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Inventing Bitcoin: The Technology Behind The First Truly Scarce and Decentralized Money Explained
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
"Inventing Bitcoin's been getting buzz recently for good reason. @skwp wrote possibly the easiest, most informative intro to Bitcoin."- @cryptograffiti, Crypto Artist
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
"Inventing Bitcoin's been getting buzz recently for good reason. @skwp wrote possibly the easiest, most informative intro to Bitcoin."- @cryptograffiti, Crypto Artist
108 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 17, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
May 3, 2021
I consider this a very good introduction to Bitcoin. Before reading this book I thought I knew how Bitcoin works... Turns out I had a basic idea about how a blockchain works, but Bitcoin is much more than just a blockchain. There are so many clever concepts at the core of it that make Bitcoin so revolutionary. Some of the things Bitcoin deals with are the Double-spending Problem, the Byzantine Generals Problem, Sybil Attacks, chain splits and 51% attacks. Other concepts explained in the book are distributed ledgers, Proof of Work, distributed consensus, difficulty adjustment for mining, Block Reward, forks, Unspent Transaction Outputs, Hierarchical Deterministic Wallets, etc.
I don't know exactly how this book reads for someone without any technical background, as I wouldn't consider it to be very watered down, although the explanations are quite concise and the examples very helpful to grasp the concepts.
Summing up I would say that this an excellent summary of Bitcoin with the perfect level of detail. For anyone wanting to really understand what's behind this "truly free-market anarchist system with no one in particular in charge", I wholeheartedly recommend this book.
I don't know exactly how this book reads for someone without any technical background, as I wouldn't consider it to be very watered down, although the explanations are quite concise and the examples very helpful to grasp the concepts.
Summing up I would say that this an excellent summary of Bitcoin with the perfect level of detail. For anyone wanting to really understand what's behind this "truly free-market anarchist system with no one in particular in charge", I wholeheartedly recommend this book.
March 30, 2021
The genesis of bitcoin, the concepts around it and how it's different from any other currency or money are presented in an intriguing manner as well as in layman's language, which makes this book easy to comprehend. It's a good starting point, and there are different references mentioned in the book, which someone can utilise to dive deeper.
April 26, 2021
Īsi, skaidri saprotami, interesanti un kodolīgi (šo vārdu vienkārši gribējās ielikt).
February 24, 2021
A great introduction to Bitcoin, what it is, and how it works!
June 3, 2021
อ่านง่ายมากและทำให้เข้าใจคอนเซปต์ทางด้านเทคโดยรวมแบบภาษาคนทื่ทำงานภายใต้ bitcoin
แนะนำให้อ่านสำหรับคนไม่มีพื้นเทคฯ และอยากเข้าใจว่า digital money ทำงานอย่างไร
แนะนำให้อ่านสำหรับคนไม่มีพื้นเทคฯ และอยากเข้าใจว่า digital money ทำงานอย่างไร
April 29, 2021
Great read, very direct and to the point. Short, but it touches and explains all important aspects of Bitcoin. Will re-read in the future for sure.
February 10, 2019
Incredibly well-written and a short read, this is the best explanation of Bitcoin I have yet come across. I came out with a much clearer understanding of mining, hashrates, and other weird terms that have had me scratching my head. Well worth the time!
April 17, 2020
A very good primer for understanding the history of Bitcoin, what it ACTUALLY is, and where it's going. All under 100 pages. Those who wait too long to invest are probably going to be pretty upset with themselves.
January 23, 2021
A comprehensive yet easy-to-understand explanation of how bitcoin works and why it’s here to stay... even for those with the most minimal financial or technical backgrounds (like myself). Will be recommending this to many 🙃
February 27, 2022
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. The middle sections explaining the hash function, the mining, and how the consensus-driven distributed ledger is updated are top-notch.
The shortcomings are in the sections before and after where the author, an avid crypto-enthusiast, refuses to genuinely analyze if the methods deployed are the best possible forever. A section towards the end tries to create a strawman by asking whether Bitcoin is like Myspace of coins. The author's answers that primarily rely on the coin's current dominance as the factor why it will be at the top forever are almost cringe-worthy for anyone who has seen the dominance of Netscape or Wintel, or even Facebook.
Sha256 hash is irreversible and will remain so for a long time. Still, almost everything else attached to the bitcoin network - wallets, exchanges, human beings and their passwords, the devices used, the networks - are far more fallible. POW is perhaps too elaborate for a ledger update, and its environmental cost is likely to look silly to future generations when they look back. Most importantly, the verification is for the transaction recording process rather than the transactions themselves. The hashing ensures that only what is submitted as the input for the ledger entry is updated by everyone and nothing more or less. However, in human worlds involving real-life actors, one needs many checks and balances on what is being input - including whether the input is done by the right actors for good actions.
