A Beginner's Guide To Bitcoin

I first found Matthew Kratter on YouTube with his super informative videos about investing, Bitcoin, etc. I'm so glad I found him and even gladder I purchased his books (and I have re-read this book twice in a couple days already). This book, along with his others I've purchased, is short and sweet and worth every penny. You will learn a ton about Bitcoin, its uses, and most importantly why it is the "store of value" for our future. Matthew packs mountains of facts and info into a precise and pithy book. Excellent for anyone looking to learn about Bitcoin and the infinite opportunities it presents. Do yourself a favour and buy this book, read it three or four times and invest in yours and your family's future.

The book does provide some good insight for anyone new to BTC but it is presented from a maximalist perspective. While it does a good enough job of explaining Bitcoin, it does present some very misleading information about Bitcoin. One example is network fees of using Bitcoin. The fees can be extremely expensive but Kratter fails to acknowledge this by giving one off examples. Bitcoin is not a payment solution and can be very expensive to use which is why he often refers back to Bitcoin as a store of value instead of a payment system. Bitcoin is a failed payment system and will never work as one even though maximalists insist it will someday with the Strike network. Kratter mentions XRP which is actually a far superior technology to Bitcoin and it is not centralized like he states. This is a flat out lie and does an injustice to the uniformed and newbies. Bitcoin is also not scalable. This is a fact. Bitcoin was touted as a payment system to buy a cup of coffee but it has failed at the use case, hence the “store of value” narrative has won out. But I see nothing wrong with that. I wouldn’t buy a cup of coffee with gold, so why would I use BTC? BTC can be hacked by a 51% attack. Although unlikely, it can be if there is a concentration of miners and validators. Transactions can be reversed or prevented from from being confirmed. Overall I thought it was a good book but provided some misleading information that only people with a decent amount of knowledge about the crypto space would be able to identify. Because of that I would not recommend this book to beginners. If Kratter removed his personal maximalist bias from the book, I would give it five stars. Unfortunately he wrote a Bitcoin indoctrination book for the uneducated. That’s too bad because if there is one thing that the crypto space suffers from is massive tribalism and that does not help the space to expand to new investors. Disclaimer: I am a big fan of Bitcoin and many other digital assets but I recognize that each asset brings a unique use case or utility which does not make it a bad asset to hold. Not every asset can be great at every use case and Bitcoin is certainly no exception. Do your own research but please don’t limit yourself to buying only Bitcoin. There are many other crypto assets out there that can and will be considered “stores of value.” I liken Bitcoin to a classic car; it may be worth a lot of money and look nice but classic cars don’t exactly have the most up to date technology or creature comforts.

I read this book in just one day. I have to say, it’s a must-have in today’s world. The step-by-step guide on how to buy, store, and keep Bitcoin safe offers an honest pathway for people who have no idea what’s going on. I had never thought of Bitcoin as a store of value, and I must say—this concept completely changed the way I see it. I've now added it as another asset to help keep me on track. Very easy to understand, very straightforward, and truly a manual.

WEAK

It glossed over the "Mining" of Bitcoin, which was my main interest.