Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond Hardcover – October 19, 2017

First let me say that this is showing as a Free Vine Review. Although that is the case, I had it on pre-order before it was available on Vine, so I would have had it either way. Picture of pre-order included.

When it comes to books about bitcoin, blockchain, and cryptoassets, the are as many books out as ICO’s and sadly they have the same depth and value, none. I am happy to be able to say this book is not one of them. This book has depth as well as value.

There are several aspects I like about this book that I am going to write about in no particular order, because I like them all equally.

First I will mention the writing style. The authors have an easy to read writing style that makes the book an enjoyable read.

I love all the history in it. The book does a great job of covering the evolution of cryptoassets. They cover the good, bad, and ugly of bitcoin’s history and bring us into the present world of decentralized applications.

The authors break cryptoassets into cryptocurrencies, cryptocommodities, and cryptotokens. They cover each one in detail and give a lot of examples of each in existence today. The examples include bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple, Dogecoin, Dash, Monero, Zcash, Ethereum, Auger, dApps in general.

I like that the author’s are not cryptozealots. They paint a realistic picture of the landscape and give fair warning to those that may embark on a ride of the cryptoasset roller coaster.

The authors provide an analysis and valuation framework that lays out the elements to look for and analyze when deciding on weather or not an investment would be worth it. Their framework not only does a great job of listing all the elements, but they also do a great job of putting them into context, explaining their role, and what to look for.

Another thing I have spent hours in is all the notes. They have a ton of great references. These totally sidetracked me several times.

When I read a book I mark the outside with things I want quick access to or want to remember. I have added 2 pictures to the review to show you there is a lot of things you’ll want to recall as you go through your journey.

If you are thinking about investing in cryptoassets, this book is a must read.

Cryptoasets: The Innovative Investor's Guide, provides a clear, concise overview of a rapidly emerging market and group of tools that will impact our lives for the better. Context is everything. I am not a professional trader or investor. Prior to getting involved with cryptoassets, I wasn't even remotely a hobby trader. I contributed to my retirement through work in typical mostly hands-off ways i.e 401k or mutual funds. I got involved with Bitcoin because I liked the technology and the societal implications. Once that hooked me, I had to figure out how to put that interest to use. That is where Chris Burniske and Jack Tatar come in with Cryptoassets. The authors provide a timely description of the investing landscape without turning over every stone or looking behind every tree. They paint with broad brush strokes using various cryptoassets to articulate a point. Without getting bogged down in too many details that change quickly in cryptomarkets, they filled in significant knowledge gaps and helped me understand how much I did not know about investing or how cryptoassets compare to conventional assets. There is a place for the highly technical description of cryptoassets or investing. That is not this book.

The authors start with a brief historical overview, beginning with the 2008 financial crisis, providing a narrative baseline that helps make Bitcoin and all the cryptoassets that came after, make sense. The description of the technical aspects is not too complicated, while providing a clear solid description of what blockchain is and why it matters as an innovative leap forward. When discussing Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Golem, etc. many people default to calling these assets "coins" or "cryptocurrency". The authors do not do this. I think, one of the key points they bring to the discussion is that cryptoassets are not simply currency. Cryptoassets include currencies, along with commodities, and tokens. As the market matures understanding this will become more important. The distinction the authors make by focusing on assets verses currency also helps as they move through the topic of investing and how to determine the merit of one asset type over another.

For someone who has not followed the development of cryptoassets from 2009 to the present, the description of how cryptoassets have been received by the traditional investing community and the US government, was particularly useful. It provides a picture of how developed the market is and what needs to happen for the market to continue mature relative to existing practices. As a prior hands-off/non-investor the discussion of financial tools like exchange traded funds (ETF), or the recent development of initial coin offerings, or initial cryptoassets offering, (ICO) and the current government perception of taxing cryptoassets was all very helpful. Most likely, cryptoassets will transform investing more than they already have. The book suggests possible ways this might play out without being overly rigid with assumptions.

Practical overviews of exchanges, wallets, mining, were also helpful. There is an inherent limitation in discussing these subjects. The technical aspect can easily get mired down in quickly changing minutia, which is not the point or strength of this book.

The authors also address the merit of cryptoassts as an asset class. They provide a defense of cryptoassets and, by comparison show how cryptoassets differ from money making schemes and fraudulent ways of separating people from their money. That is not to say no cryptoassets are scams. Like with fiat currency, scams exist within the crypto world. Cryptoassets are not inherently a scam. In fact, they offer many benefits. Although I was already convinced of the value of cryptoassets, these sections strengthened my own understanding and ability to talk with other people.

I've ordered and read several books on cryptoassets. This book is easily one of the best places for a beginner or dabbler to start growing their understanding of cryptoassets and investing. It does an excellent job of introducing both. It should be in any crypto-investor's library. I hope as the market and technology develop this book is updated in order to remain current. As of early 2018 it is still quite relevant.

I bought the Kindle, Audible, and hardcover versions. The Audible narrator, Dave Clark, made the sections I listened to easy to follow. I would listen to him again without reservation.

Definitely the most informative book on crypto assets so far. I have read 7 books so far on crypto-assets and bitcoin and whatnot but most of them were more like pamphlets and had information based on just that specific individual and how he became crazy rich and what not. This book, however, goes in deep dive to teach you the aspect of the regular financial market and bring that around on how bitcoin and other crypto-assets could mature around the current financial system. The use graphs, equations historical data to teach you about crypto assets and markets. This book definitely qualifies to be read twice in my list.