The primary goal of this book is for you to be able to decide for yourself whether you trust Bitcoin. On the way to that goal, you’ll learn a number of Bitcoin concepts—such as digital signatures, proof of work, and peer-to-peer networks—on a pretty deep level. Some secondary goals fall out naturally:
- Install and use a Bitcoin wallet on your phone and understand what you’re doing.
- Engage in technical Bitcoin discussions.
- Make informed decisions about how to store your private keys depending on the number of bitcoins stored and the required level of security and convenience.
- Run a full Bitcoin node to engage in financial transactions without trusting a third party.
- See through extraordinary claims made by scammers, deceivers, and conmen who are piggybacking on Bitcoin’s success. Be careful out there!
This book is intended for technically interested people who want to understand Bitcoin on a deep technical level. The book doesn’t require any programming skills, but a basic understanding of some technical concepts is beneficial—for example, databases, computer networks, computer programs, and web servers. A little math background can be useful too, but it’s certainly not required.
This book consists of 11 chapters and 3 appendices: