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Ask HN: Bitcoin Christmas reading

54 points by porjo 9y ago

Looking for recommendations on books to read over the Christmas break about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies generally. eBook format preferred.

baldgeek 9y ago
coursera has a course, and edX has course on enterprise blockchains https://www.coursera.org/learn/cryptocurrency https://www.coursera.org/learn/cryptocurrency https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:LinuxFoundationX+LFS171x+3T2017/course/ https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:LinuxFoundationX+L...
- MrUnderhill 9y ago
  Another one on Coursera, "IBM Blockchain Foundation for Developers". https://www.coursera.org/learn/ibm-blockchain-essentials-for-developers https://www.coursera.org/learn/ibm-blockchain-essentials-for...
curuinor 9y ago
David Gerard is definitely a hater, but he knows more than 99.9% of BTC people https://www.amazon.com/Attack-50-Foot-Blockchain-Contracts-ebook/dp/B073CPP581 https://www.amazon.com/Attack-50-Foot-Blockchain-Contracts-e...
- brian_cloutier 9y ago
  Agreed; I'm a total believer in bitcoin but the people who are publicly skeptical tend to be the ones who are making the most sense and David Gerard is firmly within that group. This book is a pretty easy weekend read. You won't find in-depth technical analyses but you'll get a lot of funny stories about the crazy times we live in and some good criticisms of the entire space.
- Cyberdog 9y ago
  I second this book. While Gerard's writing is cynical and definitely biased against cryptocurrency and everything about them, nothing in it is actually wrong. That being said, if you were looking for something more like a deep dive into the technical side of things, this isn't the right book.
otras 9y ago
If you haven't already read it, Fermat's Library has the original Bitcoin paper [0] with helpful annotations. [0] - http://fermatslibrary.com/s/bitcoin http://fermatslibrary.com/s/bitcoin
narak 9y ago
list: https://lopp.net/bitcoin.html https://lopp.net/bitcoin.html book: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Blockchain/dp/1491954388 https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Bl... book+lectures: http://bitcoinbook.cs.princeton.edu/ http://bitcoinbook.cs.princeton.edu/
MK999 9y ago
trace mayer podcast
bdcravens 9y ago
It's so obvious it shouldn't be said, but I've met many who want to dive into blockchain and cryptocurrencies yet haven't read Satoshi's whitepaper.
- 659087 9y ago
  I can't imagine very many of the people FOMOing in in recent months could understand the whitepaper even if they tried to read it. The extent of their knowledge is usually something along the lines of "my friend/grandson/etc who fixed my computer once told me it would make me rich".
- porjo 9y ago
  Thanks for the reminder. I see somebody claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto is flogging it on Amazon..no thanks! I found a Kindle friendly version (.mobi) here instead: http://www.readliberty.org/books/bitcoin-a-peer-to-peer-electronic-cash-system http://www.readliberty.org/books/bitcoin-a-peer-to-peer-elec...
  - bdcravens 9y ago
    Canonical source is of course https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
shiado 9y ago
The biggest problem right now facing Bitcoin is the scaling problem. The current debate is between the "small-blockers", which support scaling bitcoin by limited block size increases and implementing off-chain transactions, and "large-blockers", which advocate continuous block-size increases. I personally don't think either method will scale in the long term, especially considering the original goals of decentralized digital cash. It is my opinion that both scaling paths force centralization of the network. This paper details Lightning Network, the current best design of off-chain scaling https://lightning.network/lightning-network-paper.pdf https://lightning.network/lightning-network-paper.pdf
- ThomPete 9y ago
  Bitcoin is a gold standard and it will be used to settle multimillion-dollar agreements between large organizations or nations states. It's not relevant as a currency, other alternatives are already there.
qertoip 9y ago
Mastering Bitcoin is the no. 1: https://www.amazon.de/Mastering-Bitcoin-Unlocking-Digital-Cryptocurrencies/dp/1449374042 https://www.amazon.de/Mastering-Bitcoin-Unlocking-Digital-Cr...
- ydnaclementine 9y ago
  Jw, is this book a newer version of the one you posted? https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Blockchain-ebook/dp/B071K7FCD4/ https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Bl... Same author, reviews make it seem the same
arzt 9y ago
Digital Gold by Nathaniel Popper is incredible context.
faktor10 9y ago
The book of satoshi by Phil champagne, basically comment on every email interaction he had. Nice read
siavosh 9y ago
Any resource on the range of dapps that may suite this space that isn’t hand wavy?
itamarst 9y ago
"Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds", published 1841.
ivoras 9y ago
Self-promotion: here's a booklet I wrote to describe Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and the blockchain to barely technical people who kept asking me to describe it all over again: http://scepticsguide.ivoras.net/ http://scepticsguide.ivoras.net/ . It covers some history, the hows and the whys, and takes a "don't rush in just because everyone's doing it" stance. It's a light read.
inersha 9y ago
I'm making a website for beginners: http://learnmeabitcoin.com/ http://learnmeabitcoin.com/ I'm trying to make it as easy as possible to understand (and work with) bitcoin data.
chamoda 9y ago
This playlist is very good. Watch it on 1.5x or 2x speed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwA2TkcAQgQ&list=PL6TbWIxWsLY0VPlese2_z5xDZZ33ZuvV6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwA2TkcAQgQ&list=PL6TbWIxWsL...
thisisit 9y ago
Depends on what is the context. Is it technical then I guess: https://www.amazon.de/Mastering-Bitcoin-Unlocking-Digital-Cryptocurrencies/dp/1449374042 https://www.amazon.de/Mastering-Bitcoin-Unlocking-Digital-Cr... But, if you are looking from a usage perspective it is kind of difficult. You can check this blog too: https://blockchaintechblog.com/ https://blockchaintechblog.com/
brandonhall 9y ago
Just came out and published by McGraw-Hill. Cryptoassets by Chris Burniske and Jack Tatar. It approaches crypto as an asset class and isn't very technical. Very much written for fund managers and active investors. Highly recommended.
xiphias 9y ago
Not the easiest read, but amazing improvement for confidential transactions: Bulletproofs: Efficient Range Proofs for Confidential Transactions https://eprint.iacr.org/2017/1066.pdf https://eprint.iacr.org/2017/1066.pdf

