Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Ethereum & Smart Contracts Paperback – 24 July 2017

In a world seeming to be on the verge drowning in hype related to Bitcoin, Blockchain and related technologies, this book is an important step towards re-introducing some sanity.Even if you are an expert or even just a believer in these techologies you should read this book to establish some balance.Its greatest strengths are in the discusssion of bitcoin and initial coin offerings. The chapters on Mt Gox, the Craig Wright affair and Silk Road are particularly entertaining and informative.The book has a lot less material on the the application (or rather potential application) of Blockchain in general, particularly in financial services. It does however have an excellent chapter on the failure to apply blockchain in the music industry.Overall a very useful and timely book but one most suited to people that have some background in the area ot with IT.

A perfect gift for older (and non tech savvy) relatives who ask you "what are these bitcoins I keep hearing about then?", this is a barbed, critical exposé of the world of cryptocurrencies.Crypto "investment" opportunities are mainstream enough now that they get advertised on UK railway billboards alongside the latest Thomas Cook deals and chick-lit blockbuster novels, yet few people are aware of the lies, greed, delusion, and fraud that permeates this sector.If you know anyone who is aiming to "get rich quick" from these new-fangled bitcoins, ethereums, or some random cryptocurrencies that a teenage hacker invented in his bedroom last night, get them to read this first. It offers many cautionary tales for would-be investors, and it's laugh-out-loud funny in places too.My only criticism of this book is that it's a bit short, considering the price. Nearly a third of it consists of the glossary and index. Also, this is very much a primer for newbies - if you're already familiar with the crypto world, most of this info will not be new to you, and you would be better off reading the articles on the author's (excellent) website.All in all though, a great book, a timely warning, and I salute Mr. Gerard for making this available to the world.

As a Computer Scientist currently working in IT Consulting, I found this book to strike the perfect balance between technical details and specific industry knowledge, very insightful and very well argued. On top of this, the book was structured very well and straight to the point. There were also a lot of jokes and ironies which I very much enjoyed.As a disclaimer, it is obvious that the author is very pessimistic about the blockchain hype and its future use. This is mostly because, as he correctly points out, there is very little evidence of real, proven, use cases. As this is the first book I read on the topic I am unable to judge whether there was a biased selection of mostly failed projects or not but his arguments against the big ones out there at the moment are perfectly sound: bitcoin, ethereum and smart contracts all have limitations that are unlikely to help them become anything more than big ponzi schemes.The writer does a fantastic job at backing up everything that he says with evidence from articles and investigations. I have on many occasions investigated the sources and they were trustworthy.This book made me want to investigate further and equipped me with the right set of questions and framework to carry on.I highly recommend reading this. 5 out 5

This is a brilliant, funny, and deeply researched take down of the hype around blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Those claiming that it is one sided or lacking research should actually look at the vast collection of references backing up the facts in this book and then produce some positive stories of their own. Having been tracking Blockchain professionally I can confirm that this is all correct and the appropriate advice. Only those who are deeply involved in the hype and scams will take issue with the points here. Even the frothy-hype Don Hapscott book lists the same issues, albeit compressed into chapter 24 after having raved about vague possibilities for the preceding 23. And this book is much more amusing.

Some people may have trepidation going into a book on this subject (I certainly do) but the concepts are broken down easily and the underlying psychology will make your jaw drop. It's a tradgicomedy that makes me want to yell at the adverts for etherium currently plastered over canary wharf.And it's because they've started plastering adverts on billboards that you should read this.

Finished reading "Attack of the 50 foot Blockchain". One of the 5 books on Blockchain from fivebooks.com. The tone of the book is definitely against blockchain, summed up on the last page: "everything to do with cryptocurrencies and blockchains is the domain of fast talking conmen"

Although seems to be written quite quickly and not with a normal long -term and in-depth research as accepted from such books. It seems the author is well versed in the crypto currency ecosystem and has aggregated several articles into one book. However the reason it gets a high rating and is a must read is because it is one of the few book out there that is highly critical of the future of bit-coins and crypto currency. It adds a necessary balance to all the plethora of positive literature about the future of bit-coins,ethereum etc.I may not agree with everything he says but it gives you are very good and different perspective to the ongoing debate of the future of crypto currencies.

Excellent, well researched, and entertaining counterpoint to the mass hysteria of blockchain. Obviously very one sided and doesn't really have anything positive to say about a technology that is likely to have some good uses in the future but that's not the point because right now it's mostly just snake oil and more people need to realise that.