The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains: An Introduction to Cryptocurrencies and the Technology that Powers Them (Cryptography, Derivatives Investments, Futures Trading, Digital Assets, NFT)

This book grabbed my attention from the first chapter. I’ve been in the industry for some time; personally, this is one of the few books I would suggest to those interested in understanding the basics of blockchains and bitcoin. Antony helps us clearly understand the theme, concisely describing the technology in a logical way, clearly presenting the concepts, and on top of that how everything fits together. Unlike Mastering Bitcoin by Andreas M. Antonopoulos, which definitely is a book for people who already have a programming background, interestingly The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains can be appreciated by readers with different backgrounds. It is an enjoyable and easy reading although a comprehensive exposure to bitcoin and blockchains.As mentioned on the back cover, this book is a crash course in money, cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings (ICO) and enterprise blockchains. As the one responsible for Cash and CBDC strategy at R3, not surprisingly, Antony teaches us everything we have to know from historical facts, physical and digital money, through a smooth introduction to cryptography (probably the most understandable explanation about the mechanics of Proof-of-Work), the emergence of cryptocurrencies and digital tokens to the latest thinking about the technology adoption by enterprises. By and large a delightful read for anyone who wants to understand everything about bitcoins and blockchains.

Really good reading .. mostly easy to understand, however, it still left a couple questions un-touched..

I loved this book. Finally, someone who can explain the concepts in basic terms thoroughly, and generate curiosity and excitement in the reader! My education/work background is in healthcare and social services...very far removed from crypto. Every beginners book I read thus far did not fully break down all the steps like this book did so I was often left confused after reading a chapter (in the other books) because I didn't fully understand the basics of what was being discussed. I also enjoyed the initial discussion regarding money and how banks work. This was a great foundation and intro into the rest of the book so the reader can really understand the initial purpose of Bitcoin and blockchains and how much it could change our world.Thank you for such a great book and actually getting me excited about the subject!

If you are wondering "what the heck is this Bitcoin hype about?" This book is for you. It is a deep dive into the history, technical details, and practical uses of Bitcoin. You will not learn how to trade or invest, but you will learn the underlying aspects (think of it like a book on equity fundamentals and pricing ideas, not on buying stocks).I found the explanation of all the underlying difficulties of making Bitcoin to be extremely rewarding (why make it decentralized, how to decentralized the coin fully, how to incentivize mining, the energy usage problem, etc.)Not a book for the casual reader, but really a deep dive into the subject. Perfect for someone curious to understand the ins and outs of the technology.

While this book is packed with useful and interesting information, many of the graphs are so small as to be considered unreadable and useless.

Good product

As other reviewers have said, this is an excellent primer on crypto; use of examples and illustrations help a lot.One (kind of big) criticism: there is no index!It’s a 400 page book on a technical subject, chock-full of indexable jargon (nonce, hash, immutable, etc) but... nope. It’s the one thing that really keeps this from being a good reference work as well as a primer. Hopefully that will be remedied in future editions?

I enjoyed reading about how this new technology works in detail. The book does a great job of explaining how several, independent innovations were combined to help create Bitcoin. I learned how cryptography plays a critical role in this new, decentralised financial solution; fostering individual sovereignty over one’s own digital assets. The section covering the investment potential was not as strong, but this was not the main focus of the book. “The Bitcoin Standard” is a better book for illustrating the value proposition of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies. I have read four books on this topic now - and I have found I get something new from each book, including this one.