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Bitcoin For Dummies (For Dummies
Learn the ins and outs of Bitcoin so you can get started today Bitcoin For Dummies is the fast, easy way to start trading crypto currency, with clear explanations and expert advice for breaking into this exciting new market. Understanding the mechanisms and risk behind Bitcoin can be a challenge, but this book breaks it down into easy-to-understand language to give you a solid grasp of just where your money is going. You'll learn the details of Bitcoin trading, how to set up your Bitcoin wallet, and everything you need to get started right away. An in-depth discussion on security shows you how to protect yourself against some of the riskier aspects of this open-source platform, helping you reduce your risks in the market and use Bitcoin safely and effectively.
Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks, with transaction management and issuing of Bitcoins carried out collectively by the network. Bitcoin allows easy mobile payments, fast international payments, low- or no-fee transactions, multi-signature capabilities, and more, but the nuances of the market can be difficult to grasp. This informative guide lays it all out in plain English, so you can strengthen your understanding and get started now.
Understand the ins and outs of the Bitcoin market Learn how to set up your Bitcoin wallet Protect yourself against fraud and theft Get started trading this exciting new currency The Bitcoin market is huge, growing quickly, and packed with potential. There's also some risk, so you need to go in fully informed and take steps to manage your risk wisely. Bitcoin For Dummies is the clear, quick, easy-to-follow guide to getting started with Bitcoin.
Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks, with transaction management and issuing of Bitcoins carried out collectively by the network. Bitcoin allows easy mobile payments, fast international payments, low- or no-fee transactions, multi-signature capabilities, and more, but the nuances of the market can be difficult to grasp. This informative guide lays it all out in plain English, so you can strengthen your understanding and get started now.
Understand the ins and outs of the Bitcoin market Learn how to set up your Bitcoin wallet Protect yourself against fraud and theft Get started trading this exciting new currency The Bitcoin market is huge, growing quickly, and packed with potential. There's also some risk, so you need to go in fully informed and take steps to manage your risk wisely. Bitcoin For Dummies is the clear, quick, easy-to-follow guide to getting started with Bitcoin.
178 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 21, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 22, 2024
A VERY USEFUL AND HONEST OVERVIEW OF BITCOIN
The back cover of this 2016 book explains, “Prypto is known as a brand for ‘Keeping Crypto Simple’ … It client base is those who are new to bitcoin or those who want to try it out. Prypto sponsors all major bitcoin events, releases videos on how bitcoin can help their customers.”
The Introduction explains, “just what is bitcoin? How can there be digital currency?... This book strips away the mystery and gets down to the facts. It patiently explains exactly what bitcoin is, discusses some of the possibilities this wonderfully disruptive yet inspirational technology holds, and lays out some of the potential benefits for all of us. Bitcoin could change our lives in a similar way that the Internet has done over the last few decades… [This book] tells you about the history of this fascinating technology… We touch upon regulatory and legal frameworks as they currently stand. We detail mining bitcoin … and why it may not be worth it… We detail how transactions work within the bitcoin environment.” (Pg. 1)
In Chapter 1, it recounts, “Bitcoin was created by developer Satoshi Nakamoto… [who] saw certain problems with existing payment systems and wanted to address them. The concept of Bitcoin is rather simple to explain: During the financial crisis of 2008, people from all over the world felt its debilitating economic effects… many central banks… flooded the markets with liquidity and slashed interest rates to near zero in order to prevent a repeat of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The effect of this was large-scale fluctuations in fiat currencies… In bailing out the banks, there was a net transfer of debt to the public purse, thus adding to future taxpayer liabilities. This created a sense of social injustice in some quarters… Therein lies the genesis of bitcoin: a decentralized financial system taken out of the hands of a few elite global decision-makers. Satoshi Nakamoto decided it was time for a new monetary system, one so different from the current financial infrastructure that you could even call it a disruptive force… Decentralization means we are all part of the bitcoin ecosystem… The more people embrace bitcoin, the better it works. Bitcoin needs an ever-expanding community who actively use bitcoin as a payment method.” (Pg. 7-9)
It acknowledges, “Bitcoin had nearly no value until 2011 and only then started climbing the charts slowly. However, in 2013 bitcoin saw a peak price of well above $1,100, which some attributed to market manipulation by a trading bot on the largest bitcoin exchange at that time. The bitcoin price is determined by its users under the free market principle of supply and demand. And although the bitcoin supply is limited to 21 million ‘coins’ in total---to be reached by 2040---no huge demand exists for this digital currency just yet. As bitcoin matures further over the next few years, that story might change…” (Pg. 10-11)
