The Bitcoin Guidebook: How to Obtain, Invest, and Spend the World’s First Decentralized Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin is not another payment processor. Like the Internet, Bitcoin is a technology that runs through a distributed network. No one controls it, and no one can shut it down. Bitcoin has been called the currency of the Internet, but it is much more powerful than that—more astute observers have called it the Internet of currency.

The Bitcoin Guidebook is for anyone who doesn’t want to be left behind in the next technological revolution. It is an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand guide that explains everything the reader needs to know about how Bitcoin and other digital currencies work, what they can be used for, and how they will shape our society in the future. Topics covered include:

• The digital currency’s origins, past, present, and future
• The revolutionary blockchain technology behind Bitcoin
• How to obtain and invest in Bitcoin
• How and where to spend Bitcoin
• Bitcoin’s relationship with the seedy Internet underground
• Alternative digital currencies

Table of Contents

SECTION I: WHAT IS BITCOIN?
Chapter 1: Bitcoin 101: Blockchain Technology
Chapter 2: A Practical Guide on How to Buy, Save, and Spend Bitcoins
Chapter 3: Precursors, History and Creation, Satoshi’s White Paper
Chapter 4: Who Runs Bitcoin?
Chapter 5: What Gives Bitcoin Its Value?
Chapter 6: Bitcoin: Anonymous or Pseudonymous?
Chapter 7: Bitcoin and the Criminal Element
Chapter 8: Mt. Gox: Bitcoin’s Defining Moment?
Chapter 9: Other Bitcoin Scams and Common Tactics

SECTION II: HOW TO INVEST IN BITCOIN
Chapter 10: How to Buy Bitcoin with a Bank Account, Cash, or PayPal
Chapter 11: Working for Bitcoin
Chapter 12: Mining
Chapter 13: HODL!
Chapter 14: Day Trading
Chapter 15: Altcoin Trading and Pump-and-Dumps
Chapter 16: Peer-to-Peer Lending
Chapter 17: Investing in Other Commodities Using Bitcoin

SECTION III: WHAT CAN BITCOIN DO FOR ME?
Chapter 18: Remittance
Chapter 19: Microtransactions
Chapter 20: Start-up Funding

SECTION IV: THE FUTURE OF BITCOIN
Chapter 21: Altcoins and Bitcoin 2.0 Projects
Chapter 22: Distributed Autonomous Corporations, Governance, and Niche Economies