The rapid development of the cryptosphere has led to significant changes in the understanding of the monetary system and has forced a different look at the financing process in general. The new era of financial literacy generated by bitcoin requires us to integrate into the digital space as soon as possible.
The demand for cryptocurrency is growing. Future miners and potential investors in the crypto business are required to navigate Bitcoin, blockchain technology, mining and ICO. Studying the methodological literature related to this issue will help the modern consumer navigate the crypto business ecosystem. Books are a reliable source of information about the technology and potential of cryptocurrency.
The article presents a selection of 20 printed publications devoted to the topic of cryptocurrency and related technological processes. The list of the best books was compiled on the basis of reviews from reviewers and readers, and the popularity of publications and their topics were also taken into account. Collected here are works of interest to both professional users and less experienced audiences.
1. Nathaniel Popper. “Digital gold. The incredible story of bitcoin or how idealists and businessmen reinvent money "
The work of NewYorkTimes journalist Nathaniel Popper was awarded the highest rating by the global audience, it became one of the best business publications, topping the Financial Times-2015 rating.
Popper was one of the first to describe the idea of creating a bitcoin payment system, which initially was not of much interest. The story involves the most unpredictable characters: a student from Norway, a millionaire from Argentina, a loser physicist who, by the will of fate, became the baron of the online drug business, the rake twins, the Winklevoss brothers with millions of accounts who managed to win a lawsuit against the head of the Facebook corporation, special agents , American senators and the notorious creator of bitcoin Satoshi Nakamoto.
The book provides a detailed analysis of the financial technologies used by the new payment system, and voiced the most daring predictions that promise bitcoin and an alternative cryptocurrency universal recognition and the status of the world standard for the storage of financial assets. Quite aptly, these statements are illustrated by the analogy given in the story between digital coins and precious metals.
The story is easy to read, it is absolutely not overloaded with technical terms and specific vocabulary. The annotation to the book says that although the book is dedicated to the "progenitor of cryptocurrency" - bitcoin , it is an exclusively human story. This book once again reminds us that fiction is often clearer than truth.
2. Brian Patrick Eha. "How Money Found Freedom"
The book is authored by a well-known journalist and editor of the American edition of Entrepreneur Magazine. It is rightfully included in the top five, as it is one of the newest (the first book is dated 2017) and detailed research on the history of bitcoin . On five hundred pages of his publication, the author introduces readers to the most influential players in the crypto business, reveals the secret of the creator of the cryptocurrency Satoshi Nakamoto, talks about high-profile legal battles and scandals caused by the rapid conquest of the digital currency market.
All information presented in the book is personal observations of Brian Patrick. Fragments of the research have been repeatedly published by well-known publications, including such significant ones as TheAtlantic and TheNewYorker.
Brian Patrick boldly speaks out about the largest financial institutions that wanted to appropriate the unique crypto technologies and developments of startups. The book, subtitled Bitcoin and the Battle for the Future of the Economy, is the most detailed and engaging story about how a new currency should be perceived and how to channel its strength and power for the good of the global economy. This is the main "mustard" for anyone who wants to understand how bitcoin works.
3. Don Tapscott, Alex Tapscott. “Blockchain revolution. How the technology behind bitcoin is changing money, business and the world "
Don Tapscott, a renowned scientist and financier, and his son Alex Tapscott, a leading expert in blockchain technology, hold the undisputed leadership in studying the impact of global technologies on the global financial structure. We are talking about the technological breakthrough of the new millennium, which has radically changed the tactics of doing business, about the blockchain.
In the first part of the book, the reader will learn about the structure of the blockchain system, about the advantages and disadvantages of this technology, about current financial issues that can be solved by the introduction of blockchain technology.
The second part of the book reveals the factors of blockchain technology that affect the number of users willing to invest in digital currency.
The revolutionary ideas of the authors could fundamentally change humanity's understanding of the cryptocurrency business. The authors draw the audience's attention to the fact that this technology is not the prerogative of only rich and influential people, it is available to the common man and is open to those who want to use it.
In the minds of the creators of the book, cryptocurrency is nothing more than a new business tool. Its potential is huge, and the possibilities of the blockchain are completely limitless. If you expand the scope of its application, then the technology will serve to create new business models not only in the field of financing. The Tapscots look far into a future in which all available technology will help them survive and thrive "in the next wave of technological disruption."
4. Michael J. Casey, Paul Vigna. "The era of cryptocurrencies"
The main columnists for the American edition of The Wall Street Journal published their vision of the cryptocurrency ecosystem on the scale of the global economy.
The authors predict a great future for the crypto coin and announce a real revolution in the field of finance and business services. Such a revolution could have important social consequences, which, in turn, would lead to the complete elimination of banking institutions. The disappearance of banks will transform the institution of the nation-state and will lead to an early release from the despotic control of "centralized trust."
The “era of cryptocurrencies” is, first of all, stories from the lives of the first supporters and miners of bitcoin. The plot has several lines:
stories about Austin and Beck Craig, who set themselves the goal of living for three months, using only cryptocurrency in all spheres of life, and charitable foundations in Afghanistan that pay for the work done with cryptocurrency;
stories of Gabriel Abede - founder of his own virtual coin of Barbados and a programmer from Silicon Valley, who devoted his life to finding potential users of blockchain applications and trying to anticipate their needs.
These events from the lives of real people help to understand the uses and benefits of new technologies. After reading the book, it becomes clear that the world, immersed in crypto technology, will not be the same. People will have to give up the usual cash, checkbooks, precious metals and comprehend the benefits of the digital universe.
The light tone of the narration in a subtle journalistic manner allows the reader to see the world completely new, the way it can become thanks to the emergence and development of the crypto market.
5. Andreas Antonopoulos. "Mastering Bitcoin"
The authorship of the legendary book belongs to the famous founder of the bitcoin business, member of the boards of directors of many bitcoin projects, high-level IT specialist Andreas Antonopoulos. Antonopoulos draws inspiration and practical experience from numerous travels, excerpts of which are given in his lectures and public speeches.
"Mastering Bitcoin" is an authoritative publication describing the experience of conducting operations in the cryptosphere of the largest Bitcoin entrepreneur. The main task of the work is an attempt to reveal the essence of a decentralized virtual coin. The book is not a guide to the development and production of virtual currency, it helps to comprehend the principles on which the blockchain is based.
The first part of the book talks about what a digital currency is and devotes to the basics of cryptographic science. Both newcomers to the crypto business and experienced investors will find a lot of useful things here.
The second part of the book describes the technical aspects of working with cryptocurrency, examples of creating successful business cases. This portion of the publication is designed for a target audience of experienced IT developers, technical students, programmers, engineers and system administrators.
The work includes a list of complex terminological concepts that underlie cryptocurrency. Critics recommend this book to those who are just starting to master digital currency, the information and recommendations contained in it will help to understand the complex world of bitcoin. After reading the book, a novice user will compose a complete picture of the technological process of the bitcoin network, starting from the classification of transaction types and ending with a complete list of exchanges and wallets for storing and withdrawing cryptocurrency.
Those involved in the crypto business will appreciate the author's other works on similar topics, for example, the podcast "Let's Talk About Bitcoin", which is successfully hosted by Antonopoulos, is very popular.
6. Alex Fork. "Bitcoin. More than money "
Alex Fork is a well-known name in the Russian digital community, the author of the first Russian-language publication to reveal the technological secrets of bitcoin. Alex is an outstanding personality in the Russian crypto business , one of the founders of the BlockchainCommunity corporation , a member of the company's board of directors, and the owner of the BitCoin trademark .
In addition to significant achievements in the field of crypto business, Fork has long been a fierce opponent of the government on the issue of legalizing bitcoin on the territory of the Russian Federation. At the moment, he has not yet succeeded in fully defending the legal status of a digital coin, but repeated attempts to change the attitude of the authorities towards cryptocurrency have had results: a total ban on virtual money does not yet exist.
Alex Fork's activities are a unique phenomenon in the modern business structure. Having established his own organization, Fork did not pursue selfish goals for the commercial use of the bitcoin trademark. The registration procedure was initiated for one simple reason: it was an attempt to prevent the potential threat of monopolization of the Bitcoin trading brand by one company and to minimize the risks of subsequent siphoning of funds from Russian holders of cryptoassets. Fork himself calls his act a "gift to society" in the hope that Russian entrepreneurs will calmly use bitcoin .
The author speaks of the motives behind the appearance of the book as a desire to find an explanation for the phenomenon of the cryptocurrency system. In search of the necessary information, Fork came across completely different, sometimes even contradictory information on this topic, so he decided to publish his own book that would answer all questions regarding cryptocurrency.
In the book, the author talks about the development of technology, the appearance of popular financial proposals, talks about the security and confidentiality of the system, reveals the essence of the cryptocurrency mining process. The book is fundamentally different from similar publications in that the author has collected and analyzed the opinions, advice and recommendations of well-known experts and hackers. In addition, the book contains translations of reports on the cryptocurrency technology of the European Central Bank, the US intelligence services, and the US Treasury Department.
For the first time in the literary world, a work on cryptocurrency topics has appeared, combining a selection of super-topical solutions: the author uses QR codes to follow links and NFC tags to simplify the visual perception of the material presented.
Fork calls his work a kind of quest that can be completed only at the initial level, omitting the technically difficult component, or vice versa - try to get as much as possible into the essence of bitcoin, comprehending its limitless possibilities.
The book is addressed to everyone who wants to study the cryptocurrency sphere, and is looking for a liferaft, fearing to drown in the sea of unnecessary information.
The publication of the book was organized at the expense of the author himself and contributions from Alex's caring supporters. Readers appreciated the author's work, they compare the book with a working notebook with important information, you can make notes in it and fold the pages for convenience.
7. Alan Norman. "Mastering Bitcoin: A Guide for Dummies"
Mastering Bitcoin: A Guide for Dummies is a great option for getting to know the basics of the cryptocurrency world. The book answers the questions that arise in the mind of the uninitiated enthusiast: “What is Bitcoin? How did it come about? How and where can you buy cryptocurrency? What is mining? "
The book is structured from simple to complex. The first chapters of the publication acquaint the reader with the history of the creation of bitcoin and the emergence of the cryptocurrency market. The following sections reveal the secret of how blockchain technology works and explain the principles on which close interaction with bitcoin is built. A separate part of the book is devoted to the issue of the legality of cryptocurrency mining, the specifics of taxation and the basics of legal regulation of cryptocurrency turnover in the world.
The book tells not only about bitcoin, it also includes a small excursion into the world of alternative cryptocurrency and the intricacies of its mining. In the publication, the author lists the main online resources related to cryptocurrency.
From the pages of his book, Alan Norman tries to convey the idea of the revolutionary significance of cryptocurrency and the importance of digital assets, the author tells how the world reacted to the popularity of Bitcoin and blockchain technology, how the public has changed its attitude towards money in general.
After studying Norman's work, the reader will not have any questions about the structure of bitcoin, about the intricacies of its mining. The author did not ignore the issue of risks and benefits of investing in cryptocurrency, and described cybersecurity technologies in detail.
8.Seyfedin Ammus. "A Brief History of Money, or Everything You Need to Know About Bitcoin"
The authorship of this bestseller belongs to Seyfedin Ammus, professor of economics and an active member of the Capitalism and Society community.
The book reveals the topic of the bitcoin system from the point of view of a full-fledged alternative to the classical system of central banking institutions.
The author describes Bitcoin as a computer program built on a distribution system that allows financial transactions to be carried out using an inflation-protected currency, thus avoiding unreliable intermediation.