Over the years, the list of Bitcoin's purported advantages has kept on reducing. Many large actors trying to hide behind its apparent privacy benefits have been disappointed. The book also mentions how the mining process makes it nearly impossible for the coin to be used widely in daily transactions. Other crypto enthusiasts have expounded on why it cannot be used for smart contracts. Regulations may alter the utility further in the coming years, while in the long run, the current hash process is likely to prove untenable. Effectively, like almost everything in the tech world, nothing about Bitcoin is likely to be as immutable as the author makes it out to be.
The shortcomings are in the sections before and after where the author, an avid crypto-enthusiast, refuses to genuinely analyze if the methods deployed are the best possible forever. A section towards the end tries to create a strawman by asking whether Bitcoin is like Myspace of coins. The author's answers that primarily rely on the coin's current dominance as the factor why it will be at the top forever are almost cringe-worthy for anyone who has seen the dominance of Netscape or Wintel, or even Facebook.
Sha256 hash is irreversible and will remain so for a long time. Still, almost everything else attached to the bitcoin network - wallets, exchanges, human beings and their passwords, the devices used, the networks - are far more fallible. POW is perhaps too elaborate for a ledger update, and its environmental cost is likely to look silly to future generations when they look back. Most importantly, the verification is for the transaction recording process rather than the transactions themselves. The hashing ensures that only what is submitted as the input for the ledger entry is updated by everyone and nothing more or less. However, in human worlds involving real-life actors, one needs many checks and balances on what is being input - including whether the input is done by the right actors for good actions.
Over the years, the list of Bitcoin's purported advantages has kept on reducing. Many large actors trying to hide behind its apparent privacy benefits have been disappointed. The book also mentions how the mining process makes it nearly impossible for the coin to be used widely in daily transactions. Other crypto enthusiasts have expounded on why it cannot be used for smart contracts. Regulations may alter the utility further in the coming years, while in the long run, the current hash process is likely to prove untenable. Effectively, like almost everything in the tech world, nothing about Bitcoin is likely to be as immutable as the author makes it out to be.
May 31, 2021
I believe I started hearing about Bitcoin half a decade ago or so and thought it was just another passing e-trend so I didn’t think much of it at the time. However, two things somewhat recently occurred to influence me otherwise - first, I saw a Bitcoin logo on an atm machine and then while doing my most recent taxes for the first time on the 1040 (at least the first time I noticed) one of the questions was the individual’s cryptocurrency income. So, with these convincing me that Bitcoin will be around for the foreseeable future, I thought it wise to begin educating myself on it. I heard a recent radio interview about it (which, since it was unplanned, I perceived as yet another sign to study the subject) and they referenced a relative website that provided a free download of this book. Now that I have completed it, if I were to rate my familiarity with bitcoin on a scale, 1 being never heard of it, 10 comfortable to do some sort of bitcoin accounting as a side hustle, I think at most I may land at a 3. Thinking back to my childhood when I was first learning about money - 5 pennies equals a nickel, 2 nickels equals a dime, 10 dimes equals a dollar, to how to write a check… I’m not sure if I’d say this book expounded with such simplicity which I think I require to best comprehend; I started the book with that expectation and my rating is mostly from it not being met. Albeit there are several supplemental recommendations throughout the reading including at least one bitcoin for kids book so I might check out that one and then perhaps re-read this.
May 23, 2021
Came across this book looking for a good introduction to what exactly Bitcoin is and I can say this was really good. It has a good structure which was very important and it details quite many things in 100 and few pages. I understood it well, I'm also glad how technical it got, so it doesn't feel too basic. I need to find out more and read more books to really judge if the content was good, but I'm happy.
I can honestly say I didn't have the slightest idea about the workings of Bitcoin and I can slowly see the point. Looking forward to delving more into it.
I can honestly say I didn't have the slightest idea about the workings of Bitcoin and I can slowly see the point. Looking forward to delving more into it.
July 24, 2022
This book does a great job at explaining some pieces of how bitcoin does what it does. It was very accessible to me even being someone with no familiarity with software. Highly recommend, in conjunction with ‘The Bitcoin Standard’.
December 19, 2023
Best book about bitcoin I have read so far. Explains things in a very clear and comprehensive way. Short and easy read. Recommend!
April 4, 2022
Full review to follow.
June 10, 2019
Excellent mid-level introduction to bitcoin that manages to strike a great balance between brevity yet including enough information and analysis to give the reader a very firm foundation on the various components of bitcoin and POW that make it so revolutionary and anti-fragile.
November 9, 2021
Pretty good at explaining Bitcoin in layman terms. Even if you don't like Bitcoin, you will probably appreciate it more after reading this and finding out what really difficult problems it was set out to solve.
My problem with the book is that it could have been structured better. I often found myself going back and forth between the chapters. Part of this is due to the design of Bitcoin itself, but not entirely.
