{"id":2,"date":"2017-04-22T13:33:28","date_gmt":"2017-04-22T12:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2018-02-23T13:03:28","modified_gmt":"2018-02-23T13:03:28","slug":"book","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/book\/","title":{"rendered":"Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain: The Book"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\"><b><i><a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2iW7kzW\">Amazon UK<\/a> \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2xSxs1e\">Amazon US<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\"><i>\u201cA sober riposte to all the upbeat forecasts about cryptocurrency\u201d \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/articles\/2018\/01\/18\/bitcoin-mania\/\">New York Review of Books<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\"><em>&#8220;A very convincing takedown of the whole phenomenon&#8221; \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/technology-42454876\">BBC News<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-72\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/scams-tagline.png\" alt=\"SCAMS, DRUGS, CROOKS &amp; CRYPTOGRAPHY\" width=\"777\" height=\"50\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/scams-tagline.png 777w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/scams-tagline-300x19.png 300w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/scams-tagline-768x49.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 777px) 100vw, 777px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>An experimental new Internet-based form of money is created that anyone can generate at home; people build frightening firetrap computers full of video cards, putting out so much heat that one operator is hospitalised with heatstroke and brain damage.<\/p>\n<p>A young physics student starts a revolutionary new marketplace immune to State coercion; he ends up ordering hits on people because they might threaten his great experiment, and is jailed for life without parole.<\/p>\n<p>Fully automated contractual systems are proposed to make business and the law work better; the contracts people actually write are unregulated penny stock offerings whose fine print literally states that you are buying nothing of any value.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest crowdfunding in history attracts $150 million on the promise that it will embody \u201cthe steadfast iron will of <i>unstoppable code\u201d;<\/i> upon release it is immediately hacked, and $50 million is stolen.<\/p>\n<p>How did we get here?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-68\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/title-logo.png\" alt=\"ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT BLOCKCHAIN\" width=\"803\" height=\"455\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/title-logo.png 803w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/title-logo-300x170.png 300w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/title-logo-768x435.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 803px) 100vw, 803px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>David Gerard covers the origins and history of Bitcoin to the present day, the other cryptocurrencies it spawned including Ethereum, the ICO craze and the 2017 crypto bubble, and the attempts to apply blockchains and smart contracts to business. Plus a case study on blockchains in the music industry.<\/p>\n<p>Bitcoin and blockchains are not a technology story, but a psychology story.<\/p>\n<p>Remember: if it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-75\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/tag-and-author-logo.png\" alt=\"BITCOIN, BLOCKCHAIN, ETHEREUM &amp; SMART CONTRACTS: DAVID GERARD\" width=\"777\" height=\"154\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/tag-and-author-logo.png 777w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/tag-and-author-logo-300x59.png 300w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/tag-and-author-logo-768x152.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 777px) 100vw, 777px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Bitcoin, blockchains, Ethereum and smart contracts \u2014 what these ideas are, why they don&#8217;t work in practice, and the sort of people attracted to them.<\/p>\n<p><b>AVAILABLE NOW<\/b> in paperback, and via Amazon (Kindle ebook, non-DRM), Smashwords (ePub, non-DRM), Google Play (PDF) and most other eBook stores.<\/p>\n<p>To keep updated on news, enter your email address in the &#8220;Subscribe to the blog&#8221; box to your right.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p align=\"center\"><b>Answers to Frequently-Asked Questions:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>A.<\/b> Sadly, Amazon only accepts conventional currencies.<\/p>\n<br><br><div align=\"center\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\"><img src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/become_a_patron_button.svg\" alt=\"Become a Patron!\" title=\"Become a Patron!\" width=217 height=51><\/a><br><p style=\"align:center;\" class=\"patreon-badge\"><i>Your subscriptions keep this site going. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\">Sign up today!<\/a><\/i><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Attack of the 50-Foot Blockchain: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Ethereum &#038; Smart Contracts by David Gerard<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":72,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5244,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/5244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}