The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking
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A comprehensive and authoritative exploration of Bitcoin and its place in monetary history
When a pseudonymous programmer introduced “a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party” to a small online mailing list in 2008, very few people paid attention. Ten years later, and against all odds, this upstart autonomous decentralized software offers an unstoppable and globally accessible hard money alternative to modern central banks. The Bitcoin Standard analyzes the historical context to the rise of Bitcoin, the economic properties that have allowed it to grow quickly, and its likely economic, political, and social implications.
While Bitcoin is an invention of the digital age, the problem it purports to solve is as old as human society itself: transferring value across time and space. Author Saifedean Ammous takes the reader on an engaging journey through the history of technologies performing the functions of money, from primitive systems of trading limestones and seashells, to metals, coins, the gold standard, and modern government debt. Exploring what gave these technologies their monetary role, and how most lost it, provides the reader with a good idea of what makes for sound money, and sets the stage for an economic discussion of its consequences for individual and societal future-orientation, capital accumulation, trade, peace, culture, and art. Compellingly, Ammous shows that it is no coincidence that the loftiest achievements of humanity have come in societies enjoying the benefits of sound monetary regimes, nor is it coincidental that monetary collapse has usually accompanied civilizational collapse.
With this background in place, the book moves on to explain the operation of Bitcoin in a functional and intuitive way. Bitcoin is a decentralized, distributed piece of software that converts electricity and processing power into indisputably accurate records, thus allowing its users to utilize the Internet to perform the traditional functions of money without having to rely on, or trust, any authorities or infrastructure in the physical world. Bitcoin is thus best understood as the first successfully implemented form of digital cash and digital hard money. With an automated and perfectly predictable monetary policy, and the ability to perform final settlement of large sums across the world in a matter of minutes, Bitcoin’s real competitive edge might just be as a store of value and network for the final settlement of large payments―a digital form of gold with a built-in settlement infrastructure.
Ammous’ firm grasp of the technological possibilities as well as the historical realities of monetary evolution provides for a fascinating exploration of the ramifications of voluntary free market money. As it challenges the most sacred of government monopolies, Bitcoin shifts the pendulum of sovereignty away from governments in favor of individuals, offering us the tantalizing possibility of a world where money is fully extricated from politics and unrestrained by borders.
The final chapter of the book explores some of the most common questions surrounding Bitcoin: Is Bitcoin mining a waste of energy? Is Bitcoin for criminals? Who controls Bitcoin, and can they change it if they please? How can Bitcoin be killed? And what to make of all the thousands of Bitcoin knockoffs, and the many supposed applications of Bitcoin’s ‘block chain technology’? The Bitcoin Standard is the essential resource for a clear understanding of the rise of the Internet’s decentralized, apolitical, free-market alternative to national central banks.
From the Publisher
Publisher : Wiley
Publication date : April 24, 2018
Edition : 1st
Language : English
Print length : 304 pages
ISBN-10 : 1119473861
ISBN-13 : 978-1119473862
Item Weight : 1.06 pounds
Dimensions : 6.2 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #7,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1 in E-Commerce (Books) #1 in Money & Monetary Policy (Books) #2 in Bitcoin & Cryptocurrencies
Customer Reviews: 4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars (8,390) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
9 reviews for The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking
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Original price was: $30.95.$22.26Current price is: $22.26.
Sherkhan Khan –
Excellent book & worth the time to understand Bitcoin & basic monetary principles.
Excellent book! Very well written, very concise. Well cited with strong arguments.
MBS –
Brain Upgraded to the ‘Satoshi Standard’
Before reading The Bitcoin Standard, my understanding of money was pretty basic: you earn it, you spend it, and sometimes the number in your bank account goes up or down seemingly at random. Bitcoin? That was just that confusing internet money thing people argued about online.Saifedean Ammous didn’t just explain Bitcoin; he took me on a journey through the history of money itself, from primitive seashells to gold standards to the current fiat system. And let me tell you, that journey is eye-opening. He makes a compelling case for why Bitcoin isn’t just another digital fad, but a potential paradigm shift in how we think about value, scarcity, and freedom from centralized control.This book is incredibly well-researched and argued. Ammous has a knack for explaining complex economic concepts in a way that’s both rigorous and surprisingly readable. It’s not just for the crypto-bros; it’s for anyone who’s ever wondered why prices keep going up, or what gives money its value in the first place.Reading this book felt like getting a fundamental upgrade to my understanding of the world’s financial plumbing. It challenged my assumptions and gave me a completely new perspective on economics and technology.If you want to move beyond the headlines and understand the fundamental principles behind Bitcoin and why it matters, The Bitcoin Standard is an essential read. It’s insightful, thought-provoking, and might just change the way you view money forever. Highly, highly recommended!
A S –
Probably the most important book of my generation
This book was very helpful to me and I highly recommend. Bitcoin is admittedly an extremely obscure and abstract concept, but once understood, is almost unfathomably enlightening. When one looks at the world around them and sees all the ills and craziness, it’s often possible to trace the underlying issue back to a bad incentives created by bad money. This bad money regime is enabled by an ever-present, yet often unseen, handful of individuals who single-handedly possess the ability to take from some to give to others (often in the form of taking from those on the margin and giving to those whose needs are already met). This book is in laymen’s terms and is suitable for most everyone, regardless of prior experience with finance, money or business. The book answers a question most have never thought to ponder, “What is money, exactly?”. The book provides a great overview of the history of money, lays out the characteristics that make for both good and bad money and finishes with an overview of how Bitcoin was created as a potential solution to some of the negative aspects present in today’s fiat money system. Lastly, the book concludes with a balanced pros/cons discussion and highlights potential scenarios that would lead to both Bitcoin working and not working. Though it sounds hyperbole, this book completely changed the way I view money, finance, business, free markets and the world as a whole. Bitcoin provides a plausible avenue to a better world. As the quip from the famous Charlie Munger ironically goes, “show me the incentive, I’ll show you the outcome”. Bitcoin represents a paradigm shift and realignment in the underlying incentive structure driving outcomes in the world we live in. Cheers and I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.
Nathan –
Read this to start understanding bitcoin and associated technology
This book is is a fantastic read for those interested in bitcoin (and blockchain which the author outlines how and why they are synonymous.)This is the most complete and accurate summary of the necessary information to know and understand about this technology, and will help immensely the conscious reader wade through a lot of the superfluous articles surrounding the topic. Saifedean Ammous presents the topic plainly pulling from economic theory, historical context, and technological development/engineering practice providing enough of each to address the use of bitcoin as a new standard of currency. Truly a difficult task, and the author clearly has done a lot of due diligence above and beyond his credentials as a economics professor to bring all these topics together. He is also an effective communicator dispensing of jargon and providing as much background as can reasonably done in a ~300 page publication.Unfortunately since this topic is so vast it is a requirement that the reader come to this book with at least a basic (100s from university level) understanding in macro economics. And at least conceptually a decent comfort with personal computing and networks. If not from development use of tools such as bitcoin wallets, p2p networking/file sharing, cryptographic computer implementations etc. At least again from a university 100s of CS. (Both of which can be learned online for free or nearly so with a PC internet and free time.)The target audience probably is to this point but if the author listed them as prerequisites that could be helpful. But again it may be the assumption that those interested can find this knowledge for themselves and is certainly out scope of this book and it’s intent.In any case this book is a gift to the world and a must read.
edoardo –
The author has very extreme opinions. He claimed that abandoning the gold standard was the root cause of all problems including the number of death of the 1st and 2nd world war. He portraits Keynes as an ignorant wannabe economist with questionable moral values and sexual preferences. And he does not save Milton Friedman too. He calls Mark Rothko’s work “trash” because it takes few hours to paint his works but they are valued millions on the market. So be ready to frown an eyebrow every couple of pages. Other than that the book is thought-provoking so it worth the reading. Even if it could have been at least 50% shorter since he repeats the same concept for 9 chapters out of 10.
Abhinav –
Such an easy read. Makes money simple for commoners. Once you read this, you can’t go back to trusting fiat
Juan –
Bitcoin to the moon!
Rozzi’s –
Great read! Recommend to anyone starting their journey into understanding Money and thus Bitcoin’s value proposition. The technology era will only survive and thrive with a currency that is unique and positioned to travel over the internet at the speed of the internet with unique verifiable digital signatures. My perspective has changed about Bitcoin and Money after reading this. Recommended literature for your collection.
Chris J –
An absolute must read for people interested in free markets and monetary policy. Even for people with no prior interest, this book will open your eyes to how governments impoverish their citizens (while increasing the wealth of a few) by continuously printing money, and actually have little idea what they are doing. The difference between hard and soft money, time preference etc. and how these have affected the prosperity of civilizations in the past is amazing. Now we live in a world obsessed with consumption and continuous growth. People have stopped saving. But it is saving which creates capital and prosperity. This book explains beautifully how Bitcoin fixes this. 日本語版は、まだ出版されていませんが、来年に出るようです。日本の友達などにあげるのを楽しみにしています。