Preface

Little Alicefell
d
o
w
n
the hOle,
bumped her head
and bruisedher soul.

Falling down the Bitcoin rabbit hole is a strange experience. Likemany others, I feel like I have learned more in the last couple of yearsstudying Bitcoin than I have during two decades of formaleducation.

The following lessons are a distillation of what I’velearned. First published as an article series titled “WhatI’ve Learned From Bitcoin,” whatfollows can be seen as a second edition of the original series.

Like Bitcoin, these lessons aren’t a static thing. I planto work on them periodically, releasing updated versions and additionalmaterial in the future.

Unlike Bitcoin, future versions of this project do not have to bebackward compatible. Some lessons might be extended, others might bereworked or replaced. I hope that a future version will be something you canhold in your hands, but I don’t want to promise anything justyet.

Bitcoin is an inexhaustible teacher, which is why I do not claimthat these lessons are all-encompassing or complete. They are a reflectionof my personal journey down the rabbit hole. There are many more lessons tobe learned, and every person will learn something different from enteringthe world of Bitcoin.

I hope that you will find these lessons useful and that the processof learning them by reading won’t be as arduous and painful aslearning them firsthand.

Gigi