In the midst of a digital age, surrounded by technology and a never-ending thirst for knowledge, fingertips away from the “truth” or waiting for google to end your discussions, I would assume that if anyone is looking for a book for knowledge, it must mean you’re hungry for more than what the media has let out.
Why bitcoin? What is it?
So many questions that even a quick search on youtube would just lead many to a lifetime of mass hysteria. A movement, an idea, a currency…millenia in the making to finally take shape and form but little is yet discussed among peers about it.
A topic so often misunderstood and misinterpreted by the media, all that resonates in our hippocampus is a silent echo with numbers soaring time and time again and yet that’s all that caught most’s attentions.
There is a lot more to bitcoin than its price, and I’m here to prove it.
You can dive straight into what is bitcoin and why it is such a silent phenomena; why some already made billions but this rocket has yet to take off, or you can go down the road back in time and understand why fiat currencies took shape in our lives and why we don’t question its true nature since our common goal is to pursue the most of it.
It wasn’t a coincidence that this revolution started a year after the worst economic downturn in recent times.
Federal Reserve printing money, banks being bailed out, millions losing jobs, its people being disenfranchised and pit against each other. This didn’t start then, but, to a few, they could no longer put the genie back in the bottle.
That’s where the revolution begins.
Whether you want to start your journey through the mind of its peers, a straightforward book best described as “the bible” of bitcoin this is a short list of books that have helped me digest what the movement, its monetary value, the dangers it places against fiat currencies and its governments and most importantly what hurdles it needs to overcome if this technology must succeed.
Take your pick. There is no right or wrong. Just the first of many.
The Internet of Money Volume I
By Andreas M. Antonopoulos
Being one of the pioneers in this space, and considered among peers to have written the best technical guide regarding Blockchain and its technology, Andreas wrote this book as a diary of his discovery of bitcoin. Compiling what can be described as a lifetime of knowledge and yet a small sample of his work; A glimpse into bitcoin and its impact on the future.
His journey, he shares, “came as a surprise”. “This book and my work over the past three years is about more than bitcoin”
His exposure to this new technology and ideal reshaped his political ideals, hopes and shows how little even great minds understood about currencies, emerging technologies and how this vision could transform society. It shares what he truly grasped about Bitcoin and Satoshi’s vision about connecting people without borders and breaking the barriers that no other fiat currency could achieve.
“Bitcoin is the money of the people.”
The Internet of Money on Amazon
The Bitcoin Standard
By Saifedean Ammous
In this recap through time, Saifedean simplifies his ideas through a history of value. The idea of money and what’s behind it. This “simple” idea of placing trust and value in a medium of exchange shows how little do we understand about money and how governments used the faith people placed in their fiat currencies to decouple it from a stable basis of value.
He emphasizes the importance of changing one’s mindset in regards to money. How it’s used to measure efforts vs time. Since money was designed as a placeholder on those efforts and time, there is no incentive in holding onto money. This is where he teaches how one must change their approach to an investor mindset.
His ability to dive into detail takes us far beyond the normal understanding of what has been thought in regards to World War I, where he emphasizes how important it was to maintain a true sound system: The gold standard. Money backed by gold.
This principle helped achieve a reliable store of value and lead to an age of prosperity and stability but was replaced amidst the turn of the century to a system backed by military power and fiscal incompetence.
These changes, he describes, lead to the inevitable creation of a new standard. The bitcoin standard. And what it can offer and its obstacles it must undertake if it wants to claim its place in this digital age. He sums it up by stating that Bitcoin was created to end the wrongdoings of World War I.
“World War I saw the end of the era of monetary media being the choice decided by the free market, and the beginning of the era of government money”
The Bitcoin Standard on Amazon
Digital Gold
By Nathaniel Popper
The most intriguing aspect of this book is, it was able to capture Bitcoin’s hype and rise during its early days back in the summer of 2014. How its concept though undervalued didn’t need the support of the government or big money to print a big picture and start a global movement.
This book takes place when bitcoin wasn’t in the media and serves as a witness to its growth, how powerful the technology as well as its future direction.
His respect for its creator and how important his role was in remaining anonymous and absent in later years.
He shares his struggles as he travels around the world and deals with the instability of other currencies and how there is a need for a digital asset. Bitcoin is the way and the means to perfect Gold for a digital era.
“It’s either going to change everything, or nothing,”
Bitcoin Billionaires
By Ben Mezrich
Written as a bystander peeping through the looking glass, it foreshadows events that lead the twin brothers to riches and fame. The vivid memories, the sensationalized media coverage, the passages of this book; began to paint a picture and the brush was still wet. The author made sure he got the villian right. But the “heroes”… He has me guessing.
An air of contemptuousness towards the Winklevoss brothers. Their background or because they were the “cool kids” at school. It didn’t matter. It didn’t stop them from stumbling into two of the biggest revolutions of modern times.
Was it an accident?
Based on their credentials alone it begs the question. For anyone that saw the collapse of Myspace and the spawn of Facebook might have overlooked how it all went down and as for the brothers… getting kicked while they were down lead them to a bitcoin revolution.
They didn’t follow the money. They discovered it.
“As an entrepreneur, you had one, maybe two, but usually not more than three chances to catch lightning in a bottle; as a venture capitalist, however, you could chase lightning as long as you had cash to invest.”
Bitcoin Billionaires on Amazon
Mastering Bitcoin
By Andreas M. Antonopoulos
In this bitcoin journey, there is only a select few that brought bitcoin into the light. Andreas, in simple terms, is the light in a nutshell.
His in-depth understanding of not only the space but the technology, and his natural talent with words and as a public speaker has made any of his work written or broadcasted into gospel.
The reader has so much to learn that sometimes one must take a few steps back and question themselves if it’s okay to dive this deep down the rabbit hole.
Written for the curious, technical users, investors; There is even a walkthrough teaching you the many ways you can get a hold of your first bitcoin.
There is also a substantial amount of coding within the book. For the non-coders such as myself, I would suggest skipping it until safer grounds.
The core elements that make bitcoin unique and its complete architecture; from wallets, mining blocks & rewards to transactions and its security principles are expressed in detail.
Simply put, if you want to learn about bitcoin this will be the last book that you will ever need.
“When bitcoin was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, the software was actually completed before the whitepaper reproduced in Appendix A was written. Satoshi wanted to make sure it worked before writing about it.”
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