Blockchain is emerging as a powerful technology, which has attracted the wider attention of all businesses across the globe. In addition to financial businesses, IT companies and business organizations are keenly analyzing and adapting this technology for improving business processes. Security is the primary enterprise application. There are other crucial applications that include creating decentralized applications and smart contracts, which are being touted as the key differentiator of this pioneering technology. The power of any technology lies in its ecosystem. Product and tool vendors are building and releasing a variety of versatile and robust toolsets and platforms in order to speed up and simplify blockchain application development, deployment and management. There are other infrastructure-related advancements in order to streamline blockchain adoption. Cloud computing, big data analytics, machine and deep learning algorithm, and connected and embedded devices all are driving blockchain application development and deployment. Blockchain Technology and Applications illustrates how blockchain is being sustained through a host of platforms, programming languages, and enabling tools. It examines: Data confidential, integrity, and authentication Distributed consensus protocols and algorithms Blockchain systems design criteria and systems interoperability and scalability Integration with other technologies including cloud and big data It also details how blockchain is being blended with cloud computing, big data analytics and IoT across all industry verticals. The book gives readers insight into how this path-breaking technology can be a value addition in several business domains ranging from healthcare, financial services, government, supply chain and retail.