About me, the author

I wonder what you might think of someone who is writing a book about cryptocurrencies? Maybe you’ll think of a teenage multi-millionaire or an old neckbeard raving about free software? Or perhaps an anarchist who’s trying to convince you that “governments are evil” and that “taxation is theft”?

I am none of those. I’m just a normal person, perhaps a bit introverted. I only have a short beard, and I pay my taxes and enjoy the benefits we get here in Sweden. Unfortunately, I’m neither a teenager nor a multi-millionaire.

I first heard about Bitcoin in 2010, about one year after its creation. I installed a Bitcoin wallet and played around with it a little. It was just another internet thing for me and like many others, it failed to hold my attention. After about 10 or 15 minutes, I removed it and promptly forgot about it.

It wasn’t until four years later that I looked at Bitcoin again. I studied computer science and we had a course in cryptography—a very fun course I might add—with a part about cryptocurrencies. We went through the technical details, and it made me curious about Bitcoin on a deeper level. I read the white paper and began following the news and development in the space.

Before writing this book, I wasn’t actively involved in cryptocurrencies. While I love programming, ever since I started programming full-time, it’s been difficult to find energy for side-projects, like I had during my University years.

The free time I’ve had has been taken up by my two boys, my girlfriend and other hobbies. Saying no to something is saying yes to something else.

After my parental leave we decided that I should work part time to avoid long days at pre-school. Working less has also opened up time and energy for me to work on a side project, and writing a book has been on my bucket-list so I thought “why not do it now”? My girlfriend, wonderful as she is, has always been super supportive of my silly ideas.

As the book project has been finishing up, I’ve started working on another cryptocurrency project: a self-hosted payment processor, that allows you to accept payments online without any third-party.

Am I qualified to write about cryptocurrencies? Am I a cryptocurrency expert? I don’t know. I just see myself as an enthusiast who is trying to write down and share my thoughts. Please keep that in mind when you consider any claims I make—I may very well miss something important.