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Inventing Bitcoin: The Technology Behind the First Truly Scarce and Decentralized Money Explained Paperback – June 17, 2019

by Yan Pritzker (Author), Nicholas Evans (Illustrator)

757 ratings

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Bitcoin may well be the greatest invention of our time, and most people have no idea what it is, or how it works. Walking through its invention step by step, this short two hour read is critical before you invest.

No technical expertise required! Read it, then share it with your loved ones.

“It was much quicker and easier to understand than I expected [...] After reading it I sold some of my alts for more bitcoin. I’m on the edge of becoming a maximalist because of you.” - Nako Mbelle, Around The Coin Podcast

Editorial Reviews

Review

"There are extremely few books that can boast that they take a very complex and difficult idea, and make it easy to understand. 'Inventing Bitcoin' starts from the fundamental problem that needs solving and piece by piece rebuilds bitcoin conceptually from the ground up. And does this without a bunch of technical jargon. It may very well be my favorite book for grasping the how and why of the Bitcoin system... and I've read quite a few of them."
— Guy Swann, Host of Bitcoin Audible Podcast

"Yan explains what Bitcoin is with brevity and insight. Reading his book gave us the confidence to pivot our entire business into Bitcoin. Read it and it will change your life."
— Anthony Scaramucci, Founder, SkyBridge Capital

"Only took two hours! This will be an incredible resource for helping people understand Bitcoin."
— Marty Bent, Host of TFTC Podcast

"Inventing Bitcoin is so good because it's the result of Yan teaching Bitcoin to high school students for a year, evolving the best explanations and analogies, determining the optimal stacking and framing. I don't think any other Bitcoin book evolved that way."
— Cory Klippsten, Founder & CEO, Swan.com

"I sent out another copy today to an interested investor. I must have sent about one hundred this year. Great introduction to Bitcoin with enough depth if you want to get into the weeds."
— Dan Tapiero, Founder & CEO 10T Holdings

"I consider Inventing Bitcoin as one of the best books to gift to your friends or family for them to start their own rabbit hole journey. I personally found the book at the start of 2020 and was amazed at how it helped click so many pieces of the puzzle into place in my own mind after having spent years trying to wrestle with so many of the concepts that make bitcoin so unique!"
— Daniel Prince, Host of Once Bitten Podcast

From the Author

Inventing Bitcoin was the result of my own journey into discovering and understanding why Bitcoin was invented and how it works. I left a long and successful career in tech entrepreneurship to study Bitcoin full time because I believed it was among one of the most important inventions of this century. After more than a year of giving talks on Bitcoin to various audiences including high school students, I found that there was no book out there that succintly captured the how and why of Bitcoin. This book is written at a level anyone can understand, and yet will leave you with a depth of knowledge that will make you confident enough to explain Bitcoin to your friends and family. Today, Bitcoin is leading a radical transformation in our society and enabling human collaboration, freedom, and flourishing on a scale never before seen. This book will enable you to see what so many people who have dedicated thousands of hours to studying Bitcoin are talking about -- and all in just a short two hour read.

From the Inside Flap

When many people first hear about Bitcoin, they tend to develop opinions before even attempting to understand it. There is so much noise out there, it's easy to be misled about what Bitcoin is, and how it works. Up until 2016, I was one of these people.

Why did I decide to write this book? I spent the last twenty years building tech startups. I immerse myself in new technology every day, and I'm pretty good at figuring things out. Even still, it took me five years from first hearing about Bitcoin to actually sitting down to try to understand it. I have a feeling I'm not the only one who could use a little help wrapping their head around this potentially world changing innovation.

I first heard of Bitcoin in 2011 from slashdot.org, a news site for nerds. Back then, the Bitcoin price had gone through the roof to a massive bubble peak of around $30 per coin. All I knew was that some people on the Internet were trying to start some kind of peer to peer payment system. Not knowing the first thing about what it was, how it worked, or anything at all about investing and market cycles, I decided I should buy some just in case it turned out to be important. I had to use a questionable looking website called Mt. Gox to do so. This dollar-to-bitcoin exchange later turned out to be insolvent.

I slowly watched my investment shrink to nearly nothing, as the price crashed from $30 per bitcoin to $2. At some point, I forgot about it completely and went on with my life, working on startups. I don't even know what happened to those coins. I know I sold some or most of my stash at the bottom of the cycle. I imagine the keys to the rest are stored on some hard drive from an old laptop, lying in a dump somewhere.

In 2013 I heard about it again. This time, the noise in the media was louder, and now the experience of buying it was a lot slicker. There were apps like Coinbase, which looked downright legitimate. This was a marked improvement from the days of Mt. Gox. It seemed to me that Bitcoin could really be something.

