Ten Best Books to Read on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency in 2020
Image: Elena Berton
In 2020 a decentralized currency is more important than ever.
With many predicting the Petrodollar ready to be dethroned amidst the Covid chaos, Bitcoin, now 10 years old, is waiting patiently on the sidelines to take reigns as wold reserve.
Bitcoin is without a doubt still the most important digital currency, Ethereum is nipping at its heals and the countless others are not far behind. If you’ve been in Bitcoin since day one or you are just now buying your first Satoshi, here is my list of the best and most important Bitcoin reading material.
TL:DR List:
1) The Book of Satoshi: The Collected Writings of Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto — Phil Champagne
2) Bitcoin White Paper — Satoshi Nakamoto
3) Bitcoin Technology and the Future of Money — Alan Wright
4) Cryptoassets The Innovative Investor’s Guide — Chris Burniske
5) The Fourth Industrial Revolution — Klaus Schwab
6) Bitcoin Billionaires, A True Story of Genius — Ben Mezrich
7) The Bitcoin Standard — Saifedean Ammous
8) The Death of Money — James Rickards
9) Tor and the Dark Art of Anonymity — Lance Henderson
10) American Kingpin — Nick Bilton
1) The Book of Satoshi: The Collected Writings of Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto — Phil Champagne
This is the place to start to understand everything about the block chain generally, and bitcoin specifically. The first three chapters are indispensable as a start up guide “quick start”. Thereafter each chapter deals with distinct and very interesting FAQ type issues. They can be dipped into for insight in each subject’s turn, as and when required.
I read the greater part of the book on Kindle, then bought it on Audible, and listened to the rest in the car while travelling between cities. The Audible version is a bit repetitive, as the concept of summarising quoted (in-bedded) forum entries is beyond the intellect of the Audible producer. But that aside, the content of the work is superb.
Get it now. Highly recommended.
2) Bitcoin White Paper — Satoshi Nakamoto
Satoshi Nakamoto stated in his white paper that: “The root problem with conventional currencies is all the trust that’s required to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust.”
3) Bitcoin Technology and the Future of Money — Alan Wright
Blockchain: Uncovering Blockchain Technology, Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, and the Future of Money, by author Alan Wright, is an in-depth explanation of BlockChain. It goes into immense detail about what Blockchain is, where it came from, and how it is going to affect the digital world in the future. Alan Wright did an excellent job of creating a book that was full of information while still maintaining a voice that is accessible and easy to read. It was nice to find a book that put this information together in a well organized, understandable format that got me excited about the future of this technology. It is apparent from the writing that Wright put in a lot of research and was very passionate about the technology. The writing style, images, facts, and stats came together to create an interesting and accessible book. This was an excellent read that I enjoyed very much. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about Blockchain.
4) Cryptoassets The Innovative Investor’s Guide — Chris Burniske
Cryptoasets: The Innovative Investor’s Guide, provides a clear, concise overview of a rapidly emerging market and group of tools that will impact our lives for the better. Context is everything. I am not a professional trader or investor. Prior to getting involved with cryptoassets, I wasn’t even remotely a hobby trader. I contributed to my retirement through work in typical mostly hands-off ways i.e 401k or mutual funds. I got involved with Bitcoin because I liked the technology and the societal implications. Once that hooked me, I had to figure out how to put that interest to use. That is where Chris Burniske and Jack Tatar come in with Cryptoassets. The authors provide a timely description of the investing landscape without turning over every stone or looking behind every tree. They paint with broad brush strokes using various cryptoassets to articulate a point. Without getting bogged down in too many details that change quickly in cryptomarkets, they filled in significant knowledge gaps and helped me understand how much I did not know about investing or how cryptoassets compare to conventional assets. There is a place for the highly technical description of cryptoassets or investing. That is not this book.
5) The Fourth Industrial Revolution — Klaus Schwab
This is an excellent assessment of social and technical developments coming in the next decade. It is rooted in current research and development. Schwab makes a convincing case that the next 10 years will create a paradigm shift in our lives similar to the shifts of industrial revolutions 1.0. 2.0 and 3.0.
6) Bitcoin Billionaires, A True Story of Genius — Ben Mezrich
After reaching a multimillion dollar settlement with Mark Zuckerberg (for allegedly stealing their idea for an Internet social network), the Winklevoss twins start a venture capital firm, hoping to make their mark in the business world. Surprised to learn that their money is unwelcome in Silicon Valley (entrepreneurs are afraid of antagonizing Zuckerberg), they discover Bitcoin. Convinced that cryptocurrency will be the “Next Great Thing,” they invest in a Bitcoin exchange start-up run by an unstable but brilliant young man, and they also buy directly large amounts of Bitcoin. The resulting wild and crazy ride (for both the volatile value of Bitcoin, and the fortunes of the main characters) becomes the central story of this well-written and fascinating book. On the plus side, the author does an excellent job of explaining the basics of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
7) The Bitcoin Standard —Saifedean Ammous
About mid-way through reading this book I realized there was a problem with the book. The title doesn’t quite do it justice. Though it would be a bit hubristic to title your own book “The Bitcoin Bible” it won’t stop me from doing so on Ammous’ behalf.
That’s right. This book is the missing treatise on “Why Bitcoin?”. It is not technical from a coder’s point of view; however, it is technical on its treatment of economics. Don’t let that scare you away. If you ever considered “getting into Bitcoin”. If you never heard of Bitcoin. If you are a long-time holder of Bitcoin. This book is for you.
8) The Death of Money — James Rickards
This is a great book, the second I have read by James Rickards. He’s written the previous best selling book, “Currency Wars”. Mr. Rickards has had a career in varied realms, he has degrees in Int’l. Economics (went to grad school with the likes of Timothy Geitner) and several legal disciplines. He’s a regular on many MSM including CNBC where I first saw him about 8 years ago. He’s an insider in more ways than one. Six years ago he pointed out that China was bent on accumulating gold to diversify their assets (boy was he right). Then 3 years ago he began talking about plans to revive an old 1960’s era monetary maneuver which he called “Operation Twist”, sure enogh a couple of months later the Fed announced Operation Twist which entailed buying long term US Treasury debt and selling short term.
9) Tor and the Dark Art of Anonymity —Lance Henderson
Now I know why the NSA and others want to ban Tor. I had wondered why so many in law enforcement and those who “protect us” by surveilling us want to get rid of this browser which was, incidentally, originally funded by the US military and they released it.
I knew something about TOR but 90% of the information in the book was new to me. I’m a writer and don’t actually use TOR myself but I was astounded by the information the author put together after what is clearly exhaustive and personal research. This book does what few books like this do: it tells you what, why and then tells you specifically “how to”.
10) American Kingpin — Nick Bilton
This book covers both the broad strokes of the Silk Road that you might have missed as the story was unfolding as well as the small nuances that you almost certainly didn’t know even if you were one of the participants.
Bilton takes a balanced reporting perspective and describes both the highs and lows of the building and ultimate downfall of the Silk Road as well as the investigative efforts that brought it down.
Probably the most striking element is the number of small mistakes that lead to setbacks and victories on both sides of this cat and mouse game.
I would say one place some may disagree with the author is in what to include and what to leave out. In any writing that is the challenge the author faces. I am satisfied with his decisions but others may not be.
This is a well written book that will fill in many of the holes left by other sources.
