Top 5 Books About Cryptocurrencies For Total Beginners
You hear people talking about cryptocurrencies every day, but you don’t know what the fuss is all about.
You are trying to learn, but all you can find are articles for people who are already familiar with the subject.
That is about to change.
I compiled a list of five books for total beginners that will help you sail gently into the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
After reading them you will be able to understand other articles and become a member of the crypto community.
Let’s make you a part of the new money revolution.
1. The History of Money — Jack Weatherford
Before you start reading about bitcoin and all others cryptocurrencies you should be familiar with The History of Money. There are many books on this subject, but this one is very well written and understandable to people with no prior knowledge of the subject. Why is this book so different? Because it’s written by an anthropology professor and not an economist. When you think of the money, the first thing that comes to your mind is economics, however, an anthropological view on society and its relations to money offers a broader perspective. With that perspective, you will be able to understand why cryptocurrencies are the evolution of money. Most people think money is something that the government defines, but that can’t be further from the truth. Money is something on which people have reached an agreement, and that is well explained in this book.
2. Digital Gold — Nathaniel Popper
The second book you should read is a great piece by a New York Times technology and business reporter Nathaniel Popper. This is a unique history of bitcoin written as an inside story about the misfits and millionaires trying to reinvent money. The author doesn’t deal with complex technical stuff around bitcoin, rather he tells a tale of the people trying to change the world all the while making money. You will get an exclusive inside view of the group of geeks and cypherpunks who created a “global social movement with utopian ambitions“. If you are trying to understand bitcoin you should get to know the people and ideas behind it. And this is the best book to do that.
3. The Internet of Money — Andreas Antonopoulos
Andreas Antonopoulos is one of the few bitcoin and blockchain experts with years of experience in information security. He is also an author of the best technical guide ever written about the digital currency called Mastering Bitcoin. Once you get familiar with cryptocurrencies on a higher level, I recommend you to read it. But for now get your hands on his other work The Internet of Money. It is not an actual book, but more like a collection of his talks. There he talks about WHY we should accept bitcoin, rather than HOW bitcoin works. He explains all the technical, social and economic changes that are possible with decentralized consensus protocol — a technology behind bitcoin. And he does it for a broad audience, so it is understandable and easy to follow.
4. Blockchain Revolution — Don and Alex Tapscott
After reading about bitcoin, the next step is to get familiar with the technology that drives it. The blockchain is a revolutionary protocol that allows transactions to be simultaneously anonymous and secure. The powerful thing about blockchain is that it can record everything of value for an individual, not just transactions. Don and Alex, a father and a son, wrote not just about cryptocurrencies, but every aspect of a business that can be affected by this technology. The main value is that blockchain allows us to share things on the Internet without copying them, a fact that could disrupt many industries. Money is just one thing that can benefit from it, there are also other financial assets, intellectual property, art, votes, identity, energy, contracts, etc. How? Read and find out.
5. Cryptoassets — Chris Burniske and Jack Tatar
Every book so far deals with a single aspect of cryptocurrencies, but this one has it all. It provides answers to the three most asked questions: WHAT, WHY and HOW. This is why it’s a great book to round things up and get a general view of the subject. But also to gain a deeper knowledge. The WHAT section gives you the basics of bitcoin and blockchain technology and its beginnings from the 2008 financial crises. The WHY section deals with cryptocurrencies as assets and explains why it isn’t just another Ponzi scheme. Lastly, the HOW section introduces you to great opportunities, as well as threats when investing in cryptoassets. You will get detailed information on how to acquire cryptocurrencies and understand where you should keep them. Mining, wallets, exchanges — they will all become common terms to you after reading this book. Try it!
Conclusion
Here it is, the best books about cryptocurrencies that will give you enough knowledge so you don’t have to call yourself a newbie anymore.
These books have it all and they are written for a broad audience. You don’t need any special knowledge to understand them.
Just sit back, read and join the minority of people who actually do know a thing or two about bitcoin.
Soon enough you will be the one who is starting a conversation about it.
And everybody will listen to what you have to say.
Originally published on: Cryptpresso.com
