In 2008 a pseudonymous computer programmer going by the name Satoshi Nakamoto published a white paper titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” and invented the first workable,
completely decentralized, digital currency. Bitcoin is not another payment processor. Like the Internet, Bitcoin is a technology that runs through a distributed network. No one controls it
and no one can shut it down. Bitcoin has been called the currency of the Internet, but it is much more powerful than thatmore astute observers have called it the Internet of currency.
Just as the Internet opened up communications and media, Bitcoin is doing the same in the financial world, opening up a world of possibilities by enabling peer-to-peer business across
nations. But the technology behind Bitcoin, called the blockchain, will change the world in ways we cannot yet imagine. Money is only the beginning.
This book is for anyone who doesn’t want to be left behind in the next technological revolution. It is the easy-to-read, easy-to-understand guide that explains everything the reader needs to
know about how Bitcoin and digital currencies work, what they are doing now, and how they will shape our society in the future. The Bitcoin Guidebook also looks at:
The basics of how the currency works and why it is secure
How to safely and legally obtain and invest in Bitcoin
How and where to spend Bitcoin
The digital currency’s origins, past, present, and future
Bitcoin’s relationship with the seedy Internet underground that dominates the mainstream media’s headlines
What Bitcoin 2.0” means now and in the near future
Alternative digital currencies born out of the blockchain revolution
