Top-Rated and Recommended Cryptocurrency Books
There is a lot of very good information out there on cryptocurrency. Including some excellent books. These books are about Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, blockchain and all other related topics.
Best Books on Cryptocurrency
The Bitcoin Standard
The Bitcoin Standard is a Bitcoin book that became an instant classic.
There are many cryptocurrency books that cover the history of money and what money actually is. However this book gives the most clear explanation.
The author is an Austrian economist so he frames the argument from a sound money perspective. So he gives historic examples of sound money and slowly builds the case for using a Bitcoin standard. Hence the name of the book.
Formats available:
Hardcover, Audiobook, MP3 CD
Blockchain Revolution
The Blockchain Revolution is a best-seller that is translated into 15 different languages. This blockchain book is an in-depth dive into blockchain technology from authors that are well-established in the space.
The book is very long. As a result it goes through what blockchain is and its use cases in great detail. It provides unbiased information on its pros and cons.
Additionally it this cryptocurrency book shows how blockchain is going to revolutionise the internet. It will transform it from the internet of information to the internet of value.
Formats available:
Paperback, Hardback, Kindle, Audiobook, MP3 CD
Cryptoassets
Cryptoassets is not just a cryptocurrency book for investors. However it is for anyone that would like to understand cryptocurrency in general. Cryptoassets covers financial history and how cryptocurrency will affect business.
It shows how there are 4 types of cryptoassets and how they are classified. They are:
- Cryptocurrency,
- Crypto commodities,
- Crypto tokens,
- And crypto collectables
Most importantly, investors should enjoy chapter 12 and 13. These chapters are about how you can assess different cryptoassets and find the best ones.
Formats available:
Hardcover, Audiobook, Kindle, MP3 CD
The Internet of Money
This Bitcoin book is a collection of 11 essays of Andreas’ own favourite Bitcoin talks. It is quite a concise book of around 150 pages. In fact the information is clear with no additional fluff.
It is a great book that talks about Bitcoin from many different aspects. Andreas examines Bitcoin from the social, economic, historical and political lens.
In fact one thing he mentions is that banks and governments control our finances. We may have access to our money in the bank today, but there is no guarantee about tomorrow. As a result we need a system based on absolute ownership and Bitcoin is the solution.
Although Andreas is a developer the book does not contain any technical jargon. However it does cover some technical aspects with a very simplistic overview for context.
Formats available:
Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook
The Truth Machine
This cryptocurrency book explains how the banking legacy systems once served their purpose. We got some good use out of them. However now they are obsolete and we need to replace them.
Blockchain is providing a new set of rails and it has the potential to revolutionise banking. As a result The Truth Machine is about how blockchain technology is going to impact our future. It has a really balanced overview of both the positives and negatives of this dramatic shift.
Formats available:
Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook
Bitcoin Whitepaper
This is not really a book, but definitely considered recommended reading for some people. This is the 9 page document that introduced Bitcoin to the world.
The Bitcoin whitepaper is split into various sections that outline the concept behind Bitcoin.
Bitcoin was created as a peer-to-peer digital currency. As a result it removes the need for financial institutions to approve transactions.
Parts of the document are fairly straight forward to read. However some part are more technical and details the inner workings of Bitcoin.
Formats available:
PDF download
Thank God for Bitcoin
Thank God for Bitcoin was published in 2020. It emerged out of new conversation points around Bitcoin during that year which started to become more spiritual. It is centred around the morality of money and how we can improve our financial system.
This cryptocurrency book looks at money from a Christian perspective. Additionally it questions the way Christians view money. Especially because Christians consider money a taboo subject. It makes the point that it is only Christians that frown upon money and wealth. However Jesus never said that money is bad.
For those that strives to hold themselves to high moral standards. Whether you are Christian or not, this is the Bitcoin book for you.
Formats available:
Hardcover, Audiobook, MP3 CD
When Money Dies
When Money Dies is not a cryptocurrency book. However cryptocurrency books often refer to the consequences of easy and unsound money. Hence why we included this book in the list. It details a historical example of a tragic scenario directly caused by easy money.
When Money Dies is an accurate account of how life was during Weimar Germany’s hyperinflation. That happened between 1913 until the German Mark officially died in 1923.
Society was destroyed. The population felt helpless, desperate, anxious and lacked understanding of what was happening. They could see goods getting more expensive. However, since they were not financially literate they could not pinpoint the cause. The people in government were just as ignorant and it was a case of the blind leading the blind.
Formats available:
Paperback, Audiobook
Bitcoin Books
Bitcoin books make up the largest portion of books within the cryptocurrency books section. It should not come as a surprise. This is because as you probably know, Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency created.
Ever since Bitcoin was released in 2008, it has taken the world by storm. It is a very successful cryptocurrency. In fact even though there are thousands of cryptos today it is still dominating the crypto market.
This is to say that it is not necessarily going to always be the case. However without any doubt Bitcoin is going to be part of the history of crypto. Also it is probably going to feature in the history of money. As a result there are plenty of Bitcoin books. They tackle the subject from all sorts of angles.
Listed Bitcoin Books
For example The Bitcoin Standard is a classic cryptocurrency book. It is written by Saifedean Ammous an economist who is rooting for a Bitcoin standard. Saifedean of course looks at Bitcoin from an economic point of view.
The books is long, because there is a lot of ground to cover. Before Saifedean even gets to discussing Bitcoin he has to lay down some ground work to justify a Bitcoin standard. As a result he goes through monetary history and talks about sound money.
Saifedean believes that Bitcoin is sound money. It is the hardest form of money that will become adopted by society and a standard.
The Internet of Money touches upon a whole load of different aspect about Bitcoin. In fact he also covers history of money, but much more briefly. He also covers the social, economic and political aspects.
On the other hand there is Thank God for Bitcoin another Bitcoin book. This book is written by a group called the Bitcoin and Bible Group.
Saifedean’s book is about the science of economics. It is the way the cryptocurrency space started rationalising Bitcoin. It needed to justify Bitcoin to the rational minds.
However by the time Thank God for Bitcoin came out, the conversation around Bitcoin started to evolve. It became more religious and philosophical. This book was written as a result.
There are similarities between the two book. In the sense that they believe the corruption of money is morally wrong. However Thank God for Bitcoin puts more of a religious focus on this. It looks at it through the lens of Christianity.
Bitcoin Whitepaper
All the entries listed are all books except for the Bitcoin whitepaper. That is the original whitepaper that Satoshi Nakamoto wrote to explain the inner workings of Bitcoin.
We thought it would be appropriate to list it here because it is still valid reading material. It is part of Bitcoin’s history. It does get technical at times, but some are curious and want to check it out.
Blockchain Books
There are also some great blockchain books. They focus on the underlying technology of cryptocurrency. Ever since Bitcoin used blockchain a lot of experts have looked at its implementation.
As a result they realised that blockchain can be applied to a number of different things. Including a number of different industries in different ways.
The most popular books are Blockchain Revolution and The Truth Machine. In our opinion these are the best blockchain books. Blockchain Revolution has been translated into 15 different languages.
All the authors present blockchain in an unbiased way. Blockchain is triple entry accounting done on the spot. As a result it is going to affect a number of different industries. That would include not just money, but art, music and votes amongst other things.
Other cryptocurrency books
Apart from the Bitcoin books and blockchain books there are some other cryptocurrency books.
Cryptoassets is a general book about cryptocurrency. It does mention Bitcoin, but it mainly focuses on cryptocurrency from the point of an investor.
To clarify cryptocurrency is a new asset class. It does not just include cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is really just an umbrella term for the whole space. However there is much more to it. This books breaks down the 4 different types of asset classes.
These asset classes are: cryptocurrency, crypto commodities, crypto tokens and crypto collectibles. Albeit the book does not mentioned crypto collectibles. This is because it was written before that industry started to develop.
Another book listed is When Money Dies. It is not a cryptocurrency book, but it is referred to a lot by crypto enthusiasts.
Saifedean and the Bitcoin and Bible Group mention the corruption of money in their Bitcoin books. When Money Dies documented the real life example of the corruption of money. It details Germany’s twentieth century hyperinflation.
It is there to serve as a reality check and a reference to anyone interested in money. Most importantly why it is important to have sound money. It is a reminder of why blockchain is such a great and important technological development.
About the Recommended Cryptocurrency Books
Best Books on Cryptocurrency
All the other cryptocurrency books listed above are rated as the best books on cryptocurrency. This is not just by native English speakers, but by a world-wide audience. Some of them have been translated into many other languages.
They also come in different formats; hardback, paperback, Kindle and audio books. However not all of them support all formats. It is best to check on a books respective page if you want to see all the formats.
The books tackle cryptocurrency and other related topics within the crypto space. However they all tackle it from a different angle. So you might read one, but another will show you another aspect to the same topic or a different topic.
This is because cryptocurrency was a simple and straight forward topic in the year 2010. At that time there was practically just Bitcoin and blockchain. Few people knew the impact blockchain was going to have at the time. However it is not the case anymore.
These cryptocurrency books help to show more of what the whole space is about. Most books tend to be focused on Bitcoin. Needless to say this is because Bitcoin has done so well. It has had a real and positive impact on society, even though it is changing society slowly.
However there is some variety in the cryptocurrency books published so far. That is why we listed a variety of books and not just Bitcoin related ones. Otherwise it would not do the space justice. Additionally we have come a long way from 2010. There is a lot more going on than just Bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency Books: Authors
All these books are written by authors that know what they are talking about. It is why these cryptocurrency books have become so popular. The authors are heavily involved in the crypto space in one way or another.
Like for example Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott. They co-founded the Blockchain Research Institute. The institute focuses on providing corporations and governments independent research about blockchain. As a result they are helping to lead the transition to blockchain.
Additionally Alex Tapscott is the founder of a cryptocurrency investment company. It is called NextBlock Global.
Chris Burniske also invested in cryptocurrency. While he worked at the prominent investment firm ARK Invest. He led the firm to start to invest in crypto. He currently is a partner in Placeholder. It is a venture capitalist firm investing in cryptoassets. Chris has been featured on Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and many other media outlets.
Likewise Jack Tatar is an expert in cryptocurrency investing. He is currently a managing partner at Doyle Capital Management. Jack a man that knows his stuff. He previously worked for Merill Lynch as a licensed financial advisor and marketing executive. Jack regularly contributes for Forbes where he edits the newsletter ‘Forbes CryptoAssets & Blockchain Advisor.’
All the authors have amazing credentials not just the ones mentioned. If you read these books on cryptocurrency you will get way more insight than from articles. Articles are great to get an overview. However these books are able to go into much more detail. They will give you a complete picture of what is going on.
Cryptocurrency Books: The Aftermath
When the authors released their books, the cryptocurrency community applauded them. Firstly for taking the time to write these books, but also because they did justice to the topic. The authors wrote factual information and explained their topic thoroughly.
It was more so important at the very beginning when cryptocurrency was still new. It was a great step in the right direction for cryptocurrency to see thinkers becoming prominent spoke persons. As a result they slowly started to give legitimacy to the space.
This is especially because the community is small. There are very few that understand it to this degree. The quality of the content in these cryptocurrency books is high. The authors relied on their experience to do justice to the reputation of the sector at large.
Even though cryptocurrencies are still fairly new, they are maturing and are getting some well-deserved time in the sun. These cryptocurrency books played a large part in helping to drive this. They will continue to help everyone else to understand this sector. As a result it will help to promote greater adoption of cryptocurrency.
The next step – wealth building books
If you make money from crypto you want to have some kind of plan to keep that wealth and grow it. The way to do this is to financially educate yourself so that you have a solid foundation of how to go about doing so.
Check out the wealth building best-sellers for some of the best books on personal finance. They will help you get into the mindset of making money and help you build a more secure life for yourself.
FAQs
What books should I read for cryptocurrency?
1. Blockchain Revolution by Don and Alex Tapscott. This books explains blockchain and its impact on different industries.
2. Cryptoassets by Chris Burniske and Jack Tartar. This books tackles cryptocurrency from an investment point of view.
3. The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous. It is a book that covers monetary history and emphasises the need for sound money for a society to flourish.
How do I get cryptocurrency trading books?
1. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham which is about value investing
2. Market Wizards by Jack D. Schwager
3. Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets by John J. Murphy
