Book: The Secret Life: Three True Stories of the Digital Age by Andrew O'Hagan

A trio of reported essays exploring identity and the Internet

The slippery online ecosystem is the perfect breeding ground for identities: true, false, and in between. The Internet shorthand IRL―“in real life”―now seems naïve. We no longer question the reality of online experiences but the reality of selfhood in the digital age.

In The Secret Life: Three True Stories, the essayist and novelist Andrew O’Hagan issues three bulletins from the porous border between cyberspace and IRL. “Ghosting” introduces us to the beguiling and divisive Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, whose autobiography the author agrees to ghostwrite with unforeseen―and unforgettable―consequences. “The Invention of Ronnie Pinn” finds the author using the actual identity of a deceased young man to construct an entirely new one in cyberspace, leading him on a journey deep into the Web’s darkest realms. And “The Satoshi Affair” chronicles the strange case of Craig Wright, the Australian Web developer who may or may not be the mysterious inventor of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto―and who may or may not be willing, or even able, to reveal the truth.

O’Hagan’s searching pieces take us to the weirder fringes of life in a digital world while also casting light on our shared predicaments. What does it mean when your very sense of self becomes, to borrow a term from the tech world, “disrupted”? Perhaps it takes a novelist, an inventor of selves, armed with the tools of a trenchant reporter, to find an answer.

Book: Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond by Chris Burniske, Jack Tatar

The innovative investor’s guide to an entirely new asset class―from two experts on the cutting edge

Cryptoassets potentially offer the greatest investment opportunity since the internet. Bitcoin was the first cryptoasset, but today there are over 500 and counting, including ether, ripple, litecoin, monero, and more. Cryptoassets and their associated blockchains are changing the way investors use and grow their money. This clear, concise, and accessible guide from two industry experts is the first book of its kind to explain this brave new blockchain world to innovative investors looking to explore the potential of this emerging asset class in their portfolios.

It gives readers an understanding of how these assets were created, how they work, and how they are evolving amid the blockchain revolution. It also provides an actionable framework within which to evaluate new cryptoassets and position investment portfolios in the coming wave of financial innovation. Investors will learn how to gain access to these assets, whether through familiar investment vehicles or bleeding edge techniques such as crowdsales, hardware wallets, and cryptoasset exchanges. This is the future of money.

Book: Ethereum: Blockchains, Digital Assets, Smart Contracts, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations by Henning Diedrich (

As IBM´s official liaison to the Ethereum core developers I gave talks on blockchain topics pretty much around the world. After one keynote I was asked for a non-technical guide to understand blockchains. This is it.

The book aims to help you get your head around blockchains in general and around Ethereum specifically. Since Ethereum is currently the pre-imminent blockchain, it makes sense as reference point. The essential stuff is the same for any blockchain.

This text was written for people with a fast grasp, who are not programmers. Reading this should give you the basics to cut through the hype and to identify blockchain opportunities in your professional domain. There are tiny bits of code, which can be admired and skipped.

We´ll look at Ethereum´s benefits first, how it is used and what can be done with it; then explain blockchain machinery, visiting the terms that you´ll be confronted with in every discussion about its application. Exactly what you need to tell the signal from the noise in the echo chamber of honest misunderstandings and desperate marketing.

We take a good hard look at limitations, throw in some history and names and give a realistic outlook.

The index reads like an FAQ and you can use the book like that. However, there is a strong build up, one chapter leading to the next, as optimized path to understanding all the interconnected, moving parts. There´s quite a number of them.

Blockchains are not a trivial topic. The fact that blockchain client programs are small has fooled many people into believing it can´t possibly be that hard. The challenges are in the implications though.

But what’s in this book will put you ahead of almost everyone outside the core bubble.

A deep dive into this field now – at least getting started – will help you to become part of the fun ahead. It should allow you to stand out, land deals or a great job.

It will also make you see first hand how early we are in the game.

Hopefully, we will find a contributor to the blockchain community in you, strengthening the portfolio of real-world use cases. Ideally, you´ll learn to navigate your own uncharted course through your domain and revolutionize it.

Book: Handbook of Digital Currency: Bitcoin, Innovation, Financial Instruments, and Big Data 1st Edition by David LEE Kuo Chuen

Incorporating currencies, payment methods, and protocols that computers use to talk to each other, digital currencies are poised to grow in use and importance. The Handbook of Digital Currency gives readers a way to learn about subjects outside their specialties and provides authoritative background and tools for those whose primary source of information is journal articles. Taking a cross-country perspective, its comprehensive view of the field includes history, technicality, IT, finance, economics, legal, tax and regulatory environment. For those who come from different backgrounds with different questions in mind, The Handbook of Digital Currency is an essential starting point.

• Discusses all major strategies and tactics associated with digital currencies, their uses, and their regulations
• Presents future scenarios for the growth of digital currencies
• Written for regulators, crime prevention units, tax authorities, entrepreneurs, micro-financiers, micro-payment businesses, cryptography experts, software developers, venture capitalists, hedge fund managers, hardware manufacturers, credit card providers, money changers, remittance service providers, exchanges, and academics
• Winner of the 2015 "Outstanding Business Reference Source" by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA)