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Decrypting Money: A Comprehensive Introduction to Bitcoin
Bitcoin is more than an investment. It’s more than electronic cash, or a form of payment. Bitcoin is security, equality, and independence. Bitcoin is gold—a gold tailor-made for the internet age.
In Decrypting Money , cryptocurrency experts Marco Krohn , Anthony Jefferies , Marco Streng , and Zoran Balkic pull back the curtain on the world of public ledgers, decentralization, mining, blockchains, and private keys. They reveal a place where printing presses cannot debase money and funds are safely—and quickly—transferred over insecure networks. Without technical jargon or complicated formulae, this insightful resource provides everyone from the bitcoin novice to the experienced user with background knowledge on the history of money, the characteristics of sound money, and the deep rabbit hole of cryptocurrencies. Decrypting Money is the jumpstart you need to understand cryptocurrencies and make your money truly yours.
In Decrypting Money , cryptocurrency experts Marco Krohn , Anthony Jefferies , Marco Streng , and Zoran Balkic pull back the curtain on the world of public ledgers, decentralization, mining, blockchains, and private keys. They reveal a place where printing presses cannot debase money and funds are safely—and quickly—transferred over insecure networks. Without technical jargon or complicated formulae, this insightful resource provides everyone from the bitcoin novice to the experienced user with background knowledge on the history of money, the characteristics of sound money, and the deep rabbit hole of cryptocurrencies. Decrypting Money is the jumpstart you need to understand cryptocurrencies and make your money truly yours.
314 pages, Paperback
Published June 14, 2023
4 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 1, 2024
It's been more than a decade since bitcoin came onto the financial scene with much confusion and nay-saying. If someone were to have written a fictional novel prior to the unveiling of bitcoin using the concept of a de-centralized digital currency system created by a still-unknown person or persons, that could be mined by anyone with a decent computer and minimal knowledge, and that it would be monitored by the world at large to keep it safe, well... You can imagine that no one would find it plausible.
This concept still blows my mind. But then I may be a bit simpler than most. Which is why I picked up Decrypting Money: A Comprehensive Introduction to Bitcoin by masters of the cryptocurrency universe: Marco Krohn, Anthony Jefferies, Marco Streng, and Zoran Balkic. Because against all odds (in my mind), bitcoin's decade of strong growth and survival against other crypto-competitors indicates that it may truly be what the enigmatic Satoshi Nakamoto set out to create.
Decrypting Money is designed to aid those who wish to understand more about the cryptocurrency market, especially relating to bitcoin. The authors have presented an easy to read, fairly easy to understand guide to the basics of crypto in general- what it is, why it's important, how it works, and perhaps most importantly why you can trust it. This was exactly what I needed. My brother invests in crypto. I don't. When we've had conversations about it, I found it hard to articulate my mistrust for it. He suggested my fear was based on a lack of knowledge, so I set out to get more familiar with this millennial concept that doesn't seem to be going away.
What I found within the pages of this book was a comprehensive look at the basics of currency in general, what good currency should (and should not) do, how cryptocurrency was developed to be a better currency than all others that came before it, and the fundamentals that provide protection for those who invest in and use cryptocurrency. The authors then dragged me kicking and screaming into slightly more complex, though much-simplified, explanations of the safety measures that provide security for an investment that has no centralized oversight such as a bank or government.
I greatly appreciated the simplistic mathematical breakdowns, as the authors used basic first-grade math to explain the much more complex system of crypto in a form I could understand. This gave me a greater sense of ease as I fell through the rabbit hole into the more complex (though still simplified) portions of crypto.
Thus, in much the same way a person can drive without knowing much about how a car works, people can participate in bitcoin without knowing anything about cryptographic hash functions or blockchains.
So why did the authors focus specifically on bitcoin (BTC) once their readers were presented with the essentials of crypto? Their take, which seems to have merit, is simply that BTC seems to have the magic recipe (my term, not theirs). That Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym for the creator of BTC, had such a well-thought-out system that it is the most secure crypto available. Many others have already fallen by the wayside in the last ten years, taking investor's funds with them: Sam Bankman-Fried and his now defunct FTX comes vividly to mind here.
Those who enjoy investing and using crypto will tell you that it's now easier than ever to purchase and has a decade of history showing tremendous growth. They may remind you that the main currency of the US, the dollar, is no longer backed by a precious metal (gold or silver), thereby making it fiat currency and less stable. Without the backing of gold the US dollar once had, there's nothing but common sense keeping the government from printing all the money they want, thus devaluing said dollar at a rapid rate. This is something we see happening now as we watch the news.
Like gold, bitcoin is scarce. Moreover, it is also carefully designed to be divisible, durable, portable, and fungible. Most importantly, bitcoin is decentralized.
Whether you're already an investor, are considering investing, or are convinced you'll never invest in crypto, I recommend this book as a must-read. Unless society falls into a post-apocalyptic state sans electricity and computers, crypto is here to stay. A wise person would wish to understand the basics of this amazing and complex system that is at once not only currency but a payment system as well. I commend the authors for taking the brilliance of crypto and bringing it into a realm I can comprehend. Decrypting Money is an essential guide that will serve you well as a handy reference to the world of cryptocurrency.
I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book for the purposes of reviewing for Reedsy Discovery: https://reedsy.com/discovery
This concept still blows my mind. But then I may be a bit simpler than most. Which is why I picked up Decrypting Money: A Comprehensive Introduction to Bitcoin by masters of the cryptocurrency universe: Marco Krohn, Anthony Jefferies, Marco Streng, and Zoran Balkic. Because against all odds (in my mind), bitcoin's decade of strong growth and survival against other crypto-competitors indicates that it may truly be what the enigmatic Satoshi Nakamoto set out to create.
Decrypting Money is designed to aid those who wish to understand more about the cryptocurrency market, especially relating to bitcoin. The authors have presented an easy to read, fairly easy to understand guide to the basics of crypto in general- what it is, why it's important, how it works, and perhaps most importantly why you can trust it. This was exactly what I needed. My brother invests in crypto. I don't. When we've had conversations about it, I found it hard to articulate my mistrust for it. He suggested my fear was based on a lack of knowledge, so I set out to get more familiar with this millennial concept that doesn't seem to be going away.
What I found within the pages of this book was a comprehensive look at the basics of currency in general, what good currency should (and should not) do, how cryptocurrency was developed to be a better currency than all others that came before it, and the fundamentals that provide protection for those who invest in and use cryptocurrency. The authors then dragged me kicking and screaming into slightly more complex, though much-simplified, explanations of the safety measures that provide security for an investment that has no centralized oversight such as a bank or government.
I greatly appreciated the simplistic mathematical breakdowns, as the authors used basic first-grade math to explain the much more complex system of crypto in a form I could understand. This gave me a greater sense of ease as I fell through the rabbit hole into the more complex (though still simplified) portions of crypto.
Thus, in much the same way a person can drive without knowing much about how a car works, people can participate in bitcoin without knowing anything about cryptographic hash functions or blockchains.
So why did the authors focus specifically on bitcoin (BTC) once their readers were presented with the essentials of crypto? Their take, which seems to have merit, is simply that BTC seems to have the magic recipe (my term, not theirs). That Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym for the creator of BTC, had such a well-thought-out system that it is the most secure crypto available. Many others have already fallen by the wayside in the last ten years, taking investor's funds with them: Sam Bankman-Fried and his now defunct FTX comes vividly to mind here.
Those who enjoy investing and using crypto will tell you that it's now easier than ever to purchase and has a decade of history showing tremendous growth. They may remind you that the main currency of the US, the dollar, is no longer backed by a precious metal (gold or silver), thereby making it fiat currency and less stable. Without the backing of gold the US dollar once had, there's nothing but common sense keeping the government from printing all the money they want, thus devaluing said dollar at a rapid rate. This is something we see happening now as we watch the news.
