Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money Paperback – May 24, 2016

This book is standing out among other bitcoin books recently published in one important difference: This one is the result of genuine journalism. The writer is not here for attracting the techie crowd who are interested in the fortunes of mining bitcoins every 10 minutes or so. But he does a very good job of digging all the key people (arguably even the main character. Mr Satoshi himself) and putting events in a time-line starting from day one, from early 2009.Before this book, I read three other bitcoin/blockchain books, watched the documentary (The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin) and read lots of web site articles and blogs. I heard lots of things about the main characters, Satoshi, Gavin, Hal, Ross, Erik, Wences, Winkelvii, Charlie etc. but after Popper's book, all of them are now linked in an organized story line and they came alive in my mind. In a way this book reads like fiction, almost like the script of an HBO mini series. But all of the events are real and the characters are actual living human beings, sometimes with sad endings.I wonder if the FBI had ever used description of some events in this book as evidence? Or just the opposite, did Popper use legal documents or police reports. How on the earth did he find out all the details of the life of the founder of Silk Road? (Like the thoughts of his former girl firends) Or details about the "super secret" meeting of Allen & Co? Wow! I am shocked, this is journalism at its best, applied to a favourite but difficult to understand contemporary subject.Bottom line: The book is an example of very fine writing and detailed reporting of the bitcoin subculture. Not a book to learn how to mine bitcoins or where to buy them.

I have been investing in cryoto currency for a while and people in the scene will know there are vocal actors in Twitter or Reddit voicing out their opinions on the coin's development. I had a hard time mapping out their relationship to the bitcoin universe but this book clear the fog for me.The author did a great job in story telling. Multiple lines of important actor are illustrated to demonstrate the different camps of bitcoin advocates. The development of bitcoin is more of a war of character rather than cold technological advances.I would appreciate if the book can include more technical knowledge on bitcoin, but I would agree that this is the perfect introduction for anyone who would like to understand bitcoin from a more causal perspective.Recommend for everyone wanting to learn about this exciting technology.

I have read articles over the past few years about Bitcoin, specifically during times of crises such as the spect ulnar failure of the Mt. Gox exchange and shutting down of the illicit Silk Road website that drove much of the early demand for Bitcoins. However, I readily admit that I didn't really understand the technology behind Bitcoin and how it worked (or didn't). As someone interested in economics, finance, and technology, I purchased this book as one of the finalists for the Financial Times Book of the Year for 2015. It didn't disappoint!Popper does an outstanding job of telling the story of Bitcoin's mysterious origins and the highs and lows of its development over the past several years. He excels at surfacing some of the inherent contradictions embedded within the technology, including the initial evangelical libertarians that were the biggest proponents of Bitcoin, only to see both Wall Street and particularly Silicon Valley to swoop in and sink significant investments in Bitcoin startups, adding legitimacy and bringing Bitcoin to main stream acceptance. Popper also points out the biggest failure points have been when control of Bitcoin has been centralized in exchanges, when the true ingenuousness of the blockchain technology underlying Bitcoin is that it removes the need for a central authority to back it as a currency and store of value.I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a primer on how Bitcoin works and how it has developed over the past decade. You will be much more knowledgable and informed about Bitcoin after reading Popper's book, which is quite accessible and almost reads like a novel at times.