The Best Books to Get a Greater Understanding of Bitcoin

This piece is a list of some of the best books written about Bitcoin. Reading any or a couple of these books will make you smarter and savvier about Bitcoin, as well as help you to seize the moment.

Let’s dive into it!

1) The Book of Satoshi by Phil Champagne 

The creator(s) of Bitcoin remains a well-guarded mystery. Not even the earliest developers who worked closely with Satoshi have an inkling about who they were. So if no one knows who Satoshi was, the closest you can get a feel of their thinking is by reading their correspondence in the early days of Bitcoin.

Phil Champagne does an excellent job of compiling these in a most meticulous fashion. He puts together emails, posts on online forums, as well as the white paper that started it all.

The author also breaks down some of the technical Bitcoin fundamentals in easy-to-read terms. He gives his take on Bitcoin’s future and its potential to transform the world economy as we know it.

2) The Internet of Money by Andreas Antonopoulos 

Andreas Antonopoulos is one of the most well-known and highly regarded personalities in the Bitcoin space. He quit his job as a tech consultant to fully embark on evangelizing Bitcoin worldwide (something the Bitcoin community appreciates). He’s also the host of the “Let’s Talk Bitcoin” podcast.

The Internet of Money is a three-volume tome compiling Antonopoulos’ Bitcoin lectures across the globe from 2013 to 2016. Antonopoulos is a shameless optimist for the future of Bitcoin, and you can see why that is in this book.

3) The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Centralized Banking by Saifedean Ammous

Many people are right to ask: “Why Bitcoin?” This book answers that question by taking the reader on a thrilling walk through the socio-economic context of Bitcoin. Ammous, who is a professor of economics, takes a deep dive into the history of finance itself – from the time when people traded with primitive objects to modern day debt based government money.

After laying that background, Ammous intuitively analyzes the mechanics of how Bitcoin works. He then proceeds to explain why Bitcoin qualifies to be the only successful form of money to date. Further, he doesn’t shy from the hardest questions, like: is Bitcoin a waste of energy? Can Bitcoin be killed? What is to be made of all the Bitcoin knockoffs?

4) Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money by Nathaniel Popper 

Penned by New York Times technology and business reporter Nathaniel Popper, this book is a fascinating look into ideas and perspectives of the early luminaries of the Bitcoin space.

Popper documents the engrossing story of Bitcoin’s rise – from being the “butt of many jokes” to the formidable global phenomenon it’s become. This is done through the eyes of an unlikely group of people: from a South American millionaire, a Chinese entrepreneur, the Winklevoss twins, and the enigmatic person who began it all – Satoshi.

Unlike many of the books penned about Bitcoin, Digital Gold gives the reader a front-row seat to the behind-the-scenes happenings that propelled the rise of  Bitcoin.

5) Bitcoin Profits Crash Course by Frank Richmond 

If you’re looking for an all-round Bitcoin investment guide, then look no further than Bitcoin Profits Crash Course by Frank Richmond. Sure, Bitcoin’s all cool, but how do you benefit? This book delves into ways to make money with Bitcoin via mining, investing, and trading. It also highlights the promise of Bitcoin to radically alter for the best how we store, save and generally interact with money.

Richmond also examines how blockchain is making it possible for millions all over the world to dispense with banks and other financial institutions that act in self-interest. He also gets in the crucial nitty-gritty of Bitcoin addresses, choosing your first Bitcoin exchange, and how to keep your Bitcoin safe.

6) Early Bird Gets the Bitcoin by Andrew Courey 

This is a book written by an 11-year old – but don’t let that fool you. Andrew Courey’s simple and super creative approach makes it a worthy read for anyone interested in learning about Bitcoin. Let’s face it: Bitcoin’s fundamentals can throw anyone off at first. That’s why his real-world analogies to some of Bitcoin’s most complex concepts, such as distributed ledger and public and private keys, go a long way.

Courey also talks about what could go haywire with your exchange (Bitcoin hacks and all).

Unless you’re willing to devote 80 hours to “find a couple sources that make sense” about Bitcoin – as he told cnbc.com, you might want to grab this book.

7) Bitcoin and Beyond by M. Jean-Luc Verhelst

Author Jean-Luc Verhelst takes the reader on a “360-Degree onboarding guide” to Bitcoin. And he knows what he’s talking about – after all, he won the best financial master’s thesis in Belgium after writing about Bitcoin.

He takes the intriguing approach of letting you, the reader, decide what you want about Bitcoin and blockchain. Most resources on Bitcoin bombard you with information on what you ‘ought’ to know about Bitcoin. How about sitting down with a book that challenges you to think on your own?

Verhelst also prepares you for what to expect in the Bitcoin jungle. How and where can you store your precious Bitcoin? What kind of wallet should you go for? Can you spend Bitcoin, and where? Also, he paints a portrait of Bitcoin’s strengths and weaknesses and where precisely the currency fits in today’s financial landscape.

Final Thoughts

If recent months have proven anything – it’s that Bitcoin is here to stay, and it will only grow bigger. Whether you’re new to Bitcoin or a veteran, these books will help you ride the Bitcoin wave confidently.