Like gold, bitcoin is scarce. Moreover, it is also carefully designed to be divisible, durable, portable, and fungible. Most importantly, bitcoin is decentralized.
Whether you're already an investor, are considering investing, or are convinced you'll never invest in crypto, I recommend this book as a must-read. Unless society falls into a post-apocalyptic state sans electricity and computers, crypto is here to stay. A wise person would wish to understand the basics of this amazing and complex system that is at once not only currency but a payment system as well. I commend the authors for taking the brilliance of crypto and bringing it into a realm I can comprehend. Decrypting Money is an essential guide that will serve you well as a handy reference to the world of cryptocurrency.
I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book for the purposes of reviewing for Reedsy Discovery: https://reedsy.com/discovery
May 1, 2025
Decrypting Money - A Comprehensive Introductioin to Bitcoin, it is precisely well-written book, well-researched. I enjoyed this book thoroughly, If one wants to acquire some degree of knowledge on Bitcoin's ecosystem, I highly recommend this one. It profoundly informative, however, the thing I'd say it lacks, is more in-depth explanation of the philosophy of Bitcoin.
The books delves deeply into the technical part of Bitcoin's infrastructure, explaning the intricacies of Bitcoin, the mining processes, historical records of predecessor means of exchange, it explains in some degree why Bitcoin is one of the greatest inventions subsequently after the Internet. It delves into the anonymity of Bitcoin, the imperfections of it-and the so-called rabbit hole of this system.
I unfainlingly admit, if you read this book, your limited comprehension of this very interesting means of exchange, and store of value. Will outgrow to a new horizion of possibilities.
I would say, this is very introductional book, however, you shouldn't not give it one single shot into this not fully comprehend potential new mean of exchange money form. We have to keep our minds critical and always updating with new knowledge onto it. Think yourself, and look out for new data.
The knowledge is power, absolutely. The bitcoin you buy today, is the freedom of tomorrow.
The books delves deeply into the technical part of Bitcoin's infrastructure, explaning the intricacies of Bitcoin, the mining processes, historical records of predecessor means of exchange, it explains in some degree why Bitcoin is one of the greatest inventions subsequently after the Internet. It delves into the anonymity of Bitcoin, the imperfections of it-and the so-called rabbit hole of this system.
I unfainlingly admit, if you read this book, your limited comprehension of this very interesting means of exchange, and store of value. Will outgrow to a new horizion of possibilities.
I would say, this is very introductional book, however, you shouldn't not give it one single shot into this not fully comprehend potential new mean of exchange money form. We have to keep our minds critical and always updating with new knowledge onto it. Think yourself, and look out for new data.
The knowledge is power, absolutely. The bitcoin you buy today, is the freedom of tomorrow.
April 23, 2024
Delving into the pages of "Decrypting Money - A Comprehensive Introduction to Bitcoin" proves to be an enlightening experience for anyone intrigued by the fundamentals of Bitcoin. Through its exploration, it unveils the evolution of monetary systems across history, spanning from ancient shells to the golden era, shedding light on how paper currency tied to gold became ubiquitous.
For those new to the world of Bitcoin, this book serves as a beacon, simplifying intricate concepts into digestible nuggets of knowledge. It adeptly navigates through essential topics such as the finite supply of 21 million Bitcoins, regulated issuance protocols, and robust security measures, offering a solid grounding in Bitcoin's intricacies. With its clear prose and illuminating visuals, the book ensures accessibility for all readers.
For those new to the world of Bitcoin, this book serves as a beacon, simplifying intricate concepts into digestible nuggets of knowledge. It adeptly navigates through essential topics such as the finite supply of 21 million Bitcoins, regulated issuance protocols, and robust security measures, offering a solid grounding in Bitcoin's intricacies. With its clear prose and illuminating visuals, the book ensures accessibility for all readers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews