Who is the intended audience for your book?
The book is for anyone interested in crypto or blockchain. No prior knowledge is required. It starts with the origins of Bitcoin, and charts the evolution of so-called 2nd generation cryptos like Ethereum, to 3rd generation counterparts like Cardano. It also looks to the future, to what ‘4th gen’ cryptos might look like. It does not focus on specific projects built on Cardano. It does not go deep into the weeds of the technical research papers, nor explore concepts in detail. The goal is to give a broad overview of Cardano.
What attracted you to Cardano, and how did you come to write a book about it?
I discovered Cardano while researching a college project in 2018.(1) Its ‘first principles’ research-driven approach impressed me. With many projects in the space adopting a ‘move fast and break things’ strategy, I admired the more sober, conservative philosophy. Almost everything in Cardano… past, present and future can be traced back to the research papers(2). These papers were scrutinized at cryptography conferences by the same industry experts who dissect Intel chip designs, for example. I noticed that although there were books on Bitcoin and Ethereum, there was nothing substantial on Cardano. So I had intended to write a book of some sort for years. In 2022, I worked hard on it for a few months to get it done. I figured, as long as it was accurate, I could always improve readability and structure in future editions.
I had plenty of help along the way. Tony Quinn (magforum.com), an experienced freelance writer, advised me on the structure and tone for the first edition. They say everything in life is about timing and I just happened to publish around the same time, coincidentally, as book.io launched. We were on the same twitter space (3) and they went on to list my book (4) as their second book after the Gutenberg Bible. Book.io is a Web3 marketplace for buying, reading, and selling decentralized eBooks and Audiobooks. Plenty of experts from IOG and the Cardano Foundation volunteered to proofread sections and Charles Hoskinson even made a video (5) about the book.
How did you find the writing process?
Writing about cryptocurrencies is challenging. Most of the best-selling crypto books have ‘Flesch reading ease scores’ in the 50s. I wanted my book to be more inclusive. With so much jargon in the blockchain space, I decided to arm the reader with explainers throughout. However, I didn’t want to obstruct the flow either. As Kindle automatically converts footnotes to a popup format, explainers are accessible by clicking on superscripts in the text. The explainers also form a glossary at the end of the book. I added excerpts from Charles Hoskinson’s various updates to interweave his perspective throughout the book. I felt they add context to many technology decisions while painting a vision for the overall project and industry.
Nicely done Mr. Greene pic.twitter.com/dcgdRVCDU8
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) January 12, 2024
With Cardano still evolving, how will keep the book up to date?
In some respects, the book will always be a work in progress. I intend to update the book regularly in cadence with Cardano updates, improving readability with each edition. This is the 3rd edition, the Chang Edition, updated in the lead up to the Chang hard fork. Each edition is more concise. The latest edition is approx 350 pages, trimmed down from the original 470 pages.
Has the book changed much over the 3 editions so far?
Yes, Cardano never sleeps! To give you just one example, Cardano is written in Haskell which is a functional programming language popular with Mathematicians but is kind of niche, or perhaps not so friendly for developers coming from a Web 2.0 background. Well, now there is a new programming language called Aiken that is getting a lot of traction. Its syntax is similar to popular languages like Rust and TypeScript, while still retaining the strengths of functional programming. The last edition (Jan 2023) only had one sentence on Aiken, the latest edition (Jan 2024) has a whole chapter dedicated to its rapid ascent. It’s indicative of how fast-moving the space is. Also, I basically rewrite the 2nd half of the book each edition as the Cardano roadmap plays itself out.
What are you looking forward to for Cardano, and crypto in general?
It can be exhausting trying to keep up with the pace of change, but it’s also exciting as it’s emerging technology. When things don’t run smoothly, we must remind ourselves we are in uncharted waters so it may not always be plain sailing. Personally, I would like to keep improving the book. I enjoy giving books away at conferences as it’s a nice way to meet people from all sorts of backgrounds and experiences. You see how much it means to people who can send money home to relatives for a fraction of a percent, whereas, other traditional remittance methods charge extortionate fees. You also get to see the reach it has globally. There is a Spanish translation in progress, but I also found out recently there is a Japanese translation (6) in the works, voted on by the community and funded by Catalyst, Cardano’s builtin innovation fund. That’s the power of true decentralization.
How can people find your book?
The latest edition is on amazon (7), as a kindle version or a paperback. I’ll add it to more platforms over the next few days. See cardanobook.com for more details.
FOOTNOTES below
1. MSc in Digital Currencies from the University of Nicosia
2. IOHK Library, iohk.io/en/research/library/
3. Books on the blockchain: the future of reading, https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1MnxnkpnnoyKO?s=20
4. https://www.nmkr.io/blog/nmkr-book-token-to-release-cardano-for-the-masses
5. Cardano for the Masses: Age of Voltaire Edition, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wzsLeU2u0E
6. Cardano For the M₳sses – Japanese Book, https://www.lidonation.com/ja/proposals/cardano-for-the-marasses-japanese-book-f10 7. Cardano For the M₳sses, https://www.amazon.com/Cardano-M%E2%82%B3sses-Financial-Operating-System/dp/B0B5KQVJ3T
