Hey everyone, it’s Whatever Wednesdays again. I talked about how I bought a few books on Cryptocurrency awhile back, but haven’t found the time to read them. So today I’m going to talk about “The Age of Cryptocurrency (Book Review)”

The Age of Cryptocurrency

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been kind of self-taught about cryptocurrency in general. There is a lot of bad information out there. it’s difficult to sort out the bad from the good, the wrong from the right, etc. However, the acknowledgement of your own ignorance is important for growth, I think.

So, when someone I respect, Charles Hoskinson, was asked how to get started in cryptocurrency he suggested 3 things, which I mentioned before in my post Learning Crypto:

1. Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies on Coursera, created by Princeton University, taught by Arvind Narayanan, Assistant Professor
2. The Age of Cryptocurrency: How Bitcoin and the Blockchain Are Challenging the Global Economic Order (Book – 384 pages)
3. Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money (Book – 432 pages)

So, how is it going?

I must admit that despite buying the books and bookmarking the course, I haven’t done as much learning as I’ve wanted. However, I got coffee with a friend of mine yesterday. We later went to go grab some burritos from what I consider the best Mexican place on Oahu – Taqueria El Ranchero. If you live on Oahu and want a good burrito, that’s the place you want to go to. Also, for those who like it, it’s on the few places that serve lengua (Beef Tongue). I’m more partial to the Al Pastor, but I digress.

My friend and I talked a lot, and in general we talked about how important books and reading are. Interestingly, despite the new era of electronic books, we both still like to own physical copies of books. My children will likely read most of their books on the Kindle, which is fine. Either way I think a love of reading is important. However, what is interesting for both of us is that rather than reading for enjoyment, like fictional reading, we read for improvement. In our cases, improvement is enjoyment. We talked a little more about how important reading is and how to instill that in our children. For example, as I’ve mentioned before I’d like my daughter and son to go to the library on a weekly basis.

Anyways, let’s talk about the book.

Book Review

I’m about halfway through The Age of Cryptocurrency. So far I’ve found it to be an extremely informative and so far, very objective take on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency in general. However, because the book was originally published in 2015 and then added to in 2016, it’s already old.

One thing it does particularly well is that it assumes its readers have no prior knowledge of bitcoin or cryptocurrency. It sets a good groundwork in the early chapters for establishing the problems that currently exist. It then introduces bitcoin and cryptocurrency a little later on in a very non-technical format. From that, it expands on how bitcoin and cryptocurrency attempts to solve some of these problems we have, while still acknowledging its shortcomings.

So far, the me from 2017 should have read this book first before reading anything else. Instead I chose the circuitous route of reading stuff online, filtering out the garbage and lies, and then coming to my own conclusions. If you are interesting in cryptocurrency -at all-, I would recommend reading this book first before doing anything else. Doing so will give you a general framework from which to approach cryptocurrency in general and understand its potential value.

However, if you’re already knee-deep into cryptocurrency, then you probably think you don’t need this book. For the most part, you would be correct. However, don’t forget about the Dunning-Kruger effect, you don’t know what you don’t know. Even if you have a strong understanding of crypto, it’s probably a good idea to “go back to the basics” to fill in gaps in your knowledge.

I think the most vulnerable person in the crypto space is not the newbie. The most vulnerable person is someone with some knowledge but extrapolates that into calling themselves an expert.

TL;DR

I like this book so far, and would recommend it to newbies and experts alike.

If you have an interest in cryptocurrency, and especially if you’ve already dismissed it, I think you should read this book.

-Sensei

Agree? Disagree? Questions, Comments and Suggestions are welcome.

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