAIN OVERVIEW

• BLOCKCHAIN IS A CHAIN OF BLOCKS THAT CONTAIN INFORMATION

• THIS TECHNIQUE WAS ORIGINALLY DESCRIBED IN 1991 BY A GROUP OF RESEARCHERS
• BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY WAS CREATED ORIGINALLY TO “TIMESTAMP” DIGITAL DOCUMENTS,
STOPPING TAMPERING OR BACKDATING
• POPULARITY ROSE WHEN A DIGITAL CRYPTOCURRENCY NAMED “BITCOIN” WAS CREATED USING
DIGITALLY CHAINED TIMESTAMPS (AKA THE BLOCKCHAIN).
• A BLOCKCHAIN IS A DISTRIBUTED LEDGER THAT IS COMPLETELY OPEN FOR ANYONE TO VIEW
(PUBLICLY)
• LEDGERS ARE RECORD-KEEPING SYSTEMS, LIKE A DATA BASE THAT TRACKS TRANSACTIONS

Side Note: All coins/tokens use ERC20 Smart Contracts

WHAT ARE BLOCKS MADE
OF?
DATA: The data stored inside a block depends on the type of blockchain.

HASH OF BLOCK: Hashes are used to identify a block and all of its contents and is always unique to that block.
- Uses complex mathematical equations that can only be done by computers.
- Hashes can be seen as unique fingerprints.
- Hash example: e2c521bc53bb5db4fc0aa497da5d4c8444db3

PREVIOUS HASH OF BLOCK

First block = Genesis Block

 DISTRIBUTED
BLOCKCHAIN

Blockchain eliminates the need for a central entity to mange the chain/processes like Financial Institutes (banks)

Blockchains use a “Peer-to-Peer (P2P)” Network.

- Each Peer are called “Nodes” on the blockchain
- Each Node receives a full copy of the entire blockchain with each block data (BTC
blockchain = 529GB)
- Each Node then constantly pings other nodes on the chain to verify their copies.

When a new block is created, everyone who holds a copy on the network will receive that block.

Each node will then verify the block to make sure that it has not been tampered with.
Once verified the block is added on to everyone's blockchain.

This creates consensus throughout the network

 SMART
CONTRACTS

Smart Contracts are simple programs stored on the blockchain and can be used to automatically exchange IP based
on set conditions.

All Smart Contracts are digital, NO HARDCOPIES!

The idea of smart contracts was created in 1997 by a Computer Scientist Nick Szabo

Smart contracts use a programing language called “Solidity”

Solidity is composed of three major programing languages: C, Python, Java and uses JavaScript syntax

Many Blockchains support Smart Contracts but Ethereum was designed for that sole purpose.

This allows markets to be established based off the terms and conditions of the smart contract
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF SMART CONTRACTS

ERC-20 ERC-721 ERC-1155

ERC-20 is a widely adopted standard
on the Ethereum blockchain, defining a
set of rules and functions for the
creation and management of fungible
tokens.
ERC-721 is an Ethereum token
standard that facilitates the creation and
handling of unique, non-fungible
tokens (NFTs).
ERC-1155 is an Ethereum token
standard that introduces a flexible
multi-token standard, allowing a
single smart contract to manage
both fungible and non-fungible
tokens efficiently.