Just in case it was, and again not knowing the first thing about it, I bought at the peak of the bubble (around $1000 per coin) and watched my investment decimated as it fell to about $200 per coin. This time, I figured it wasn't enough money to bother selling, so I left it be, and, proceeded to ignore it as I was knee deep in starting to build my next startup: Reverb.com.

Over the next four years, Reverb grew quickly, becoming the number one destination for musicians. I was making a difference in the world and bringing music to people. I was the CTO of an exciting, fast growing tech company, doing something I was passionate about, and I had no time for silly Internet money.

I'm embarrassed to say that it wasn't until the summer of 2016 that I finally watched my first video by Andreas Antonopoulos, which finally forced me to sit up and pay attention. I started asking questions. Where does Bitcoin come from? Who controls it? How does it work? What is mining? What impact will it have on the world? I started reading everything I could get my hands on, listening to hours of podcasts and videos every day for a year and a half straight. Finally, in early 2018, just after Bitcoin hit another all time high at around $20,000 per coin, I decided to leave Reverb in pursuit of helping bring Bitcoin to the world in whatever way I could.

Why did I leave a very successful, fast growing startup company to work on Bitcoin?

I believe that the invention of Bitcoin is the kind of thing that comes around once in a lifetime; perhaps once in many lifetimes. If Bitcoin succeeds, it may prove to be as important as the printing press, (decentralized production of information), the Internet (decentralized communication), and the multi branch checks and balances systems of modern democratic governments.

I hope that by understanding how Bitcoin works, you'll understand how it can turn out to be a force for good in the world. Bitcoin will decentralize the production and use of money, which is the key to unlocking new ways for humanity to collaborate on a scale that was previously unimaginable.

The price of Bitcoin is mostly what you hear about in the media. One day it's going to a million dollars, and the next it's in a death spiral going to zero. It's either that or Bitcoin will use all the world's energy and destroy the planet within ten years. Of course this is false, and you'll understand why once you learn about how it works.

My goal with this book isn't to analyze the economics of Bitcoin and sound money, though we'll touch on these concepts briefly. I'm not going to look at Bitcoin from the standpoint of investing, or try to convince you to buy some. I would highly recommend The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous and Why Buy Bitcoin by Andy Edstrom as immediate follow-ups to this book for those curious to understand money and the financial system.

We're also not going to dig into any computer code, and no computer science background is required to understand this book. If you want to look at Bitcoin through that lens, I recommend Mastering Bitcoin by Andreas Antonopoulos, and Programming Bitcoin by Jimmy Song.
For me, understanding all the things that come together to make Bitcoin work was a profound moment. In this book, I hope to share that knowledge with you in a short, simple format. My goal today is to tickle your brain, and to give you a taste of the computer science, economics, and game theory that make Bitcoin one of the most interesting and profound inventions of our time. By understanding the workings of Bitcoin, I hope you will find, like I did, that Bitcoin is much deeper than it appears to be at first, and may have an incredible impact on the world for generations to come.

The way we'll do it is one step at a time. With nothing but a high school level math background, we will walk through inventing bitcoin, step by step. I hope that this book will give you just enough of an introduction to send you down the Bitcoin rabbit hole. Let's get started!

About the Author

Yan Pritzker is a technology entrepreneur with a career in tech startups that spans more than twenty years. His last company, Reverb.com, a marketplace for musical instruments, was sold to Etsy in 2019. Following that, Yan devoted himself to the study of Bitcoin and the education of others on this world changing innovation. Yan is the author of the book Inventing Bitcoin, the best technical book for beginners, and gives talks on Bitcoin related topics ranging from the importance of Bitcoin as a tool for freedom to the technical details of how Bitcoin works. Yan is also the cofounder and CTO at Swan.com, a Bitcoin services company focusing on Bitcoin education and onboarding individuals, companies, trusts, and retirement accounts onto Bitcoin, and an advisor to Riot Blockchain, a publicly traded Bitcoin mining company.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 17, 2019
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 106 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1794326316
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1794326316
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.3 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.24 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #81,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #12 in E-Commerce (Books)
- #55 in Money & Monetary Policy (Books)
- #58 in Theory of Economics

Customer Reviews:
757 ratings

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Yan is the co-founder and CTO at Swan.com. Yan has spent the last twenty years building startups, including Reverb.com, which was acquired by Etsy. Today, he focuses on Bitcoin education and onboarding through his efforts at Swan.

