tldr;
- Some recommended crypto books
- Stories are important
- Hive movies are discussed
I've read a couple of Bitcoin books, got one now, got one on my want-to-read list, and edited one. And I like movies. And popcorn.
Books
Let's have a little book club time. My crypto reading list is below. I'd recommend any of these books...
1. The Age of Cryptocurrency: How Bitcoin and Digital Money Are Challenging the Global Economic Order
The first crypto book I read. It's perhaps a little outdated now, but it's very good fundamentally on the start of Bitcoin and crypto. It's likely the best book I've read on the topic.
2. Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money
This book takes a different angle...it focuses on the people, the stories of the people, who were the first movers and shakers in Bitcoin. I liked it, because I like stories and due to the human factor involved. Let's face it, writing a good story about computer code sounds a bit boring..."And then a push was committed to GitHub to update the code from version 0.7.9 to 0.8.0!" Exciting read. In my view, it's always about the stories, the personal, human stories. To me, it was interesting, but ironically it was a bit less of a favorite for some reason or other.
The author Ben Mezrich understands what I just wrote about "the stories, the personal, human stories." He's the author of The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal. That's the book that the movie The Social Network was based on. You might have seen that movie about Mark Zuckerberg and the Winklevoss twins.
He gets a little criticism for adding a little "flair" or "artistic liberty" in his writing. For instance, suppose Zuckerberg was alone with one other person having a conversation. How can Mezrich recount their exact conversation? He doesn't care that he can't, he just fictionalizes it, and freely admits he's not writing history. Like a painter who doesn't wish to snap an exact photograph of a scene, but who rather, wishes to paint and capture the mood of a scene, Mezrich improvises a bit. The result is that it reads like a novel, a story, and it gets made into a movie. And...they're are evidently plans in making Bitcoin Billionaires into a movie too: CoinDesk, bosshunting.
This book, Bitcoin Billionaires, is about the Winklevoss pair. It's kind of a revenge, revisit book. In book one, the Winklevoss twins were portrayed as snobby villains and Zuckerberg was the hero. In Billionaires, the twins are shown in a different light...as carriers of the crypto torches and Zuckerberg is the villain. I enjoyed this book, great story and easy read, and I hope a movie comes out.
4. The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking
I currently have this book in my hands. I'd heard good things about it. It seems to take a straightforward, educational, almost academic approach to Bitcoin and crypto. Makes sense, the author is a college professor. It seems the book could be divided into two main sections: (a) money and a discussion of what it actually is, and (b) digital money and why Bitcoin and crypto improves on the old standard of money. This is not a story-based approach, like Mezrich's Bitcoin Billionaires approach, it seems to be more educational. But, it's edifying and seems solid. I'll likely skim-read it. I don't think there will be a movie.
5. The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze
I've listened to Laura Shin's podcast, Unchained, for a few years now. She's good. She gets most of the big names in the space on her show, she does her homework, isn't afraid to say, "I don't understand," if she doesn't get it...which is great because then the person backtracks and explains in simpler terms. I like simple terms.
When she undertook a "crypto book," I was interested. Prior to podcasting, she was a journalist...a writer. My guess is that her book would be thorough, carefully researched, and well-written. I'll get hold of a copy one day and give it a read.
This book is exactly what the title says: everything Satoshi wrote publicly. There are other similar books, notably The Book Of Satoshi: The Collected Writings of Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto, but "Kicking" is different in that (a) everything is included, everything, (b) it's organized in chronologically, and (c) there's no editorial commentary and explanation interspersed. It is, simply, Satoshi's words alone.
All of the content of this book can be found online, but getting to it does require digging, aggregating, and organizing. Plus, it's nice to have a real, hold-in-your-hand book. Going through it, step-by-step in its chronology, is like peering into the working mind of Satoshi Nakamoto.
Also kind of neat, the book was featured on Bitcoin.com.
