The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking

Great book with just facts about bitcoin and how it compares to fiat money , full of historical references and data

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!

The author spends nearly the first half of the book reviewing early units of account-currencies- throughout history and among different cultures and civilizations. He focuses on the gold standard as having been the one and only stable unit of account on which currencies should be based or backed and as a store of value. This lengthy introduction serves as an excellent Segway into making the point that bitcoin is the new gold. Even better than gold simply bc of its scarcity and transparency. Through the book, the author makes no secret of his distrust and even despise of economists like Kaynes, Fisher and Freedman. He goes as far as accusing them of not having proper grasp of economics. He even attacks academia for continuing to teach such outdated and even invalid economics concepts. The author keeps referring to the terms sound money and unsound money as references to good based currencies vs giver employment generated fiat currencies.Overall, an excellent read not just about bitcoin but rather about basic economics in general. Highly recommended.

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.