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Customers say

Customers praise the book's ability to explain Bitcoin concepts properly using easy-to-understand analogies, making it a great resource for newcomers. The book is concise and can be read in a day, serving as an excellent primer for understanding how Bitcoin works. Customers find it worth the price, and one customer notes its relatively short length at 95 pages.

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Explanation quality Readability Introductory value Value for money Length

51 customers mention "Explanation quality"49 positive2 negative

Customers praise the book's clear explanations, particularly its easy-to-understand analogies that help newcomers grasp the Bitcoin system.

"Extremely good book! Very concise and very clear. In less than 100 pages he tackles a ton of difficult topics...." Read more

"...What about vulnerabilities? All this and more is covered in clear, direct language than the vast majority of people will understand...." Read more

"...Helpful info to read about. Nice and to the point." Read more

"...author Yan Pritzker set out on a clear mission: to explain the underlying technology of Bitcoin...." Read more

19 customers mention "Readability"19 positive0 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as a great and brisk read that can be completed in one day.

"Extremely good book! Very concise and very clear. In less than 100 pages he tackles a ton of difficult topics...." Read more

"...Very helpful, and a very quick read. I will be recommending it widely." Read more

"...Helpful info to read about. Nice and to the point." Read more

"...No scams, no bs, just explaining what bitcoin is and how it works. Nice, simple to understand, diagrams and explanations...." Read more

16 customers mention "Introductory value"16 positive0 negative

Customers find the book to be an excellent introduction to Bitcoin, with one customer noting it provides a strong understanding of how the technology works.

"...The book also includes where to find more information and reliable resources about Bitcoin...." Read more

"...100 pages, you can get a basic understanding of both how and why bitcoin works...." Read more

"Inventing Bitcoin is the best introductory book on some of the technical aspects of the coin, mainly how its proof-of-work is designed technically...." Read more

"...Understand the security of bitcoin as the hash rate rose Understand what forks really are and what they do..." Read more

7 customers mention "Value for money"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book worth triple its price.

"...topics like Proof Of Work, mining, forks, 51% Attacks, economic considerations, etc." Read more

"...people understand Bitcoin’s use case - a true censorship resistant, sound money...." Read more

"...it crypto prior to reading, and this book was really helpful and valuable...." Read more

"...It is also is a cheaper book to buy. The author tries to teach in simple terms bitcoin. So he uses examples such as lotteries...." Read more

6 customers mention "Length"6 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's length, with one mentioning it is 95 pages long.

"...But I much prefer this brisk, shorter book that I have to work to digest - rather than a longer book that may restate the same thing over and over...." Read more

"...It's relatively short and written in common sense language." Read more

"...technical explanations (without the need to get into code or math) and length (its a quick <1 day read)...." Read more

"This book is 95 pages long so can be read in 1 day. It is also is a cheaper book to buy. The author tries to teach in simple terms bitcoin...." Read more

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Jeremy Thomley
Excellent BTC Book
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2025
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Extremely good book! Very concise and very clear. In less than 100 pages he tackles a ton of difficult topics. Very impressed although it’s probably not great for an intro to BTC, it is great for somebody who has read the classics and needs a more sound understanding of hashing and mining.

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Aron C. Gahagan
Focuses on most important take-aways without getting too deep into the weeds
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2022
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Pritzker packs a lot of helpful information into 106 pages. However, at every point, he is clear, concise, and makes no assumptions about the reader's background. Those who want to really understand the mechanics of the Bitcoin network, without getting lost in the weeds, will appreciate this book. What is cryptography and how does Bitcoin leverage this? Why is decentralization important? How does the software account for incentives at every point of Bitcoin's inflation schedule in order to secure the network? What about vulnerabilities? All this and more is covered in clear, direct language than the vast majority of people will understand. He explains the invention of bitcoin step by step, addressing what problem arose, how it was solved, etc. Very helpful, and a very quick read. I will be recommending it widely.

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2 people found this helpful

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DoubleDown Dave
a concise summary
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2025
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
It's a pretty thin book. The physical book quality is OK, not the best quality frankly. Helpful info to read about. Nice and to the point.

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Amazon Customer
An excellent primer full of a-ha moments
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2019
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
With "Inventing Bitcoin" author Yan Pritzker set out on a clear mission: to explain the underlying technology of Bitcoin. Honing in specifically on the Bitcoin and not crypto or distributed ledgers more generally, Pritzker goes step by step through the what makes Bitcoin work explaining concepts like Proof of Work and mining in language that anyone can understand. The tone is encouraging and inviting, like a high school teacher who's genuinely passionate about educating his students.

In this book, you won't find political manifestos or even a shred of conjecture about investment strategies. Pritzker deftly avoids using this as an opportunity to preach why everyone should hold BTC, allowing instead for the objective facts surrounding the tech to demonstrate why this is such revolutionary technology.

if you're like me and have bought a small amount of BTC from some sense of FOMO, but without really understanding how it works, this book has the power to turn you from a trend-chasing speculator into an informed investor.

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21 people found this helpful

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Andrew DeLorenzo
3-way tie for best Bitcoin book ever written
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2025
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I can't believe there is a tie for third best Bitcoiner book after The Bitcoin Standard and Broken Money, but here we are!

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Amazon Customer
Bitcoin concepts clearly and simply explained
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2019
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Great book to give to friends or get a quick SOLID understanding of Bitcoin. No scams, no bs, just explaining what bitcoin is and how it works. Nice, simple to understand, diagrams and explanations.

The book also includes where to find more information and reliable resources about Bitcoin.

Highly recommend this book if you want to know what you’re talking about when people ask you questions about Bitcoin or if you have questions about it.

This book also contains simple explanations of more advanced topics like Proof Of Work, mining, forks, 51% Attacks, economic considerations, etc.

Read more

Amazon Customer

Bitcoin concepts clearly and simply explained

Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2019
Great book to give to friends or get a quick SOLID understanding of Bitcoin. No scams, no bs, just explaining what bitcoin is and how it works. Nice, simple to understand, diagrams and explanations.

The book also includes where to find more information and reliable resources about Bitcoin.

Highly recommend this book if you want to know what you’re talking about when people ask you questions about Bitcoin or if you have questions about it.

This book also contains simple explanations of more advanced topics like Proof Of Work, mining, forks, 51% Attacks, economic considerations, etc.

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6 people found this helpful

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Jon Hodl
The Best Bitcoin Book for Beginners
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2019
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I read this book in a single sitting and can say with confidence that it is the single best book for newcomers to Bitcoin. Instead of going on about technicals or economics, Yan makes it easy to understand why the bitcoin system works in simple terms.

In just 100 pages, you can get a basic understanding of both how and why bitcoin works. Not only does he do a great job of helping newcomers to understand Bitcoin, but he also references some other more in-depth bitcoin books that will help explain more about the economics and technicals of how Bitcoin works.

I cannot recommend this book enough. If you are new to bitcoin or want to help your friends/family to better understand Bitcoin, this is the absolute first book that I would suggest that they (or anyone) read.

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3 people found this helpful

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Daniel Scheibly
Very informative and a great read.
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2024
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Thanks a bunch.
Got a lot from reading this book.

Learned a lot of stuff I didn't know.
Appreciate it 🙏

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Ben Clay
Clear explanations for the technically curious but excludes Lightning (it was written in 2019)
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 7, 2023
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

It's a small book and I read it in an evening but worth it. I've often had trouble explaining some of the technical aspects of Bitcoin to potential converts and this helped: most notably with the "somebody could hack the code" objection.

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Bala
Good explanation of the working of bitcoin protocol
Reviewed in Singapore on March 19, 2022
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Good place to start if someone wants to understand the design and working on bitcoin.

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Cliente de Kindle
Conceptos técnicos clave de bitcoin
Reviewed in Spain on September 3, 2022
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Un buen libro para introducirse en los fundamentos tecnológicos de bitcoin, con extensión contenida. Emplea un inglés técnico y accesible que facilita la lectura. Complementariamente, aporta una buena selección de enlaces a lo largo del libro para ampliar información. Dada su aproximación eminentemente técnica, eché en falta, no obstante, algún anexo con código comentado.

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travis
Great basic overview.
Reviewed in Australia on November 3, 2022
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
This is a good introduction into how bitcoin technically works and all the pieces fit together. This is a good primer for Mastering Bitcoin. Thanks Yan.

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lonnycom
very insightful
Reviewed in Canada on July 30, 2024
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
great content on mining and mechanics

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Inventing Bitcoin: The Technology Behind the First Truly Scarce and Decentralized Money Explained Paperback – June 17, 2019

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Bitcoin concepts clearly and simply explained

Top reviews from the United States

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Bitcoin concepts clearly and simply explained

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Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear explanations for the technically curious but excludes Lightning (it was written in 2019)

5.0 out of 5 stars Good explanation of the working of bitcoin protocol

4.0 out of 5 stars Conceptos técnicos clave de bitcoin

5.0 out of 5 stars Great basic overview.

5.0 out of 5 stars very insightful

Clear explanations for the technically curious but excludes Lightning (it was written in 2019)

Good explanation of the working of bitcoin protocol

Conceptos técnicos clave de bitcoin

Great basic overview.

very insightful