The Digital Asset Technology Guidebook

In The Digital Asset Technology Guidebook: Deciphering the Keys to Crypto, Blockchain, and Decentralized Finance, Dr. David Utzke delivers an authoritative and up-to-date discussion of the architectural components that make up distributed ledgers. He draws on decades of experience working with digital assets, distributed networks, and data ledger frameworks to clearly explain the real-world risks posed by the exploitation of digital assets minted in Layer 2 ("smart") contracts. Utzke describes how to identify the developer team behind specific contracts and determine whether the "crypto" asset actually relies on cryptographic technology. You'll learn how to figure out which technological features and capabilities are most likely to create the kinds of vulnerabilities often exploited by bad actors. You'll also discover how to understand the taxonomical description of digital assets and how to categorize hundreds of different kinds of distributed ledger architectures. The Digital Asset Technology Guidebook is your guide to identifying assets developed on non-distributed ledger platforms and contains the technical information you need to navigate the rapidly evolving distributed ledger and blockchain ecosystems. In addition to distributed ledger design typologies and alternative ledger technology structures, the book discusses the history of distributed ledger technology architectural primitives, how distributed ledgers are designed and how they provide transparency, the fundamentals of distributed ledger stacks, and more. Perfect for researchers, academics, and educators working in the fields of distributed ledger technologies, digital asset coding, and blockchain security, the book is also a must-read for financial crime analysts, law enforcement personnel investing financial and cybercrimes, attorneys, investors, fund analysts, and fund managers.