The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking
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- Create Date：2021-03-29 13:18:14
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Saifedean Ammous
- ISBN：1119473861
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Bitcoin is the newest technology for money—find out how it fits in the future。
Bitcoin is the digital age's novel， decentralized， and automated solution to the problem of money: accessible worldwide， controlled by nobody。 Can this young upstart money challenge the global monetary order？ Economist Saifedean Ammous traces the history of the technologies of money to seashells， limestones， cattle， salt， beads， metals， and government debt， explaining what gave these technologies their monetary role， what makes for sound money， and the benefits of a sound monetary regime to economic growth， innovation， culture， trade， individual freedom， and international peace。
The monetary and historical analysis sets the stage for understanding the mechanics of the operation of Bitcoin， the reasons for its initial success， and the role it could play in an information economy。 Rather than serving as a currency and network for consumer purchases， the author argues Bitcoin is better suited as a store of value and network for settlement between large financial institutions。 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 true importance may just lie in providing a decentralized， neutral， free-market alternative to national central banks。
Bitcoin is the digital age's novel， decentralized， and automated solution to the problem of money: accessible worldwide， controlled by nobody。 Can this young upstart money challenge the global monetary order？ Economist Saifedean Ammous traces the history of the technologies of money to seashells， limestones， cattle， salt， beads， metals， and government debt， explaining what gave these technologies their monetary role， what makes for sound money， and the benefits of a sound monetary regime to economic growth， innovation， culture， trade， individual freedom， and international peace。
The monetary and historical analysis sets the stage for understanding the mechanics of the operation of Bitcoin， the reasons for its initial success， and the role it could play in an information economy。 Rather than serving as a currency and network for consumer purchases， the author argues Bitcoin is better suited as a store of value and network for settlement between large financial institutions。 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 true importance may just lie in providing a decentralized， neutral， free-market alternative to national central banks。
Reviews
David Carpinteiro
，
The book tries to explain the why for money and the monetary system， it's history and based on it why bitcoin is so different from "normal" money。Most of the book talks about the money history and then does a transition to the emergence of bitcoin， how it works and the technology behind it。You wont know everything about bitcoin， it wont give you examples of how to trade， or to mine， bust instead explains what it is， how it works and if it's worth it， all of this in a very theoretical way。Enjoyab The book tries to explain the why for money and the monetary system， it's history and based on it why bitcoin is so different from "normal" money。Most of the book talks about the money history and then does a transition to the emergence of bitcoin， how it works and the technology behind it。You wont know everything about bitcoin， it wont give you examples of how to trade， or to mine， bust instead explains what it is， how it works and if it's worth it， all of this in a very theoretical way。Enjoyable book， especially the history part of the finantial system， but not very easy to read。 。。。more
Tom
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A great book to start your road to understand bitcoin and the blockchain。 It explains the deficiencies of fiat money， controlled by a party that can increase the supply at all times and why a system like Bitcoin breaks free from those shackles and thus delivers value。The power of this book lies in the first and last four chapters。 I found those the most relevant。Even though this book came out in 2018 and many changes have since been made in the world of crypto currencies， it's still a good place A great book to start your road to understand bitcoin and the blockchain。 It explains the deficiencies of fiat money， controlled by a party that can increase the supply at all times and why a system like Bitcoin breaks free from those shackles and thus delivers value。The power of this book lies in the first and last four chapters。 I found those the most relevant。Even though this book came out in 2018 and many changes have since been made in the world of crypto currencies， it's still a good place to understand the background of bitcoin and the blockchain。 So for who's interested in that topic， I'd call it a must-read！ 。。。more
Sanjar Kairosh
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Some interesting parts， but mostly boring。
Kaspar Minosiants
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Shows a good history of money。 From stones to cryptocurrency。 I personally enjoyed of the first part of the book。 It covers pre bitcoin time。 It shows reasons of inflation and how weak money might become without its gold foundation。
Terry Kim
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Wish I read this book in 2018 or did some research about bitcoin earlier。 Most people I meet， dismiss bitcoin as something they don't understand （and they don't try to understand） or as risky （without knowing anything about it）。 This is a great book outlining money and store of value。 It starts from history of currency （from stones to gold） to what it is today and what it could be in the future。Bitcoin is a lot more than a fad， hipster digital cash that millennials are into。 As the book describe Wish I read this book in 2018 or did some research about bitcoin earlier。 Most people I meet， dismiss bitcoin as something they don't understand （and they don't try to understand） or as risky （without knowing anything about it）。 This is a great book outlining money and store of value。 It starts from history of currency （from stones to gold） to what it is today and what it could be in the future。Bitcoin is a lot more than a fad， hipster digital cash that millennials are into。 As the book describes it， it is a direct investment into the future as it cannot be controlled by government and inflation。 It is also unchangeable and you cannot produce more than the set 21 million。 It is secure and here to stay。 Governments can inflate the currency as much as they want by printing money （more relevant with COVID environment）。 So it's interesting seeing Governments banning bitcoin （possibly due to fear of losing control） or coming up with their own crypto （gain back control）。 They most likely already hold decent amount of bitcoin secretly as an insurance。 Most predictions made in this book has already happened。 More and more funds， reputable financial people and companies are recognising the idea of bitcoin。 Next step will be countries coming forward to publicly own bitcoin and possibly change how we all store our wealth。 。。。more
Jeff Pietrzyk
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Great to give friends wanting to know more about Bitcoin。 Everything you need in one place。 Highly recommended for any Bitcoin enthusiast or someone interested in crypto。
Rui Vale Quaresma
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Este é o livro que aconselho para todas as pessoas que tencionam perceber o porquê da Bitcoin vir a ser a próxima "Store of Value" do Mundo。 É o melhor livro （até à data） que resume a história do dinheiro desde dos primórdios até aos dias de hoje。 Este é o livro que aconselho para todas as pessoas que tencionam perceber o porquê da Bitcoin vir a ser a próxima "Store of Value" do Mundo。 É o melhor livro （até à data） que resume a história do dinheiro desde dos primórdios até aos dias de hoje。 。。。more
Pratik Holla
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The book is a pretty good read if you wanted to get a basic understanding of what makes for good monetary policy and the concepts of sound and unsound money。 This is covered in the first 20% of the book The first part of the books gives a great introduction on early forms of money， what made them sound and what made staying on the gold standard worthwhile and how Bitcoin has this trait built in。 The middle 50% of the book however has too much opiniated writing on why Keynesian monetary policy is The book is a pretty good read if you wanted to get a basic understanding of what makes for good monetary policy and the concepts of sound and unsound money。 This is covered in the first 20% of the book The first part of the books gives a great introduction on early forms of money， what made them sound and what made staying on the gold standard worthwhile and how Bitcoin has this trait built in。 The middle 50% of the book however has too much opiniated writing on why Keynesian monetary policy is bad and verges on being more of a rant rather than a thoughtful analysis as to why since going off the gold standard， monetary inflation is the norm。 The final 30%， the author gets back on track and shows how Bitcoin can help alleviate the issues with Government controlled money and how the unique properties of the coin has helped it grow for the past decade。 If you know nothing about how bitcoin works， this part of the book provides a very good analysis on its functioning and also what makes the coin superior to other coin offers as most of those offerings have a backer which defeats the purpose of a decentralized coin that nobody owns or fully controls from a policy perspective。 。。。more
Chris Joseph
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Interesting first chapters on the history of money。Then it moves into mind numbing and unconvincing middle part of the book that debates economic theory at nauseum。 Skim or skip that part or you likely won't finish the book 。 Last part of the book explaining the different aspects of Bitcoin was interesting。 Interesting first chapters on the history of money。Then it moves into mind numbing and unconvincing middle part of the book that debates economic theory at nauseum。 Skim or skip that part or you likely won't finish the book 。 Last part of the book explaining the different aspects of Bitcoin was interesting。 。。。more
Tommy Ajayi
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This is a financial bible 。。。。 check it ou
David
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It's unfortunate that many will bypass this book because they think it is just about bitcoin。 This is probably why Saifedean is writing a sequel called "The Fiat Standard"。This book is a fascinating account of the history， philosophy and role of money。Saifedean's revisionist economics and disdain for Keynes may not be to everyone's liking but is still worth hearing out。If you still have doubts about Bitcoin and think it's just some electronic fantasy token， this book connects the dots to place B It's unfortunate that many will bypass this book because they think it is just about bitcoin。 This is probably why Saifedean is writing a sequel called "The Fiat Standard"。This book is a fascinating account of the history， philosophy and role of money。Saifedean's revisionist economics and disdain for Keynes may not be to everyone's liking but is still worth hearing out。If you still have doubts about Bitcoin and think it's just some electronic fantasy token， this book connects the dots to place Bitcoin's story squarely within the concept of sound hard money。Saifedean is a bit too Bitcoin maximalist for my taste as some of his comments and criticisms have not aged well。 Bitcoin may be sound money， but today， almost all of DeFi （Decentralized Finance） applications are built on Ethereum。 。。。more
Edward Kuruliouk
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Going into this book I assumed I was in for a treatise on Bitcoin， blockchain and the future potential for disruption by the underlying technology。 I did get some of this in the third section， but what I got in the first section which was far more interesting is a lesson in the history of money。 Absolutely brilliant start and ending。 The second section however， ruined the entire experience。 Sandwiched in between the history of money and the future of technology， Ammous decides to attack the econ Going into this book I assumed I was in for a treatise on Bitcoin， blockchain and the future potential for disruption by the underlying technology。 I did get some of this in the third section， but what I got in the first section which was far more interesting is a lesson in the history of money。 Absolutely brilliant start and ending。 The second section however， ruined the entire experience。 Sandwiched in between the history of money and the future of technology， Ammous decides to attack the economic infrastructure of the present in what is tantamount to an angry rant。 The most frustrating thing about the second section is that I agree with most of what Ammous is saying， but this sort of digression deserves no place in a published work and my aligned opinion made it even more frustrating。 Ultimately， the existence of this section greatly diminishes the value of this book， to the point that I don't think the time and dollar investment required to get through it exceeds the value of the experience or knowledge gained。 I suppose if you get the audiobook it would be worth a listen， but you can find youtube videos about the history of money and the future of blockchain every bit as informative as sections 1/3 without the twitter rant in book form that is section 2， for free。 。。。more
Savin Stefanov
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Полезна книга， изискваща съсредоточаване。 Частите с техническото обяснение за/д биткойн， както и ролята на парите， така инсторически са супер。 Дразнещо е перманентното плюене по Кейнс като антипод на явно единствената права икономическа школа - австрийската。 А и аз не одобрявам принципно Кейнс。 Разбира се без особени аргументи в книгата。 Неразбираемо е оплюването на всяка фирма на култура различна от класическата и по- точни незаплатената в злато， ха- ха。 Неразбираемо е и отсъствието в книга с п Полезна книга， изискваща съсредоточаване。 Частите с техническото обяснение за/д биткойн， както и ролята на парите， така инсторически са супер。 Дразнещо е перманентното плюене по Кейнс като антипод на явно единствената права икономическа школа - австрийската。 А и аз не одобрявам принципно Кейнс。 Разбира се без особени аргументи в книгата。 Неразбираемо е оплюването на всяка фирма на култура различна от класическата и по- точни незаплатената в злато， ха- ха。 Неразбираемо е и отсъствието в книга с подобна корична цена на оригиналния предговор на Талеб， като вместо него е сложен предховора на човека искал много да издаде книгата。 。。。more
Marlene Seljeskog Østebø
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Veldig god bok og en god forklaring og utdypning av Bitcoin og cryptocurrency。 For meg som har null peiling på sånt， forklarte denne det veldig enkelt， med gode og relaterbare eksempler。
Joel Schaefer
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A very good introduction to Bitcoin and why it is being used as a store of value。 The history of money portion was well written and provided real insight to how we think about money。 I was not convinced by a number of the authors arguments in the middle of the book。 The conclusion gave insight into how Bitcoin was built on the backbone of the blockchain and how it functions。 A must read for anyone looking to develop an understanding of crypto currencies。
Chris Scott
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Great review of the history of money， from inception to current day。
Tom Firens
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Mandatory for anyone interested in what money is。
Ercavallero
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En clara referencia al patrón oro， el autor presenta al nuevo dinero que está destinado a remplazar y mejorar al oro como reserva de valor y， quizás con dificultades， como método de transacción。Además de describir el funcionamiento e implicaciones del oro digital， se presenta la historia monetaria de la humanidad a lo largo de los siglos para comprender la transcendencia y la conveniencia del uso de Bitcoin， el nuevo enemigo de los bancos centrales y los Estados， que van a ver aminorado su poder En clara referencia al patrón oro， el autor presenta al nuevo dinero que está destinado a remplazar y mejorar al oro como reserva de valor y， quizás con dificultades， como método de transacción。Además de describir el funcionamiento e implicaciones del oro digital， se presenta la historia monetaria de la humanidad a lo largo de los siglos para comprender la transcendencia y la conveniencia del uso de Bitcoin， el nuevo enemigo de los bancos centrales y los Estados， que van a ver aminorado su poder de extracción de riqueza a la población。Un libro necesario para tener una correcta toma de contacto con Bitcoin。 。。。more
Nicolás Laurito
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The first three quarters of the book are dedicated to the history of money and currency。 I found this to be a really insightful analysis on the relevance of bitcoin for the near future。
Juan Avedillo
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Great first part， bad middle part and good end part
Sarah Barcomb
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No matter your level of financial literacy or interest - you should read this
Norent Khy
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This is a well-written book which uses examples of tremendous clarity to explain what money is to humans。 It became extremely clear to me how printing money affects the money in our own possession。I absolutely recommend at least skimming through it if you get the chance。This book taught me a lot about money:- how it developed in the past，- how major historical events were tied to money （in both directions），- how it works these days，- why bitcoin is actual money。Besides that， it also gives a very This is a well-written book which uses examples of tremendous clarity to explain what money is to humans。 It became extremely clear to me how printing money affects the money in our own possession。I absolutely recommend at least skimming through it if you get the chance。This book taught me a lot about money:- how it developed in the past，- how major historical events were tied to money （in both directions），- how it works these days，- why bitcoin is actual money。Besides that， it also gives a very fair explanation:- why Bitcoin is valued so much。- why other alt coins are not valued so much。Note that the author gets a bit lost in his fixation on the enemy of his ideology。However， this might have made bitcoin's properties even clearer。It might be good to skim the parts that feel like an unrelenting rant。 。。。more
Jo
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I wish i read this years ago
Henry
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If you've invested in Bitcoin then you must invest the time to read this book。 Essential read for anyone learning the fundamentals of this special crypto。 If you've invested in Bitcoin then you must invest the time to read this book。 Essential read for anyone learning the fundamentals of this special crypto。 。。。more
Dalton Sweeney
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Completely unnecessary diatribe against modernity in the middle of the book。 Criticizing modern art？ Not really applicable to a discussion about Bitcoin and very far fetched to assert that unsound money led to current artistic trends。。。 The section of the book on Bitcoin criticisms is the only one worth reading
Ciarán Murray
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Really good book if you're interested in how Bitcoin is posed to be a new holder of wealth。 In the book， the author spends a majority of his time talking about banking before bitcoin i。e。 gold， silver and copper as currency and later a store of wealth。 I definitely believe that Bitcoin will be the next gold （in parallel not replace） but will not be a currency due to the limitations set out in the books （ledger size， frequency etc）。 Really good book if you're interested in how Bitcoin is posed to be a new holder of wealth。 In the book， the author spends a majority of his time talking about banking before bitcoin i。e。 gold， silver and copper as currency and later a store of wealth。 I definitely believe that Bitcoin will be the next gold （in parallel not replace） but will not be a currency due to the limitations set out in the books （ledger size， frequency etc）。 。。。more
Lucas Miracca
，
This book is fenomenal。 I absolutely recommend this to anyone who’s interested in understanding why Bitcoin is likely to keep growing， and all the benefits from it。 The book starts with a bit of history and economics， to open the reader’s mind about what’s this all about。I would recommend this to anyone
Jimmy
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This book starts with a history of money， this was a really fascinating to me。 It did a great job of introducing the concept of sound money and the pitfalls to inflating the supply。I found the middle of the book hard going， it's subject is mostly the shortcomings of fiat currency and it's just very dry。 The writing feels a little all over the place with lots of repetition， it feels like it could have been edited down considerably。 I got really bored of the frequent attacks on 'Keynes'， it's clea This book starts with a history of money， this was a really fascinating to me。 It did a great job of introducing the concept of sound money and the pitfalls to inflating the supply。I found the middle of the book hard going， it's subject is mostly the shortcomings of fiat currency and it's just very dry。 The writing feels a little all over the place with lots of repetition， it feels like it could have been edited down considerably。 I got really bored of the frequent attacks on 'Keynes'， it's clear the author has a strong disliking of the guy and his economics， but he didn't need to dedicate paragraphs on every other page to convincing us of it。 I found myself skimming these sections until the author regained focus and got back on track。 This combined with the not very interesting subject of those middle chapters is why I've dropped two stars from this review。The good news is the last 2-3 chapters are great， the book about bitcoin actually starts talking about bitcoin！ It nicely brings around the concepts that the earlier chapters has been about （soundness， sovereignty etc） and highlights why bitcoin is such a good candidate for money。 I don't take such a pessimistic view on all alt coins or blockchain technologies for uses other than bitcoin， however the author does raise some good arguments against them。Overall a very interesting book， but not without a few shortcomings。 。。。more
Ronson Raymond
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This is a marketing/propaganda book by crypto bros who think their little internet currencies will overthrow governments and rule the world。。。 Spoiler alert: They won’t
Xavi
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