Cryptocurrency QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner’s Guide to Digital Currencies, Bitcoin, and the Future of Decentralized Finance (Trading & Investing - QuickStart Guides)

Dr. Jonathan Reichental is a superb writer whose books on smart cities and data governance have been a boon to those interested in such topics. With this book on cryptocurrencies, he has firmly established himself as a versatile author. Starting with the chapter on money, Dr. Reichental tells the story of cryptocurrencies, including the role of cryptography, popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, buying and trading in cryptocurrencies, regulations, the future, and more. The book is written for the novice and is very informative. It is presented with a neutral voice. It also has excellent information on major cryptocurrencies and valuable references and websites.This is a must-read guide for anyone interested in cryptocurrencies.

Excellent work on cryptocurrency; best book I’ve read in years

While I was thinking about how I could review this book I came upon a free audiobook about Bitcoin.The author first lays out his technological creds, then makes an unexpected statement: it took him five years of reading and thinking to understand Bitcoin! You might think this would be discouraging, but I found it to have the opposite effect: I've been very desultorily trying to understand cryptocurrency for maybe two years. Of course I don't grok it--I haven't put in the time. Like everything else worthwhile, it's difficult, or as a bodybuilder once said, "If it were easy to get guns like these", showing off a pair of hypertrophic biceps, "everybody would have them"! A financial equivalent from an anonymous internet voice is "You are just going to have to figure it out like the rest of us", or words to that effect, with the subtext "pay your dues".Nobody should expect this finite book or any single book to suddenly illuminate the path and get you those guns without half trying. Even with the best possible resource there will be struggle and, as I said, this is actually encouraging: it lets me and the author off the hook. No book can deliver easy, and even smart people can't expect easy for hard things. I had forgotten. The nub if it is that five years have not passed in two weeks, or will even pass in five weeks, so I am unable to give the kind of review a person who presumably would no longer need the book might give.This text is not entirely about the abstract mechanics and concrete abstractions of cryptocurrency but also contains chapters on practical investing advice--diversify your portfolio and all that--and mention of the current popular distinction between "investing" and "trading", an old idea but perhaps novel to people who dove into cryptocurrency without a clear idea of their intentions. The target reader is somebody wanting to get into crypto and trading and looking for a one stop handbook, as perhaps I might just have gleaned from the title.About the physical book--I have the spiral bound edition: The pages turn freely and of course lie flat and this is a very convenient format for leaving lying open on a desk or quickly flipping through to find the section that you want. Its handbook utility, though is largely defeated by the poor quality of execution. The covers should be nearly indestructible and the pages strong and wear- and soil-resistant. Instead the covers are thin cardboard with a hint of gloss and the pages inside, heavier weight newsprint. The brightness is low, the paper porous and easily smudged, and indeed some of the pages were already seemed smudged or showed bleed through when first opened. This is no reflection on the author but a disappointing move by the publisher.

This book is well written, well organized and has a great many online tools available. It is an excellent textbook for a beginner.

The media could not be loaded.  5/5 RatingWhenever I want to learn something and I want to dive deep into it I first go to Youtube then I dive deep into an authoritative source. and Quick start guides are my usual go to. I was ecstatic to get this book as I've heard so much about crypto the past 4 years or so. I must say my faith in it isn't as strong as others. But I will say use this book to become familiar with the process and terminology you see and hear out in the world.This book proves to be a valuable resource in learning the basics about anything crypto related. You will not regret it.ProsAuthoritative sourceEasy to learnEasy to readTouches on important aspects of cryptoConsI wish I would have read this earlier

I’ve known about Bitcoin for years, and it was actually around $10 a Bitcoin when I first heard of it (too bad I didn’t buy any then). As a retired Software Engineer I wanted to learn more about Bitcoin and more importantly Blockchain technology. This is a good beginner book and the author gives some good examples of how this technology works. He writes in an easy to read and follow manner. He also included QRcodes throughout the book that you can use your phone to play videos of the author talking about the current subject.I found it very helpful when the author walked step by step though buying Bitcoin and then transferring some to a crypto wallet. In these examples, he used a really program and showed pictures of the transactions being performed. He also gave history as to the background of crypto, without going overboard, giving just enough to keep it interesting.I also really liked the spiral bound book format. I didn’t have to hold the book open, or flatten the pages. The spiral bound kept all the pages flat, making it easy to read and I didn’t have to use my hands to keep the book opened to the current page. Since it’s spiral bound there’s no book end, so it may not look as good on a bookshelf and you won’t know the name of the book without pulling it out and looking at the cover.Overall this seems like a good book to start to gain knowledge on Crypto and Blockchain technologies.

Truth be told, I'm really not a fan of the crypto craze, and it's only a matter of time before it all becomes an interesting historical footnote. However, while this book didn't exactly sway me, it is very informative and does an excellent job explaining the hows and whys. If you're interested in the subject and are not already an expert, you'll love this book for the sheer amount of easy-to-digest information it presents.

describes the fintech revolution in easy to follow steps