Bitcoin - XNUMXst century gold [Book review]

Did you hear about Bitcoinachbut you have no idea how it works blockchainor the authorization of transactions in cryptocurrencies? This is definitely a book for you that takes you step by step through the history of Bitcoin's creation, the opportunities it offers and the place it can take in the global economy.

The book of two young authors was written a few years ago. This has its advantages, because we can find it in some of the better equipped libraries. The downside could be that it is out of date, but it is not noticeable. Perhaps only except for an excerpt on the forecasted Bitcoin valuations. The Bloomberg agency predicted that Bitcoin could cost "as much as" 4. USD. The authors are skeptical about this valuation, because although they are enthusiasts of cryptocurrencies, they try to be realistic. As we know today current price oscillating around 10 thous. USD far from historical peaks, and even further from currently announced forecasts.

"Bitcoin - gold of the XNUMXst century"

"Bitcoin - gold of the XNUMXst century ".

The book is written chronologically, so we start by trying to answer the question: Who created Bitcoin? There is little information in this area, and the authors cite all theories. These more and less likely. We only know that the creator of Bitcoin is Satoshi Nakamoto. To this day, however, it is not known who this mysterious individual is, who contributed to the first forum on the newly created cryptocurrency and explained the principles of its operation. There were plenty of ideas to track him down. Some say it's not one person, but a group of programmers who worked on the project. Others maintain that he is a brilliant programmer from Japan.

This theory is promoted, among others, by Newsweek. A newspaper journalistic investigation reveals that Dorian Nakamoto is alive and well. An old man driving a decaying Toyota and living in a rather imposing house does not quite fit the fact that the Bitcoin creator is probably now a multimillionaire ... Despite this, after the publication of Newsweek, queues of photojournalists lined up at his door, definitely making his life difficult for many weeks. A skeptical community interested in cryptocurrencies collected up to 28 for him. USD, which were to compensate him in the media campaign.

How blockchain works

The authors also present the basic principles of blockchain operation, starting from the basics that derive from cryptography. Everything is described very vividly and from the book we will learn, among others how is it that Bitcoins cannot be "counterfeited", and even if they can, why is it simply not worthwhile.

First cryptocurrency exchanges

Those who have recently dealt with cryptocurrencies will surely read an excerpt about the first cryptocurrency exchange, which was established in 2010, with interest. This Mt. Gox, which was originally supposed to deal with… card games. Business was not going very well, however, so the owners switched to Bitcoin, which was still a curiosity back then. The stock exchange was not perfectly secured, because back then it had never occurred to anyone that someone would want to break into it. One developer made it in a week. Of course, it ended in a scandal.

Check it out: Reviews of popular cryptocurrency exchanges

Similar to the precursor to cryptocurrencies, i.e. virtual gold. E-gold was supposed to be a breakthrough, but it quickly attracted the shady company that accounted for the proceeds of trafficking in child pornography and drugs. The creators were arrested and charged with money laundering and the creation of a financial pyramid. Interestingly, everything seems to indicate that the originators of e-gold: American lawyer and doctor, had good intentions. They even accumulated gold coverage, reaching 20 million USD, but in the peak period e-gold turnover reached 20 billion USD a year and the business completely got out of control.

Will it be the same with cryptocurrencies? Everything indicates that it is not, because they are much better secured and much cheaper to use than, for example, the US dollar. Suffice it to say that just printing new banknotes is an annual cost of ... USD 1 billion!

About the authors

Karol Kopańko - A graduate of the Warsaw School of Economics and Singapore Management University. Permanent collaborator of the portal Antyweb.pl, where he writes about new technologies and their impact on our lives. He also writes for "Wprost", "Gość Niedzielny", "CD-Action" and "Magic".

Mateusz Kozłowski - A graduate of the Warsaw School of Economics, interested in IT novelties from an early age. The author of the work "The use of cryptocurrencies in online payments on the example of Bitcoin", as well as the winner of the Credit Agricole Active Center grant for a scientific research on penny auctions.