Hello, friend! Welcome to another post in The Creator’s Roulette. Today, I am excited to host Trevor Yeung, an investor, writer and financial services professional, sharing details about his new book Into the Cryptoverse. When I was in university, cryptocurrencies, bitcoins and blockchain concepts were terms that a lot of people gravitated towards but very few could explain them for the general audience. Trevor has worked hard to make these concepts more accessible and less terrifying and I am looking forward to reading his book and sharing my thoughts. But you don’t have to wait for me! Let’s meet Trevor and learn from him.
Trevor was born and brought up in London but recently moved to South Korea, Seoul where he currently lives. He’s worked in the Financial Services sector for over a decade, has a Masters of Philosophy in Economics from the University of Cambridge and is a Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant.
On Writing About Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain
A Q&A with Trevor Yeung
Welcome to Armed with A Book, Trevor! For those new to the topic, what exactly is Bitcoin, cryptocurrency and blockchain?
To put simply, cryptocurrency is a type of digital money. It’s different to the digital money we’re used to in our bank accounts because of the way cryptocurrency transactions are recorded. Instead of being recorded by a single entity like a bank, transactions are recorded by a network of computers who have downloaded special software relating to that cryptocurrency. The software is free to download for anyone, even you. The digital record of transactions that these computers share with each other is what is called a blockchain. My book ‘Into the Cryptoverse’ explains in further detail how it got this name. Bitcoin is the first digital currency that utilises blockchain record-keeping technology to operate and allows users to send money to each other online without any intermediary.
Why did you choose to write a book about Cryptocurrencies?
Most people with an internet connection has at least come across the word Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies. In hindsight, it was inevitable that I would sooner or later take an interest in this topic because I particularly enjoy reading about personal finance, investing and economics. I came across articles on the internet about people who had put relatively small amounts of money into this new form of money and within months it was worth thousands of times more – life changing amounts of money.
For me and a lot of other people I’m sure, that raises a lot of red flags – scam alert! But I kept coming across these types of stories, even from trusted sources and mainstream news websites and it seemed like cryptocurrencies were here to stay. So my next order of action was to find out as much as I could about it!
By the time I had a good understanding of what Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies were, it was already a hot topic and it would often creep into conversations with family, friends and colleagues. Although everyone had at least heard of these terms, and many had even invested a fair amount into them, I was surprised to discover that most, if not all of the people I spoke with couldn’t even explain simple concepts such as what a blockchain was.
From a quick search, I could see there were a lot of introduction to cryptocurrency-type books out there on the market already. Most of them were written by cryptocurrency experts or people who work in the cryptocurrency space which I found has its pros and cons. For one, the information in most cryptocurrency books are either so detailed and technical it’s hard to understand, or so simplified that it doesn’t help much at all. But in general, I found that all books were heavily biased towards promoting and vouching for cryptocurrencies as the ‘future of money’.
I wouldn’t be completely satisfied if my friends and family read these types of books because some of the content is so one-sided in favour of cryptocurrencies. So I set out to condense what I knew and understand about Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and blockchain into an easy-to-understand book but with a very balanced approach – using only publicly available facts and statistics -illustrating in an objective manner both its potential and downfalls.
I also cover aspects that are often overlooked – such as ethical and social perspectives. It’s not all about money and technology. Ultimately, I set out to find out and explain whether cryptocurrency is something that can improve our lives and this is what I share with the reader.
What part of the book was the most fun to write and which part was hardest?
There are two topics I really enjoyed writing about. The first is the history of banking which I use to tie in the story of how cryptocurrencies came about. I enjoyed writing about it because most people in modern society use a bank for monetary transactions or storing money, but at the same time don’t know where the concept of banking even came from – so I think there will be some surprised readers. The second thing I particularly enjoyed writing was illustrating points with real life examples because it allowed me to have some fun with the topic and also ensured everything is relatable.
For me the hardest part was actually the title. There are a heaps of books out there already introducing cryptocurrencies and I wanted a title that stood out in some way because I believe the content is also differentiated.
What are some of the top myths around Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin?
Instead of myths, I think there are a lot of unconfirmed uncertainties about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Here are the top three that I come across most frequently:
- Bitcoin is the future of money. On the one hand, a lot of people believe this to be the case. But from a technological and economic perspective, this could be less likely than expected. I explain in detail more about why it might be or might not be in my book.
- Bitcoin is a scam. From my research, the concept of cryptocurrencies definitely started with the right intentions – to help society and improve the way we live, work and pay each other. But just as a knife can be used for different things depending on the wielder; technology in this space can also be used to improve quality of life or cause harm. It doesn’t seem like we can avoid Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies forever, so the best thing to do to stay safe is to understand it a bit more.
- Bitcoin is bad for the environment. As cryptocurrencies use a type of technology that inherently require a lot of electricity to function, there is an argument that it is bad for the environment. This is true to an extent. But we also have to remember that a lot of other things use electricity or leave a carbon footprint (buildings, planes, cars) so it is slightly unfair to single out cryptocurrencies. Moving towards renewable energy and more sustainable ways of powering our consumption is a challenge all industries face globally.
Do you have any experience with cryptocurrencies, bitcoins and blockchain?
What is your opinion on their future?
Tell us in the comments below!
Thank you so much for hanging out with us today! Connect with Trevor via Goodreads and Amazon. Add his book to your shelf on Goodreads. I will be back with a review for it as soon as I can!
Banner Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
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