Simply put, with the help of bitcoin, all the options of modern central banks are reduced to autonomous automation, which minimizes the possibility of potential violations. The user does not have access to the code without notification of possible changes to the rest of the system participants. Thanks to these features, Bitcoin was able to become the first "surviving" digital currency with the ability to freely convert.
The book is an overview of the technology, a list of problems that it can solve, as well as an analysis of the main techniques used at different times to solve similar problems.
The author sincerely hopes that his work will be able to convince skeptics that Bitcoin is not an empty shell, not a bubble or a pyramid. Opponents of cryptocurrency adoption must understand that the future of the economy is behind the new means of payment, and that the digital era began ten years ago.
The author draws the reader's attention to the fact that his book should not be regarded as an advertisement or a call to invest their savings in the development of the cryptocurrency market. The " Bitcoin" project will take place one way or another, but the outcome of the project will largely depend on how competent the participants will join it.
Ammus does not hide the existence of potential risks and does not idealize prospects; his main task is to offer the most complete descriptive description of the new technology so that the reader can independently decide what to do.
The book will be of interest to absolutely any audience.
9. Andreas Antonopoulos. "Internet of money"
After the overwhelming success of the first book on cryptocurrency, Andreas Antonopoulos continues to develop the current topic of introducing digital money into the living space of humanity. If in the first book the reader could find the answer to the question "How?", Then the second book "Internet of money" answers the question "Why?"
The publication itself is a collection of the author's public lectures, accumulated during numerous travels around the world and communicating with fierce Bitcoin supporters. The reader is captivated by the easy storytelling and metaphorization technique applied to digital money and the forecasts of its development in the future.
According to Andreas, virtual money can breathe life into a new form of political system - metapolitics. This innovative way will be based on the principle of algorithmization. In other words, in the future it will be easier for society to reach consensus on political issues, being able to approach the choice of cryptocurrency independently.
On the pages of the book, the author conducts a conversation with the reader, trying to explain the essence of bitcoin technology and the reasons for the inevitable displacement of cash by digital currencies.
10. Daniel Drescher. "Blockchain Basics"
A Doctor of Econometrics and an MS in Software Engineering tries to explain the nature of a blockchain project in twenty-five consecutive steps available.
The author hopes that with the help of his work, the gap between the highly technical literature on blockchain theory and books that offer a descriptive analysis of applications and the expected effects of their use will be narrowed. In his opinion, in order to fully understand the technical component of the blockchain, it is necessary to understand the specifics of the operation of special programs and applications, as well as to study options for cryptocurrency business projects and analyze the prospects of blockchain startups. Without a solid foundation in theoretical issues of blockchain technology, it is impossible to assess the real effect or potential benefits of a blockchain product.
The material of the book is presented with the expectation of a technically and economically uninformed user and covers the essence of building a chain, the basis of algorithmization and logging, as well as examples of application in business.
In the publication, the reader will not find answers to questions regarding cryptocurrencies, mining or investment prospects. The book describes in an accessible form the basic conceptual foundations of blockchain technology, including transactions, hashing, cryptography, data structuring, peer-to-peer systems, and more.
11. Arvin Narayanan, Joseph Bonneau, Edward Felten, Andrew Miller, Stephen Goldfeader. "Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies"
A team of authors led by Princeton University Associate Professor Arvin Narayanan presents fundamental research on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in their characteristic academic manner.
The book raises important topics of cryptoeconomics, which are revealed in complex details and mechanisms. The team of authors paid special attention to detailing complex cryptography processes and analyzing hash functions. Scientists' research is illustrated with tables and diagrams.
In order to reach a wider readership, the authors took care of developing an entire online course, during which the essence of all cryptocurrency technologies is revealed in detail. The course consists of an instructional video accompanying each chapter of the book, an explanation of the homework assignments, additional programming assignments, and a slideshow with lectures.
The materials presented in the work will interest students, experienced programmers, technical entrepreneurs, computer researchers.
