Cryptocurrency is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it.
Since the creation of bitcoin in 2009, cryptocurrencies have exploded in popularity and are today collectively worth more than $1 trillion. An increasing number of investors now hold bitcoin and hundreds of other cryptocurrencies as assets and use them to buy a swath of goods and services, such as software, digital real estate, and illegal drugs.
Library Program
On October 28 at 2pm, get to know the Basics of Cryptocurrency in a presentation by the NJ Bureau of Securities that will offer an overview of this new asset class. It will introduce vocabulary (what is the blockchain, cryptocurrency mining) and cover aspects of cryptocurrency trading and investing, pitfalls and cryptocurrency investment scams (including pig butchering and romance scams).
Here are some recently published nonfiction titles available to borrow with your Livingston Library card will help you learn more about the topic:
Catching Up to Crypto : Your Guide to Bitcoin and the New Digital Economy by Ben Armstrong
The economy is transitioning into digital currency as a means of transferring and processing transactions. Bitcoin, a form of cryptocurrency for virtual transfers and transactions, is becoming well known not only within businesses but also everyday users. Users have access to use Bitcoin without qualification, except that one uses a computer or device for processing. No central banks or authority of governments have involvement in monitoring Bitcoin exchanges, as no third party is involved with Bitcoin increasing independence for its users. With no regulation of Bitcoins, users have the advantage of freely processing payments using Bitcoin, even from country to country as long as it is accepted as a form of payment or exchange in that country.
Crypto Confidential : Winning and Losing Millions in the New Frontier of Finance by Nathaniel Eliason
This is an unfiltered, insider’s account of the hyperactive, hyper-speculative, hyper-addictive, nearly unregulated, completely insane world being built on the blockchain. A behind-the-scenes exposé of the bull runs and breakdowns, revealing exactly how the crypto-sausage gets made. A story of getting rich, going broke, scamming and getting scammed- and how we can all be more educated participants during the inevitable next bull run.
Cryptocurrency Investing by Kiana Danial
Currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP are gaining popularity, and this trusted guide can help you strike while the iron is hot to profit from the explosive growth in cryptocurrency. We’ll help you understand decentralized currency, get started with leading crypto exchanges and brokers, learn techniques to buy and sell, and strategize your crypto portfolio. You’ll even dig into the details on cryptocurrency tax laws and new opportunities for investors.
Cryptomania : Hype, Hope, and the Fall of FTX’s Billion-Dollar Fintech Empire by Andrew R. Chow
Cryptocurrency caught the zeitgeist through figures like FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who only two years later would be convicted of one of the most calamitous acts of financial fraud in US history. Bankman-Fried pursued a growth-obsessed, by-any-means approach to crypto, which proved seductive to those who just wanted to get rich. But this Silicon Valley-like approach also drove the creation of a spate of high-risk financial instruments that mirrored those of the 2008 financial crisis. Accused of misleading investors and mishandling funds, Bankman-Fried became a target of prosecutors. Now, Cryptomania unfolds the tumultuous twenty months inside this male-dominated, overhyped industry that led to its downfall. Drawing on exclusive reporting and an extensive network in the global NFT community, Chow chronicles the battle for crypto’s soul, and the human toll of its economic meltdown–from the conmen and eccentrics driving the bubble to the victims caught in its burst.
Devil’s Coin : My Battle to Take Down the Mafia Cryptoqueen by Jennifer McAdam
The astonishing true story of the Scottish coal miner’s daughter who took on the mafia founders of the world’s biggest financial fraud, and helped the FBI to convict them.
Easy Money Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud by Benjamin McKenzie
At the height of the pandemic, TV star Ben McKenzie was armed with only the vague notion that people were making heaps of money on something he didn’t entirely understand. Lured in, McKenzie dove deep into blockchain, Bitcoin, and the various other coins and exchanges on which they are traded. But after scratching the surface, he had to ask, “Is this all a total scam?” McKenzie enlists the help of journalist Jacob Silverman for an investigative adventure into crypto and its crash. It is an on-the-ground look at a perfect storm of irresponsibility and criminal fraud.
Mastering Crypto Assets : Investing in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Beyond by Martin Leinweber
A definitive, all-encompassing book on digital assets of all types for investors. A team of seasoned investors and digital asset strategists presents a comprehensive guide aimed at institutional and professional investors for integrating crypto assets into traditional portfolios. The book offers in-depth explanations of the structure of this new asset class and its impact on investment portfolios.
Both nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies are relatively new forms of digital assets that are built on the blockchain, and both have been heralded for their potential to change concepts of ownership and finance respectively. However, there are also many concerns about the legitimacy and security of NFTs and cryptocurrencies. Because NFTs and cryptocurrencies exist exclusively in the digital space, some argue that they have no real value and are particularly vulnerable to scams. Some also express concerns about their lack of regulation and potential role in crimes like money laundering. However, proponents of these digital assets assert that they create more democratic methods of investment, since anyone can buy NFTs and cryptocurrencies, and they are not controlled by a central authority. This volume explains this complex topic and offers various viewpoints on the benefits and disadvantages of these assets.
Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux
What started as curiosity—with a dash of FOMO—would morph into a two-year, globe-spanning quest to understand the wizards behind the world’s new financial machinery. Faux’s investigation would lead him to a schlubby, frizzy-haired twenty-nine-year-old named Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF for short) and a host of other crypto scammers, utopians, and overnight billionaires. Faux follows the trail to a luxury resort in the Bahamas, where SBF boldly declares that he will use his crypto fortune to save the world. Faux talks his way onto the yacht of a former child actor turned crypto impresario and gains access to “ApeFest,” an elite party headlined by Snoop Dogg, by purchasing a $20,000 image of a cartoon monkey. In El Salvador, Faux learns what happens when a country wagers its treasury on Bitcoin, and in the Philippines, he stumbles upon a Pokémon knockoff mobile game touted by boosters as a cure for poverty. And in an astonishing development, a spam text leads Faux to Cambodia, where he uncovers a crypto-powered human-trafficking ring. When the bubble suddenly bursts in 2022, Faux brings readers inside SBF’s penthouse as the fallen crypto king faces his imminent arrest.
Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency by Andy Greenberg
With unprecedented access to the major players in federal law enforcement and private industry, veteran cybersecurity reporter Andy Greenberg tells an astonishing saga of criminal empires built and destroyed. He introduces an IRS agent with a defiant streak, a Bitcoin-tracing Danish entrepreneur, and a colorful ensemble of hardboiled agents and prosecutors as they delve deep into the crypto-underworld. The result is a thrilling, globe-spanning story of dirty cops, drug bazaars, trafficking rings, and the biggest takedown of an online narcotics market in the history of the Internet.
—Archana Chiplunkar, Adult Services & Acquisitions Librarian