Full disclosure: I edited this book, I get a bit of money from any sales. I don't mind mentioning it here, because I also offer it for free as a PDF below. Though I'm biased, I think this is the one book any true, hard-core crypto person should have on their bookshelf. Plus, it looks so good behind you while on Zoom! Instant crypto street-cred! :)
Lulu (preferred seller) | Amazon | WalMart | Free PDF
Stories
I mentioned in my last Hive post (about something entirely different...Hive security), that I like stories. It's often said that narratives drive a lot of what we hear and interact with and maybe even how we even think. Words are thoughts. Those narratives impact our lives. Narratives are fine, and I like 'em, but they often hide something of an ulterior impetus pushing underneath.
Consider political parties. If an event occurs that fits with a certain party's narrative and world view, party leaders jump on it and run with it. You hear that story ad nauseam. If the event doesn't fit the narrative, they simply ignore it. Move along. In my view, there's a certain bit of intellectual dishonesty at play here. In this case, a politician is using events to his or her advantage, to push his favorite narrative along. Or, he's simply ignoring it so it soon goes away. Look up "availability heuristic"...the easier it is to access information, the "truer" it becomes.
Anyway, I like stories. Stories are personal. They're human. And I like crypto, it's just fascinating.
Combine these two, the Hive story is amazing. It's a great human story and a great crypto story.
Hive has an amazing story!
When I read this awesome chronicle/article on decrypt.co by Tim Copeland outlining the Steem-to-Hive fork, I immediately thought, "Wen movie?"
Hivers: if you haven't read the decrypt article above, skip the books I just mentioned, skip this post, read the article now!
Sidenote, Tim, why are you not on Hive? Or are you?
Tim Copeland: Decrypt | Twitter | The Block
Movies
If you're tuned into Hive, you likely know that the movie is in the works. Actually, there are two Hive movies in the works. My "Wen movie?" thought after reading the Decrypt article is coming to fruition...
Movie 1
Hive movie 1 is being called "The Hive Film"...a functional enough working title if you ask me. Maybe it'll have a different name later, but that's a good working title. As I understand, the intent is to capture the beginnings of Hive, without being a hit-piece on anyone. Essentially, I think it's to follow the events chronicled in the Decrypt article above...to show why Hive exists. Evidently, there have been interviews with folks that got us here (see the latest post). It's not clear to me if the interviews will serve as the "meat" of the content (half-documentary style), or as information only to help build a script. Maybe the interviews will serve both purposes.
In my view, this Hive film could either take a straight-forward approach and try to recount the events around the fork, almost documentary style, like a historian trying to recount events with pinpoint accuracy.
Or, it might take a more Ben Mezrich, artistic liberty approach, and dramatize the events with actors...to try and capture the story more so than to capture the list of historical facts.
Both approaches have merit. I suppose the filmmakers must consider the audience and purpose. If the purpose is to document, then straight-forward historical documenting is the way to go. Stick to the facts. If the purpose is to attract users to Hive, drama sells (raw facts can be filled in later). Personally, I think I'd prefer this artistic liberty approach. I like stories. And, I prefer popcorn with my movies rather than a notepad and pencil.
Hive account:
Most recent update: @filmmaking4hive/making-sure-we-are-on
Discord: https://discord.gg/zGFspp5VP6
Movie (documentary) 2
Movie 2 I've seen described on Hive as the "documentary" on Hive. So, maybe "movie" is the wrong word. It's title evidently is "Freechain" and, as I understand, the focus is to be on how Hive is embodying Web3. That is, how Hive is allowing we the people to get on chain unencumbered by any powers-that-be like governments or corporations.
Watch the teaser-trailer on 3speak:
I'm looking forward to both movies. Popcorn ready.
Hive account:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FreechainFilm
Discord: https://discord.gg/uKXUmjVQNf
Summary
- I recommend some crypto books.
- Hive has two movies in the works.
- Read this Hive beginnings article: https://decrypt.co/38050/steem-steemit-tron-justin-sun-cryptocurrency-war
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