54 points by porjo 9y ago

Looking for recommendations on books to read over the Christmas break about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies generally. eBook format preferred.

baldgeek 9y ago

coursera has a course, and edX has course on enterprise blockchains https://www.coursera.org/learn/cryptocurrency https://www.coursera.org/learn/cryptocurrency https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:LinuxFoundationX+LFS171x+3T2017/course/ https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:LinuxFoundationX+L...

MrUnderhill 9y ago
Another one on Coursera, "IBM Blockchain Foundation for Developers". https://www.coursera.org/learn/ibm-blockchain-essentials-for-developers https://www.coursera.org/learn/ibm-blockchain-essentials-for...

curuinor 9y ago

David Gerard is definitely a hater, but he knows more than 99.9% of BTC people https://www.amazon.com/Attack-50-Foot-Blockchain-Contracts-ebook/dp/B073CPP581 https://www.amazon.com/Attack-50-Foot-Blockchain-Contracts-e...

brian_cloutier 9y ago
Agreed; I'm a total believer in bitcoin but the people who are publicly skeptical tend to be the ones who are making the most sense and David Gerard is firmly within that group. This book is a pretty easy weekend read. You won't find in-depth technical analyses but you'll get a lot of funny stories about the crazy times we live in and some good criticisms of the entire space.
Cyberdog 9y ago
I second this book. While Gerard's writing is cynical and definitely biased against cryptocurrency and everything about them, nothing in it is actually wrong. That being said, if you were looking for something more like a deep dive into the technical side of things, this isn't the right book.

otras 9y ago

If you haven't already read it, Fermat's Library has the original Bitcoin paper [0] with helpful annotations. [0] - http://fermatslibrary.com/s/bitcoin http://fermatslibrary.com/s/bitcoin

narak 9y ago

list: https://lopp.net/bitcoin.html https://lopp.net/bitcoin.html book: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Blockchain/dp/1491954388 https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Bl... book+lectures: http://bitcoinbook.cs.princeton.edu/ http://bitcoinbook.cs.princeton.edu/

MK999 9y ago

trace mayer podcast

bdcravens 9y ago

It's so obvious it shouldn't be said, but I've met many who want to dive into blockchain and cryptocurrencies yet haven't read Satoshi's whitepaper.

659087 9y ago
I can't imagine very many of the people FOMOing in in recent months could understand the whitepaper even if they tried to read it. The extent of their knowledge is usually something along the lines of "my friend/grandson/etc who fixed my computer once told me it would make me rich".
porjo 9y ago
Thanks for the reminder. I see somebody claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto is flogging it on Amazon..no thanks! I found a Kindle friendly version (.mobi) here instead: http://www.readliberty.org/books/bitcoin-a-peer-to-peer-electronic-cash-system http://www.readliberty.org/books/bitcoin-a-peer-to-peer-elec...
- bdcravens 9y ago
  Canonical source is of course https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

shiado 9y ago

The biggest problem right now facing Bitcoin is the scaling problem. The current debate is between the "small-blockers", which support scaling bitcoin by limited block size increases and implementing off-chain transactions, and "large-blockers", which advocate continuous block-size increases. I personally don't think either method will scale in the long term, especially considering the original goals of decentralized digital cash. It is my opinion that both scaling paths force centralization of the network. This paper details Lightning Network, the current best design of off-chain scaling https://lightning.network/lightning-network-paper.pdf https://lightning.network/lightning-network-paper.pdf

ThomPete 9y ago
Bitcoin is a gold standard and it will be used to settle multimillion-dollar agreements between large organizations or nations states. It's not relevant as a currency, other alternatives are already there.

qertoip 9y ago

Mastering Bitcoin is the no. 1: https://www.amazon.de/Mastering-Bitcoin-Unlocking-Digital-Cryptocurrencies/dp/1449374042 https://www.amazon.de/Mastering-Bitcoin-Unlocking-Digital-Cr...

ydnaclementine 9y ago
Jw, is this book a newer version of the one you posted? https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Blockchain-ebook/dp/B071K7FCD4/ https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Bl... Same author, reviews make it seem the same

arzt 9y ago

Digital Gold by Nathaniel Popper is incredible context.

faktor10 9y ago

The book of satoshi by Phil champagne, basically comment on every email interaction he had. Nice read

siavosh 9y ago

Any resource on the range of dapps that may suite this space that isn’t hand wavy?

itamarst 9y ago

"Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds", published 1841.

ivoras 9y ago

Self-promotion: here's a booklet I wrote to describe Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and the blockchain to barely technical people who kept asking me to describe it all over again: http://scepticsguide.ivoras.net/ http://scepticsguide.ivoras.net/ . It covers some history, the hows and the whys, and takes a "don't rush in just because everyone's doing it" stance. It's a light read.

inersha 9y ago

I'm making a website for beginners: http://learnmeabitcoin.com/ http://learnmeabitcoin.com/ I'm trying to make it as easy as possible to understand (and work with) bitcoin data.

chamoda 9y ago

This playlist is very good. Watch it on 1.5x or 2x speed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwA2TkcAQgQ&list=PL6TbWIxWsLY0VPlese2_z5xDZZ33ZuvV6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwA2TkcAQgQ&list=PL6TbWIxWsL...

thisisit 9y ago

Depends on what is the context. Is it technical then I guess: https://www.amazon.de/Mastering-Bitcoin-Unlocking-Digital-Cryptocurrencies/dp/1449374042 https://www.amazon.de/Mastering-Bitcoin-Unlocking-Digital-Cr... But, if you are looking from a usage perspective it is kind of difficult. You can check this blog too: https://blockchaintechblog.com/ https://blockchaintechblog.com/

brandonhall 9y ago

Just came out and published by McGraw-Hill. Cryptoassets by Chris Burniske and Jack Tatar. It approaches crypto as an asset class and isn't very technical. Very much written for fund managers and active investors. Highly recommended.

xiphias 9y ago

Not the easiest read, but amazing improvement for confidential transactions: Bulletproofs: Efficient Range Proofs for Confidential Transactions https://eprint.iacr.org/2017/1066.pdf https://eprint.iacr.org/2017/1066.pdf