We're excited to present this work to you. A little about us – we both come from the technology sector. Both of us have degrees in computer science and worked in the software development industry for the first 20 years of our respective careers, moving from developers to managers to, ultimately, business owners together. We worked together as partners from 2001 to 2004 and then went our separate ways, although we always kept in touch. The partnership worked and it's a little bit of kismet that we're here together again bringing you this book.

(From Jake) I started angel investing in 2014 and made my blockchain startup investment in 2015. From those 15 angel investments made, I've had four exits and hold one investment that turned into a decacorn. I've worked with two VC accelerator firms, as well as being a strategic advisor for a private equity firm and an advisor to several venture‐backed startups. Although I'm a technologist, my passion has always been investing. I bought my first mutual fund at the age of 15, my first stock at the age of 17, and started trading options at 22. It was in 2016 that I bought my first bitcoin for roughly $475, and that led me to thinking a lot about this new industry. I love crypto, because it's the intersection of tech and finance and I knew it was time. I had the notion to start a crypto hedge fund in 2017, ultimately leading to Tradecraft Capital, which I soft piloted in 2018 and then opened to private investors in 2019. It has been quite a ride. I'm proud of what we've accomplished and prouder to share this work with you. I hope you enjoy it.

(From James) My story starts the same as Jake's but takes a few different turns. It's true that I'm a computer scientist. As a programmer I enjoyed the challenge of developing complex applications and, although my early career was during the rise of the Internet, I really was so focused on my work that I missed the bigger picture as it was unfolding. I missed the forest for the trees, if you will. It was in 2012 while I was growing a Software‐as‐a‐Service company that my lead architect came to me and said, “Jim, I'm going to start bitcoin mining.” I thought he was nuts and was embarking on a fool's errand, and I thought no more of it. Then, in 2016, Jake told me about bitcoin. I didn't really understand it and when I saw the outlandish price of $674 a coin, I was clear that I missed the window, told Jake he too was nuts, and ignored the whole crypto thing. Boy, was I wrong.

After an exit in 2017 I thought to myself, maybe I'm nuts. From there, my journey began. After a few years of traveling from Dubai to Toronto, New York to San Francisco, and everywhere in between, digesting every piece of information I could find, I became convinced. I became an early investor in Tradecraft and was thrilled when Jake asked me to be an advisor and help him shape the Age of Autonomy^® thesis. I knew he was on to something. I also knew that many people were participating in this ecosystem without a real understanding of it or, worse, were ignoring it just as I had. It was then that I made it my goal to educate as many people as I could so that they didn't let this opportunity pass them by. I began with the concept of Crypto Decrypted as a way to educate, which ultimately turned into a monthly blog, and never looked back. I suppose that is what led us here, and why I'm so excited to share this with you. It's been an amazing ride – but from our view, we're still at the very beginning of one of the most exciting technological breakthroughs the world has ever seen.

Our goal is to take a different point of view about crypto and digital assets. Most books talk about the technology of blockchain, but lean heavily into the investment potential of bitcoin and digital assets. Similarly, it seems the majority of articles written focus on tokens or coins and their price. They contain headlines like “bitcoin is up $10,000 this year” or “bitcoin fell to $20,000 from its peak of $68,000.” While we certainly want to highlight the investment potential that digital assets can be, we also want to be sure you understand the technology and innovation that's occurred over the past few decades and the profound impact this will have on society. We're now able to do something we couldn't do before, and that's why blockchain technology is important. That's ultimately why any blockchain‐based digital asset has any value at all.

The purpose of this book is to explain the technological innovation that's occurred and to try and unpack the what, how, and why from a technology viewpoint. Just as the Internet was the backbone of the Age of Telecommunications, blockchain technology is the backbone of a new wave. We hope that after reading this book you'll have a much better understanding of what digital assets are, what crypto and blockchain tech is, and why this breakthrough is so important.

Crypto is a wild ride. The volatility – the change and impact of that change – occurs at breakneck speed. Many events over the past few years have destroyed value and investment by bad actors. Some events have destroyed value because we are still in an experimental phase and the technology is not yet mature. This happens during any technological revolution, as we're in the early stages of this technology adoption cycle. The vision of what we see as possible doesn't yet match what we can actually achieve. But it will.

After reading this book, we hope you have a better understanding of what's going on and why it's so revolutionary.

We hope you enjoy this book; moreover, we hope that by the time you're done with it, you have the same wonder and excitement about this new age that we do. Enjoy!