Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies: A Comprehensive Introduction

This outstanding book gives a comprehensive description of the technology behind bitcoin and related currencies. It covers not only the programs used inside the bitcoin system, but also gives a clear, intelligent discussion of such issues as the security risks, the incentives to maintain the system, the economics of mining and mining pools, and government regulation. It goes beyond bitcoin, with a chapter or two on applications which build upon bitcoin, development of related cryptocurrencies and future research directions. This is a serious effort, suitable as an introduction to research in the subject; each chapter includes appropriate references. There is also a wonderful preface about how the technology behind bitcoin evolved over a couple of decades. The book is really a pleasure to read, I couldn't put it down, and I've been recommending it broadly.

Don't bother with any other book than this gem for getting up-to-speed on Blockchain Technology. Tough sledding to get through, but it is thorough in taking you from start to finish about crypto, how it works, and how it can be implemented in business and society. I ordered several other books that I thought could do the job, but Mr. Narayanan and his co-authors nail it. Yes, in some parts it can be a bit technical, which causes a bit of slowdown in reading, but it will not leave you lacking for details of how BCT works and how it can be implemented. Hard copy that costs a bit more, but is worth it. I simply wanted to learn about BCT, and this book delivers.

This book does a nice job of explaining Bitcoin and crypto-currency technologies. The start of the book discusses technologies preceding Bitcoin and why many of these systems failed. From there the building blocks of how Bitcoin evolved were discussed. These sections were excellent; describing the main innovations of Bitcoin and how they were woven together to create Bitcoin. Wallets and mining are introduced and explained. Many different possible attack vectors on bitcoin were discussed. The balance was pretty good here between a technical discussion and a casual discussion. Most parts of the book are accessible to technical and non-technical people. Legal implications of Bitcoin are discussed in Chapter 7. I thought sections here relied too heavily on news stories and anecdotes. In the final chapters many different alternative coins and technologies that overlay on the Bitcoin block-chain were introduced. I was pleased to see the innovative altcoins each had something about them including Ethereum. Drawbacks of certain altcoins were discussed but overall the authors did not show any favoritism to certain coins which was nice. I am giving the book 4-stars though because the writing in certain sections, along with word choice was not well suited for a printed book. For example Chapter 5 was entitled "Bitcoin Mining" and the first sentence of the chapter (p.104) is: "This chapter is all about mining", and the final sentence to the chapter introduction was: "In this chapter, we answer all these questions.". These sentences contain basically no information at all, and I found this pattern repeated throughout the book. In one place a technology was described as "cool". Overall, the content is a great introduction to crypto-curriences but the authors could use some work on their penmanship.

Prof Felten et al have written a technical yet approachable introduction to blockchain technology and its applications (bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies). A first or second-year CS student will be comfortable with the technical portions of the book. But the general material is suitable for any audience. My only critical comment is that much has changed in the bitcoin / cryptocurrency community since late 2015 when the book was written. It would be good to update the book to reflect current hash rates (which are 25x higher), the rise of Etherium, and the hard fork that resulted in Bitcoin Cash.

This book is great. If there were include much more up-to-date of ICOs, that would be excellent.

This book is one of a very few that offer a clear and balanced introduction to what crytocurrencies are, how they originated, and what the future might hold. This is not a book about bitcoin or the currency exchange markets in cryto, it is a book about the collection of technologies that make up what we now call "the blockchain" and how and why value can be stored and transferred securely and publicly on these chains. It does not address Ethereum or programmable blockchains in any real way, but it will give you deep foundational understanding about how such a thing can possibly exist. If you care about where networked computational technologies will be going in the next 25 years start here.

Besides a little bit of code this book is easy to read. I must say that I really enjoyed it and finally have a deep understanding of the BlockChain, Mining and the Future of Bitcoin. If you just need one book this is it.

Bitcoin and tech explained at an introductory level with good examples and recommendations on its use. This book also is used with a Coursera course.

El libro es un excelente acompañante para el curso Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies que se puede seguir en Coursera. Se lee muy fácil, es muy ameno, y apenas requiere conocimientos previos para su comprensión. Ofrece una introducción a las criptomonedas poniendo el foco en las tecnologías que han hecho posible el éxito del Bitcoin y describiendo los problemas que se han tenido que resolver. Sin olvidar los problemas que han tenido otras criptomonedas que han fracasado y finalmente describiendo lo que se avecina en el futuro. A la velocidad que van surgiendo novedades en este campo el libro se va quedando desfasado en sus predicciones. Si lo que buscas es entender el exito del Bitcoin este es tu libro. Si estás intersado en otros proyectos que utilicen Block-chain como tecnología, como podría ser Ethereum, este libro se ha quedado ya obsoleto. Existe un borrador libre del libro accesible desde Internet, es una versión previa sin revisión. En mi opinión es prefierible la versión en papel y es una buena forma de devolver a los autores el favor de regalarte un curso de ese nivel.

Very technical, dry read, exactly what I wanted. Gets into the thick of it nicely.

Have been tracking progress re Blockchain & it’s suitability in certain areas of my interest. Have come across just too many references, but none could explain better than Prof Arvind N & Prof Ed F. Delighted to receive their book & looking forward to get more insights through their amazing work. Thank you! (PS. Im the Dilbert trying to get my boss to listen)

Tolles Buch, hat alle meine Fragen im beantwortet!

ビットコインはこれからの金融、政治経済の変化に強くかかわって行くと思うが、この本は技術面に付いても詳細に、多面的に述べており、ビットコインが容易ならざるものであることを分からせてくれる。この本を読むと新聞などの記事にかなり的はずれのものが多いのがわかる。