The journey into the cryptocurrency world begins with the history of the origin and development of bitcoin and continues with the presentation of conceptual and practical nuances for building secure software that can easily interact with the bitcoin network. A special place in the publication is occupied by a list of ideas for implementing bitcoin in their own startups. The authors also touched upon the painful topics of decentralization, the complexity of the cryptocurrency mining process, and the policy of alternative cryptocurrencies.
12. Chris Berniske, Jack Tatar. Crypto Assets: An Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond
The book collects and analyzes invaluable experience in the cryptocurrency market of Chris Berniske, an employee of the venture capital company Placeholder Capital, and Jack Tatar, a popular publisher of literature on financing and investments. The combined effort has resulted in an impressive publication on the history of digital asset development.
It presents tactics for analyzing cryptocurrencies, methods for assessing possible risks in relation to financial capabilities, outlined the time frame for successful investment and provides practical advice on how not to get hooked by speculators and not become a victim of financial fraud.
The book can be safely recommended to both crypto enthusiasts and large investors.
13. Vitaly Buterin, William Mogayar. "Blockchain for business"
The book by William Mogayar, a board member of legendary cryptocurrency corporations, with an impressive foreword by the famous programmer Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, rightfully occupies an honorable place in the ranking of literature for people involved in the crypto business.
The result of the cooperation was a work that reveals the features of the functioning of blockchain technology. The author raises important questions of building a complex algorithmic network and gives comprehensive answers to them. Mogayar has over 30 years of experience as a leader of large business projects, so on the pages of his book he tries to lay out the basics of building and developing a business in close connection with blockchain technologies in the most accessible way.
The book shows blockchain theory as the main catalyst for change in the global financial arena and provides instructions on how and where blockchain can be applied today. The author tries to explain the principle of operation and effectiveness of this technology using specific life examples.
Like other similar literary products, Blockchain for Business is written in a characteristic metaphorical manner.
14. Ruslan Akst. "7 secrets of bitcoin, or bitcoin in an hour"
For those who have not yet had time to get acquainted with the mysterious universe of cryptocurrency, the book by Ruslan Akst will be a good acquisition.
The material is presented in an accessible way and is aimed, to a greater extent, at a non-professional audience who wants to get full information about the essence and content of digital currency, as well as understand how its turnover is possible in the future.
In a small book, the author offers an analysis of cryptocurrency as an innovative phenomenon of the modern financial market, tells how profitable an enterprise can be, what problems a future miner will face and what effect can be expected from the whole process. The book is worthy of attention of those who decided to try their hand at cryptocurrency mining.
The author does not embellish the reality, he honestly and openly shares information about existing opportunities. In his opinion, the main thing in this matter is not to be afraid of potential risks, understanding how you can turn the current situation to your advantage.
In structure, the publication resembles an express review of the most important and profitable areas of the modern cryptocurrency market.
15. Sergey Bazanov. "Bitcoin for everyone"
As noted above, there are few Russian-language publications devoted to crypto-topics, the book by Sergei Bazanov is one of them. The author dedicated his work to the 10th anniversary of the birth of the first cryptocurrency.
The book " Bitcoin for All" is not a collection of useful tips at all, it is a story about the goals, purposes and nuances of the Bitcoin ecosystem, and if you are skeptical about digital currency, this book is definitely for you. After reading it, you will receive clear and accessible information about bitcoin, and, possibly, become interested in the process of the circulation of digital assets.
16. Artyom Genkin, Alexey Mikheev. “Blockchain. How it works and what awaits us tomorrow "
Another publication by Russian authors dedicated to cryptocurrency . The duo of renowned experts in the field of finance and economics, Artyom Genkin and Alexei Mikheev, set out to explain to the reader the importance of blockchain technology and reveal the main secrets of its power.
Professional economists assess the effectiveness of blockchain use in various financial industries, consider the essence of ICO implementation, and analyze the potential of leading blockchain startups. Not the last place in the book is given to the issue of regulating the development of crypto-business at the state level, its legality and legitimacy.
Unlike most of the previous editions, the Blockchain book is aimed at the Russian consumer.