Also, it doesn't help when the author dumbs it down to a level where it's not actually true, only to clarify it later.
My problem with the book is that it could have been structured better. I often found myself going back and forth between the chapters. Part of this is due to the design of Bitcoin itself, but not entirely.
Also, it doesn't help when the author dumbs it down to a level where it's not actually true, only to clarify it later.
December 7, 2021
So I fell down the Bitcoin rabbit hole. This was the first book that I read, and I have to be honest, it was WAY too technical as a starting point. I had a really hard time understanding much of the content of the book. That said, I think this will be one that I come back to in a few months. It was sort of like eating your least favorite vegetable. You know it's good for you, but you don't always want to eat it.
December 23, 2021
The author does a great job of answering nearly every question that would naturally arise in his explanation of how Bitcoin started and where it's going. He is concise and explains everything in very simple language. My only reason for 4 and not 5 stars is that there are times where I don't entirely follow the core concepts. While this is really the nature of Bitcoin's complexity, I always believe the onus is on the author to explain it.
February 21, 2022
Muy recomendable para aprender un poco más sobre BTC. Los 2 últimos capítulos son los que más dudas me han dejado por lo que debería profundizar por esos temas en otras fuentes.
Con este libro uno aprende mejor la relevancia de que sea un dinero descentralizado cuya política (entre los participantes del software) es anárquica
Con este libro uno aprende mejor la relevancia de que sea un dinero descentralizado cuya política (entre los participantes del software) es anárquica
May 11, 2019
I've read a lot of crypto literature. This is the best, most concise explanation of Bitcoin basics I've come across.
October 28, 2020
Indispensable para todo aquel que quiera adentrarse al mundo fintech.
April 28, 2021
Libro introductorio del ecosistema de Bitcoin, creo que se explica de forma bastante sencilla para lo complejo que es este tema. Lo recomiendo.
July 12, 2019
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.
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.
December 31, 2020
A quick read on the technology/protocol behind bitcoin. The author starts from a real world P2P transfer and tries to reason a way out to invent something like bitcoin - or indirectly helping us understand how bitcoin did it (decentralized anarchy!).
I felt some information missing/skipped in between though - just some parts where the author jumped concepts (skipping explaining an intermediate concept which is used in describing another concept) and other than that I'd say this book fulfilled its purpose.
I wish it also had discussions/solutions to the price speculation of bitcoin as it is now, but yeah, may be the author thought it was unnecessary to cover that in a book aimed for explaining the tech behind it.
The book is written especially for non-tech people (a little knowledge of cryptography will help you understand better, though), so go on give it a read to see whats all the crypto fuss about and how brilliant the overall concept is.
Just this book is not enough to understand bitcoin, but a good starting point, for sure.
I felt some information missing/skipped in between though - just some parts where the author jumped concepts (skipping explaining an intermediate concept which is used in describing another concept) and other than that I'd say this book fulfilled its purpose.
I wish it also had discussions/solutions to the price speculation of bitcoin as it is now, but yeah, may be the author thought it was unnecessary to cover that in a book aimed for explaining the tech behind it.
The book is written especially for non-tech people (a little knowledge of cryptography will help you understand better, though), so go on give it a read to see whats all the crypto fuss about and how brilliant the overall concept is.
Just this book is not enough to understand bitcoin, but a good starting point, for sure.
June 14, 2021
An exceptional bitcoin primer. This book can be downloaded for free at Swan Bitcoin's site (the author co-founded that company).
This book is commonly recommended as part of a "starter pack" toward understanding bitcoin. The book is geared for the layperson, untrained in computer science. I found it just challenging enough to be highly informative, yet not so challenging as to be frustrating or over my head.
Even if you don't have any interest in investing in bitcoin, this is a fascinating story that is worth understanding. This book will teach you 100 times more than reading 10,000 surface-level articles by journalists about bitcoin.
When you read the thoughts of "experts" that are bearish on bitcoin (e.g. Charlie Munger; Warren Buffett; Gates; NN Taleb; etc.), it's clear they either haven't studied bitcoin or don't take it seriously at all. This makes bitcoin all the more intriguing to me.
This book is commonly recommended as part of a "starter pack" toward understanding bitcoin. The book is geared for the layperson, untrained in computer science. I found it just challenging enough to be highly informative, yet not so challenging as to be frustrating or over my head.
Even if you don't have any interest in investing in bitcoin, this is a fascinating story that is worth understanding. This book will teach you 100 times more than reading 10,000 surface-level articles by journalists about bitcoin.
When you read the thoughts of "experts" that are bearish on bitcoin (e.g. Charlie Munger; Warren Buffett; Gates; NN Taleb; etc.), it's clear they either haven't studied bitcoin or don't take it seriously at all. This makes bitcoin all the more intriguing to me.
September 11, 2021
Short book (I've read it in 2 hours) that tries to explain technology behind Bitcoin in plain words. What is annoying to me is that almost 80 percent of the book is about different aspects of the security of the Bitcoin and how to be sure nobody can hack your wallet. I think more space should be about blockchain, proof of work and mining.
So this is my assessment of the book Inventing Bitcoin by Yan Pritzker according to my 8 criteria:
1. Related to practice - 4 stars
2. It prevails important - 3 stars
3. I agree with the read - 3 stars
4. not difficult to read (as for non English native) - 4 stars
5. Too long (more than 500 pages) - short and concise (150-200 pages) - 5 stars
6. Boring - every sentence is interesting - 3 stars
7. Learning opportunity - 4 stars
8. Dry and uninspired style of writing - Smooth style with humouristic and fun parts - 3 stars
Total 3.625 stars
So this is my assessment of the book Inventing Bitcoin by Yan Pritzker according to my 8 criteria:
1. Related to practice - 4 stars
2. It prevails important - 3 stars
3. I agree with the read - 3 stars
4. not difficult to read (as for non English native) - 4 stars
5. Too long (more than 500 pages) - short and concise (150-200 pages) - 5 stars
6. Boring - every sentence is interesting - 3 stars
7. Learning opportunity - 4 stars
8. Dry and uninspired style of writing - Smooth style with humouristic and fun parts - 3 stars
Total 3.625 stars
April 13, 2021
Very helpful and concise primer that does a very good job laying out the key components of the Bitcoin network. It is easily digestible, and provides some good options on where to turn next depending on which aspects of the Bitcoin phenomenon you are most interested in.
It is no criticism of the book to say that, even when the Bitcoin architecture is laid out in a clear & understandable way, you can still very easily see how it would be considered daunting & technical by the general public, although it should be one of the key takeaways. If I do have a criticism, it is that the book is perhaps just a little too enthusiastic about the potential and the ultimate security of Bitcoin (I wonder if the aspects of unlocking human ingenuity that maximalists praise may be both its greatest strength and the ultimate cause of its downfall).
It is no criticism of the book to say that, even when the Bitcoin architecture is laid out in a clear & understandable way, you can still very easily see how it would be considered daunting & technical by the general public, although it should be one of the key takeaways. If I do have a criticism, it is that the book is perhaps just a little too enthusiastic about the potential and the ultimate security of Bitcoin (I wonder if the aspects of unlocking human ingenuity that maximalists praise may be both its greatest strength and the ultimate cause of its downfall).
February 1, 2022
This is a fantastic little book that acts as a great primer for inquiring minds in the world of bitcoin. I have read The Bitcoin Standard which is the pinnacle, in my mind, of introduction and philosophy of bitcoin, but most people uninitiated would have a challenging time diving into that.
So I picked up this little read. I have seen it circulating for a few years within the bitcoin circles and at the recommendation of a friend I finally grabbed it and read through it. Very pleased!
It is less on the philosophy, or the “why” of bitcoin and more focused on the “how” of bitcoin and even the “what.”
Being just 100 pages, it’s extremely approachable and the author does a fine job breaking the ice and taking the reader just far enough to become dangerous on what’s going on from a technical perspective of bitcoin and the behind-the-scenes action that’s constantly taking place.
So I picked up this little read. I have seen it circulating for a few years within the bitcoin circles and at the recommendation of a friend I finally grabbed it and read through it. Very pleased!
It is less on the philosophy, or the “why” of bitcoin and more focused on the “how” of bitcoin and even the “what.”
Being just 100 pages, it’s extremely approachable and the author does a fine job breaking the ice and taking the reader just far enough to become dangerous on what’s going on from a technical perspective of bitcoin and the behind-the-scenes action that’s constantly taking place.
July 24, 2021
Very dry and most appealing to the bitcoin nerd set. Explains the various dynamics of how bitcoin, as well as several altcoins, work. Helpful for anyone interested in investing in bitcoin.
Can't say that it did much to help me learn how to navigate the world of bitcoin as a user, but it does a good job detailing the intricacies of how the blockchain works. Includes some discussion on bitcoin mining.
Even if you only care about the basics of how to buy or sell bitcoin, this is something that will help one know what they are dealing in. It doesn't tell you much at all about how to buy, sell, or protect your bitcoin, but you'll at least know something about the world you are traveling through.
Can't say that it did much to help me learn how to navigate the world of bitcoin as a user, but it does a good job detailing the intricacies of how the blockchain works. Includes some discussion on bitcoin mining.
Even if you only care about the basics of how to buy or sell bitcoin, this is something that will help one know what they are dealing in. It doesn't tell you much at all about how to buy, sell, or protect your bitcoin, but you'll at least know something about the world you are traveling through.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews