Understanding Bitcoin: Cryptography, Engineering and Economics

Foreword

I have been hoping for some time for a good book covering the technology and ideas behind Bitcoin to be written.

There is certainly a wealth of information about cryptocurrencies, but the field advances rapidly and it is sometimes difficult for the non-initiated to understand the fundamentals and catch up with new developments. This book takes readers to a thorough understanding of the current state-of-the-art cryptocurrencies’ technology, as well as its future economic and technological implications, without assuming any previous knowledge of the many fields than constitute Bitcoin. This is an enabling book that empowers the reader to participate in and contribute to this great adventure.

The book clearly exposes many concepts previously mainly known to insiders of the cryptocurrencies’ world. It covers a wide range of topics, from the economics or the basic technology (such as elliptic curve cryptography, Merkle trees or the blockchain) to advanced cryptographic concepts (such as non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs), and explores many applications based on these ideas (such as multi-signature wallets or fully anonymous payment systems). All this is accomplished in a book that is very approachable and comprehensible.

Readers new to Bitcoin will surely be surprised by the ingenuity of the technology and the broad range of applications it enables. Those familiar with Bitcoin will find many sections, such as the sections on economics or advanced applications of cryptocurrencies, ...