It continues ,“For bitcoin to be widely thought of as a currency, it needs to be used more and more. As you might imagine, it’s hard enough to convince merchants to accept bitcoin as a brand new currency, but it is even harder to convince consumers to get involved with digital currency. The advantages for the merchants are crystal clear: Bitcoin cuts down on fees and other costs. But if no one visiting your store is using bitcoin as a payment method, there is no benefit to accepting it either. So it’s up to the consumer to set the wheels in motion… Bitcoin is still some way from being a mainstream payment method, retailers need to be convinced to accept bitcoin. We think the time has come to start convincing the everyday consumer to leave the cash and cards at home and pay with bitcoin using their mobile device. This will not happen overnight, so until then, bitcoin users must be patient.” (Pg. 11-12)
It also admits, “Whenever you use bitcoin to move funds around, you can essentially hide your identity behind a bitcoin wallet address… But that is also as far as the anonymity goes, because bitcoin wallet addresses are part of a public ledger---the ‘blockchain’---which tracks any incoming and outgoing transfers to and from any address at any given time…. Once someone knows your public wallet address, they can monitor it at the [blockchain] website at any time…. As a result, if someone knows your public wallet address, there is no real anonymity when it comes to using bitcoin, as all your financial transactions are publicly visible.” (Pg. 15) It suggests, “[One] way to protect your privacy… is by not posting your public bitcoin wallet address in a public place. Using the address on your website… is not a good idea if you want privacy. Once someone stumbles across your wallet address and can somehow tie it to you personally, there is no way to restore privacy other than by using one of the aforementioned methods.” (Pg. 17) Later, it notes, “if a user’s wallet gets breached and coins are stolen, there is very little that can be done to prevent those stolen funds from being spent by the thief.” (Pg. 50)
It states, “Exchange rates on bitcoin exchanges fluctuate constantly, in part attributable to free market supply and demand. In recent years, the overall trading volume of bitcoin has increased exponentially, with most of the trading taking place in China and the United States. Despite all of that, other local exchange rates around the world may go up when the major bitcoin markets are going down, or the other way around.” (Pg. 26) It also admits, “Unfortunately for bitcoin users around the world, exchanges do not have the best of reputations when it comes to storing your digital wealth. Whenever an exchange is hacked, or the owners decide to run off with the money, there is not much that can be done… When you put your money in a bank, you are protected by government insurance … up to $100,000. Not the case when it comes to bitcoin exchanges.” (Pg. 28)
It reports, “September 2012 spelled the demise of bitcoin exchange BitFloor… February 2013 is the darkest period in bitcoin history so far, as this was the time when the second Mr. Gox ‘hack’ occurred, and the exchange shut down for good… The list goes on and on. There were bitcoin exchange hacks in 2015 as well. There is a long way to go when it comes to creating a proper secure platform where users can trade and store their funds. But until that time comes, you are better off transferring funds out of an exchange at your earliest convenience.” (Pg. 42)
It explains, “With bitcoin, the free market determines the price of a bitcoin… If the free market … decides that the new bitcoin price should not be U.S. $250, but U.S. $10,000, no central authority can say this cannot happen. Bitcoin is one of the very few transportable and borderless digital currencies that can both lose value… but also gain value, like precious metals.” (Pg. 46) He summarizes, “there is a huge trust issue bitcoin needs to overcome… Bitcoin is in its very early stages… people tend to forget … that bitcoin is not necessarily here to replace the current payment methods, but to show how things can be done differently in a more transparent manner. You need to ask yourself the following question: ‘Do I trust the current payment infrastructure enough to keep my data safe at all times[?]… If the answer to that question if not a resolute yes, then bitcoin is definitely worth checking out.” (Pg. 55)
He observes, “Bitcoin attracts a lot of speculators from all over the world. Considering that the bitcoin price fluctuates constantly, you could gain a lot of money by buying bitcoin at a relative low price in the hopes of earning a profit in the future. Keep in mind there will only be 21 million bitcoins in existence by 2140. It only seems logical that the price per bitcoin will increase over time. Whether or not that will actually be the case remains to be seen.” (Pg. 69) (Earlier, it explained, “there are roughly 15 million in existence at the time of this writing.” (Pg. 61)
It points out, “Transaction fees in the bitcoin world are not included in every transaction. In fact, most bitcoin [transactions] allow the user to optionally include a transaction fee in order to speed up the transaction itself. By speeding up, we mean a transaction including a small fee will be prioritized to be included in the next network block, whereas transactions without fees have a lower priority.” (Pg. 98)
He argues, “It the mainstream media were to be believed, the bitcoin network and protocol have been hacked several times in the past few years. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. The bitcoin network itself has never been hacked successfully, nor is it ever likely to be hacked in the traditional sense. Granted, several bitcoin users have lost coins over the course of the years, but none of that could be attributed to a flow in the bitcoin network itself.” (Pg. 135)
This frank and honest book will be of great interest to those seeking to know something about bitcoin.
The back cover of this 2016 book explains, “Prypto is known as a brand for ‘Keeping Crypto Simple’ … It client base is those who are new to bitcoin or those who want to try it out. Prypto sponsors all major bitcoin events, releases videos on how bitcoin can help their customers.”
The Introduction explains, “just what is bitcoin? How can there be digital currency?... This book strips away the mystery and gets down to the facts. It patiently explains exactly what bitcoin is, discusses some of the possibilities this wonderfully disruptive yet inspirational technology holds, and lays out some of the potential benefits for all of us. Bitcoin could change our lives in a similar way that the Internet has done over the last few decades… [This book] tells you about the history of this fascinating technology… We touch upon regulatory and legal frameworks as they currently stand. We detail mining bitcoin … and why it may not be worth it… We detail how transactions work within the bitcoin environment.” (Pg. 1)
In Chapter 1, it recounts, “Bitcoin was created by developer Satoshi Nakamoto… [who] saw certain problems with existing payment systems and wanted to address them. The concept of Bitcoin is rather simple to explain: During the financial crisis of 2008, people from all over the world felt its debilitating economic effects… many central banks… flooded the markets with liquidity and slashed interest rates to near zero in order to prevent a repeat of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The effect of this was large-scale fluctuations in fiat currencies… In bailing out the banks, there was a net transfer of debt to the public purse, thus adding to future taxpayer liabilities. This created a sense of social injustice in some quarters… Therein lies the genesis of bitcoin: a decentralized financial system taken out of the hands of a few elite global decision-makers. Satoshi Nakamoto decided it was time for a new monetary system, one so different from the current financial infrastructure that you could even call it a disruptive force… Decentralization means we are all part of the bitcoin ecosystem… The more people embrace bitcoin, the better it works. Bitcoin needs an ever-expanding community who actively use bitcoin as a payment method.” (Pg. 7-9)
It acknowledges, “Bitcoin had nearly no value until 2011 and only then started climbing the charts slowly. However, in 2013 bitcoin saw a peak price of well above $1,100, which some attributed to market manipulation by a trading bot on the largest bitcoin exchange at that time. The bitcoin price is determined by its users under the free market principle of supply and demand. And although the bitcoin supply is limited to 21 million ‘coins’ in total---to be reached by 2040---no huge demand exists for this digital currency just yet. As bitcoin matures further over the next few years, that story might change…” (Pg. 10-11)
It continues ,“For bitcoin to be widely thought of as a currency, it needs to be used more and more. As you might imagine, it’s hard enough to convince merchants to accept bitcoin as a brand new currency, but it is even harder to convince consumers to get involved with digital currency. The advantages for the merchants are crystal clear: Bitcoin cuts down on fees and other costs. But if no one visiting your store is using bitcoin as a payment method, there is no benefit to accepting it either. So it’s up to the consumer to set the wheels in motion… Bitcoin is still some way from being a mainstream payment method, retailers need to be convinced to accept bitcoin. We think the time has come to start convincing the everyday consumer to leave the cash and cards at home and pay with bitcoin using their mobile device. This will not happen overnight, so until then, bitcoin users must be patient.” (Pg. 11-12)
It also admits, “Whenever you use bitcoin to move funds around, you can essentially hide your identity behind a bitcoin wallet address… But that is also as far as the anonymity goes, because bitcoin wallet addresses are part of a public ledger---the ‘blockchain’---which tracks any incoming and outgoing transfers to and from any address at any given time…. Once someone knows your public wallet address, they can monitor it at the [blockchain] website at any time…. As a result, if someone knows your public wallet address, there is no real anonymity when it comes to using bitcoin, as all your financial transactions are publicly visible.” (Pg. 15) It suggests, “[One] way to protect your privacy… is by not posting your public bitcoin wallet address in a public place. Using the address on your website… is not a good idea if you want privacy. Once someone stumbles across your wallet address and can somehow tie it to you personally, there is no way to restore privacy other than by using one of the aforementioned methods.” (Pg. 17) Later, it notes, “if a user’s wallet gets breached and coins are stolen, there is very little that can be done to prevent those stolen funds from being spent by the thief.” (Pg. 50)
It states, “Exchange rates on bitcoin exchanges fluctuate constantly, in part attributable to free market supply and demand. In recent years, the overall trading volume of bitcoin has increased exponentially, with most of the trading taking place in China and the United States. Despite all of that, other local exchange rates around the world may go up when the major bitcoin markets are going down, or the other way around.” (Pg. 26) It also admits, “Unfortunately for bitcoin users around the world, exchanges do not have the best of reputations when it comes to storing your digital wealth. Whenever an exchange is hacked, or the owners decide to run off with the money, there is not much that can be done… When you put your money in a bank, you are protected by government insurance … up to $100,000. Not the case when it comes to bitcoin exchanges.” (Pg. 28)
It reports, “September 2012 spelled the demise of bitcoin exchange BitFloor… February 2013 is the darkest period in bitcoin history so far, as this was the time when the second Mr. Gox ‘hack’ occurred, and the exchange shut down for good… The list goes on and on. There were bitcoin exchange hacks in 2015 as well. There is a long way to go when it comes to creating a proper secure platform where users can trade and store their funds. But until that time comes, you are better off transferring funds out of an exchange at your earliest convenience.” (Pg. 42)
It explains, “With bitcoin, the free market determines the price of a bitcoin… If the free market … decides that the new bitcoin price should not be U.S. $250, but U.S. $10,000, no central authority can say this cannot happen. Bitcoin is one of the very few transportable and borderless digital currencies that can both lose value… but also gain value, like precious metals.” (Pg. 46) He summarizes, “there is a huge trust issue bitcoin needs to overcome… Bitcoin is in its very early stages… people tend to forget … that bitcoin is not necessarily here to replace the current payment methods, but to show how things can be done differently in a more transparent manner. You need to ask yourself the following question: ‘Do I trust the current payment infrastructure enough to keep my data safe at all times[?]… If the answer to that question if not a resolute yes, then bitcoin is definitely worth checking out.” (Pg. 55)
He observes, “Bitcoin attracts a lot of speculators from all over the world. Considering that the bitcoin price fluctuates constantly, you could gain a lot of money by buying bitcoin at a relative low price in the hopes of earning a profit in the future. Keep in mind there will only be 21 million bitcoins in existence by 2140. It only seems logical that the price per bitcoin will increase over time. Whether or not that will actually be the case remains to be seen.” (Pg. 69) (Earlier, it explained, “there are roughly 15 million in existence at the time of this writing.” (Pg. 61)
It points out, “Transaction fees in the bitcoin world are not included in every transaction. In fact, most bitcoin [transactions] allow the user to optionally include a transaction fee in order to speed up the transaction itself. By speeding up, we mean a transaction including a small fee will be prioritized to be included in the next network block, whereas transactions without fees have a lower priority.” (Pg. 98)
He argues, “It the mainstream media were to be believed, the bitcoin network and protocol have been hacked several times in the past few years. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. The bitcoin network itself has never been hacked successfully, nor is it ever likely to be hacked in the traditional sense. Granted, several bitcoin users have lost coins over the course of the years, but none of that could be attributed to a flow in the bitcoin network itself.” (Pg. 135)
This frank and honest book will be of great interest to those seeking to know something about bitcoin.
February 21, 2018
This is a terrible, terrible book. The author is not a person, but a shadowy company called Prypto (go ahead and google them - they don't even have a product yet!) who clearly do not understand what they are talking about. They wrote the book quickly to make a few bucks, and as propaganda for a business, or a scam, they appear to be failing to bootstrap. I beg you to google "Prypto" before you buy their book full of nonsense.
The chapter on Hot Wallets and Cold Storage is typical of this book [page 40]. The description of Cold Storage is "cold storage refers to bitcoins kept offline", which they basically repeat a few times, and move on. This is actually not true. You cannot move bitcoins offline, any more than you can move your cat online. (What you can and should keep offline is your Private Key e.g. your super-secret password.) And their description of Hot Wallets three paragraphs later is even more wrongheaded.
This pamphlet of propaganda barely qualifies as a book. The "Dummies" franchise should be ashamed.
The chapter on Hot Wallets and Cold Storage is typical of this book [page 40]. The description of Cold Storage is "cold storage refers to bitcoins kept offline", which they basically repeat a few times, and move on. This is actually not true. You cannot move bitcoins offline, any more than you can move your cat online. (What you can and should keep offline is your Private Key e.g. your super-secret password.) And their description of Hot Wallets three paragraphs later is even more wrongheaded.
This pamphlet of propaganda barely qualifies as a book. The "Dummies" franchise should be ashamed.
Read
November 16, 2020Very informational and in basic understandable terms.
If you are new to the idea of bitcoin and crypto, this is a first must read. Highly recommended.
y/g
If you are new to the idea of bitcoin and crypto, this is a first must read. Highly recommended.
y/g
February 6, 2021
Bitcoin
Very simple and many times it repeats itself. All the information inside can easily be found with a search on the web
Very simple and many times it repeats itself. All the information inside can easily be found with a search on the web
May 11, 2022
The book was only ok. It left some holes such as WHY BTC’s have any value or why there is such a high level of volatility. BTC reminds me of the tulip craze in Holland.
October 21, 2016
A pretty good introduction to Bitcoin. This is my second book and this topic. It is a fast changing field and difficult to describe. I recommend this for getting started. I know that Bitcoin and the Blockchain will affect our world deeply and this book is a good place to start. Also, I recommend going to YouTube and watching helpful videos by Andreas Antonopoulus.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews