Michael Scott's "Cryptocurrency Trading" is a book which is also available as a very brief audiobook, available free through some libraries via Hoopla. Michael Scott has another book of a similar title available on Hoopla, "Crytpocurrency Trading Strategies", which I plan to listen to and review soon. He also has at least two more additional titles on Amazon. His works seem to be available exclusively in kindle and audiobook format. If you choose to purchase either book through the amazon links provided above, please be aware that I will receive a small commission through Amazon Affiliates. My review of this title is of the audiobook edition, which ran a little over half an hour.
I found this book to be very specific to audience. It would be a good, brief introduction to cryptocurrency for traders of stock or other financiers who are more accustomed to traditional fiat-currency-based financial products. I would suggest it exclusively for this purpose. Much of the book functions much more as a persuasive essay directed at such an audience, with the aim of convincing them that cryptocurrencies are an interesting market in which to invest and trade.
Throughout the beginning half, there is some very basic information about cryptocurrency and related financial products. Some of the technical information about cryptocurrency based financial products is a bit outdated, and Michael Scott doesn't have the foresight to give listeners any cautions about the possibility that the available products, and limitations of the products, may change in ensuing years. This has the potential to cause confusion.
One shortcoming of the book overall is the flowery and unusual language choices throughout. Michael Scott might be an aspiring poet, or might truly have a love of language, but it goes too far in some places. My personal belief is that simple, clear language is the best choice - so long as it is precise. This is particularly true when discussing non-literary, concrete topics such as financial products. I think in this particular case that the reader of the audiobook has a voice that compliments Mr. Scott's writing style, but that also at times detrimentally emphasized some of his elaborate wording. I did appreciate that Mr. Scott's style was not dry, and certainly not boring.
Another minor gripe I have is the lack of proof-reading. I suspect that this book may be self-published, which in itself is not a bad thing at all, but many self-publishing authors do not have their work proofread by a copy-editor or similar individual. The result is avoidable typos. Most of the book did not seem to have this issue, though of course a copy-editor would likely have helped Mr. Scott keep his wording a little tighter. However, there is a glaring typo in the subtitle (and cover of the book) which might have been avoided with copy-reading. Of course, there are times I see mainstream publishers commit the same error. These days I see at least one error in every news article I read, sadly enough. I also find the subtitle to be unwieldy and long. A few years ago I would have griped about the "altcoin" reference excluding, as we used to classify ethereum as one of those too, but Mr. Scott in this respect was ahead of his time. Most people currently exclude ethereum from that classification.
The latter half of the book, which I found to be the most interesting and overall enjoyable part, gives some very general and largely psychological advice on trading cryptocurrency, which could apply just as easily to fiat trading. I thought it had a few good reminders about the psychology of trading, in particular. For a layperson who already has some exposure to bitcoin, the beginning is tedious and too basic. I think the ideal listener is someone who has heard of cryptocurrencies, who is familiar with or works in the financial sector, perhaps a very new fiat trader, who has been a reluctant adapter of cryptocurrencies. So - it might be a good suggestion as a first audiobook on the topic for that older uncle of yours who really wants to break into trading but thinks cryptocurrencies are a farce. However, if you are a reader of this blog who has already started to get a good understanding of cryptocurrencies, then you will likely find it too basic.
Michael Scott, the author, is apparently a writer for Bitcoin Magazine. What I believe to be his twitter has not been active since mid last year, around the time of his last article. God willing, Mr. Scott is healthy and well, and will continue to write more on this topic. He looks to be a friendly individual who is trying to be helpful to fellow traders, particularly beginners. He identifies himself as a "freelance writer" in this op-ed he wrote back in 2017. You can learn a little bit more about his background through that article.
Have you read Mr. Scott's "Cryptocurrency Trading" or other titles? I'm interested in hearing your thoughts and whether it was helpful to you, especially if you read his books while still a newbie trader. What are other, similar titles you might recommend? What is a book that you have been hoping to read, that you might want me to review?
Please see the references below for the sources of images used in the article and for the thumbnail.
