Second edition expanded
Viacheslav Nosko
Maxim Burkov
© Viacheslav Nosko, 2023
© Maxim Burkov, 2023
ISBN 978-5-0060-8843-6
Created with Ridero smart publishing system
Preface
to the second edition
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«Cryptocurrency Book №1» was written in 2018—2019.
At that time, the cryptocurrency market was booming, new coins appeared every day, trading was active, the bitcoin rate fluctuated in the corridor from 3 to 7 thousand $ (ridiculous figures at the level of current prices). Facebook1 and Telegram announced the launch of their blockchain projects, the capitalization of cryptocurrencies grew to almost $200 billion.
Over the past five years, the cryptocurrency industry has changed enormously. New directions, interesting projects have appeared, large international companies are growing, such as Binance, which we had the honor to assist in its expansion in the CIS market.
A few years ago, the terms DeFi (decentralized finance), DEX (decentralized exchanges), NFT (non-fungible tokens) were not yet in circulation. And now these are commonplace.
The world of cryptocurrencies has become more complex, more interesting, more dynamic. Our company, Pro Blockchain Media, has changed dramatically. We have turned from a small project into an international media agency. We have won many awards, launched hundreds of advertising campaigns and developed strategies for the best players in the cryptocurrency market.
In addition to our media agency, we also created bitbrain.me cryptoacademy and its main product – a closed community and investment club called DeFi Hunters. With over 1300 members from all over the world, DeFi Hunters is the best crypto community in the CIS region (although community members have been living in different cities and countries for a long time, it’s time to open local branches). We invite you to explore our Bitbrain Academy and join our vibrant community.
Over the past five years, we’ve produced thousands of videos on our YouTube channels, providing free access to knowledge about new technologies to people around the world. We’ve also written several other books, excerpts from which we’ll share with you in this updated version of the #1 Cryptocurrency Book. This book has become a bestseller in the CIS region, with almost 400,000 copies sold, and we are grateful for the feedback from our readers that prompted us to release this updated edition.
As we continue to work, develop and learn, we are committed to sharing the best content with you. That’s why we have updated some chapters of the book, added a separate chapter about DeFi, AirDrop and bitcoin mixers.
We hope that the new edition of our book will inspire you to new discoveries and actions in the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrencies. Remember, we are the keepers and creators of our own happiness and our own path.
Enjoy the journey!
Beginnings…
A letter from the future
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In 2013, a text appeared on Reddit.com, the author of which called himself Luka_Magnotta. The published entry detailed what planet Earth would turn into in the future. The letter from the future was dated 2025.
What was the mysterious author warning about? And now, when we have almost reached his time of living, what of the predictions – the truth, and what – so far – fantasy?
Every year, the price of bitcoin has risen 10 times on average. From $0.1 in 2010 to $1 in 2011, then to $10 in 2012 and $100 in 2013. Then the growth slowed down a bit, with the value increasing tenfold every two years: to $1,000 in 2015, to $10,000 in 2017, to $100,000 in 2019, and to $1,000,000 in 2021.
Well, so far it hasn’t reached the value of $100,000 per bitcoin, with the maximum bitcoin price reaching $68,789.63 in November 2021. After the decline in 2022, we are seeing the cryptocurrency rise again, so we may see Luka’s prediction gradually come true in the medium term.
Luka has raised major issues and described the fears of many opponents of cryptocurrency as coming true in the not-too-distant future. The author cites the price for 1 BTC in different years. Part of the predictions came true, the value of the coin roughly corresponded to reality.
As of 2019, Luka is wrong by a whole order of magnitude. Bitcoin is not worth $1 million, and so far its price has not even reached $100 thousand. The volatility of the asset does not allow you to make far-reaching predictions.
It is known that more than 19 million bitcoins have been issued in the world today. Several million have been permanently lost. The population of the planet is still just over 7 billion people.
And here is this prediction almost matches reality as of July 2023. The world has already mined 19,425,118 bitcoins. In general, this figure has already been calculated mathematically, based on the peculiarities of the mining algorithms. The maximum possible number of bitcoins is 21 million coins. Because of the mathematical model governing the issuance of bitcoins, it will take even more than 100 years to mine the remaining 9%. However, already, according to various reports, about 6 million bitcoins have been irretrievably lost. So because of the limited number of coins, it is logical to assume that the rate will grow even more, eventually reaching both $100,000 and a million dollars.
There are already more than 8 billion people on earth, of which, according to various data, from 100 million people or more own cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin blockchain data shows that there are currently more than a billion wallet addresses. But people may have more than one wallet or store their bitcoins on centralized custodial exchanges, making it difficult to estimate the actual number of people using bitcoin in the world.
In a letter from the future, Luka_Magnotta mentions Citatel (Citadels) – closed and fortified cities where bitcoin mining machines are located. Perhaps such cities have already appeared and will eventually really become free territories, uncontrolled by any states.
Now most bitcoins are mined in the United States, Kazakhstan, Canada, and Russia. Just in these countries Citadels will probably appear.
Further Luka_Magnotta predicts a complete collapse of traditional states.
In my world, which will soon become your world, most governments no longer exist because bitcoin transactions are anonymous and therefore most governments are unable to organize taxation of their citizens. Bitcoin’s success is primarily due to the fact that it has proven to be an effective method of hiding wealth from the government. At first, people entering «rogue countries» (such as Luxembourg, Monaco, and Liechtenstein) were chased by drones to ensure that the government knew who was trying to hide their wealth. Then, when people started hiding their funds using bitcoins, the government no longer had ways to control the process.
So far, complete anarchy has not happened on Earth, governments are working. But here’s a prediction about the use of unmanned drones could very well become a reality. UAVs are increasingly being used for both military and civilian purposes.
The economy is growing at about 2% per year. Why? Because if you have more than 0.01 bitcoin, you are probably not doing anything with your money. There is no inflation, and therefore no incentive to put your money anywhere.
And that prediction hasn’t materialized so far. Perhaps because cryptocurrencies have not yet displaced other assets and there is not yet a critical mass of owners who can only live off of the coin’s steady appreciation.
And