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.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Wiley, 1st edition (8 Jun. 2018) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 304 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1119473861 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1119473862 |
| Dimensions | 15.75 x 2.79 x 23.11 cm |
by Mr. R. J. Davies
Love this book and it is fast becoming the definitive guide to bitcoin for everyone in the industry.
by Alex
‘The Bitcoin Standard’ is an enjoyable, well-written account of the economic theory and history behind Bitcoin, particularly behind the idea of Bitcoin as ‘digital gold’. Most of the book is devoted to a fairly detailed account of the history of money, as seen from Ammous’s distinctively Austrian School point of view. Whether or not one agrees with this point of view, the historical account is vigorously and entertainingly argued; Ammous is not afraid to call out what he sees as the economic crimes of past and present, particularly with regards to fiat currency, socialist governments, and Keynesian central banking.
Ammous argues that the gold standard was a far superior system to the fiat currency system we have today, and that the ‘Bitcoin standard’ will be its digital reincarnation. While this veneration of the gold standard may seem surprising or implausible to modern readers, Ammous argues his case well, citing the remarkable, indeed almost uninterrupted, economic boom that much of the West enjoyed during the years of the gold standard. This long period of prosperity under the gold standard is contrasted with the depressingly familiar ‘boom and bust’ cycle that has characterised the global economy since the abandonment of the gold standard in favour of the present system of ‘fiat’ currencies.
Having established his theoretical and historical case for why we need ‘sound money’, such as gold, Ammous spends the remainder of the book arguing why Bitcoin, and Bitcoin alone, is suited to perform the function of digital sound money. He argues that none of the alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) can fulfil this function, and that therefore Bitcoin itself should be the focus of any efforts to create a superior alternative to the current currency system. Finally he presents an idea for how Bitcoin could scale to the point of true worldwide use for the whole human population, namely a network of banks issuing currency backed by Bitcoin, thus the ‘Bitcoin Standard’ that gives the book its name.
My main quibble with the book is that Ammous only gives us a cursory explanation of how his long-term vision for Bitcoin as an international settlement currency would work. He states that Bitcoin’s current transaction capacity of approximately 350,000 transactions per day would allow each bank in a network of 850 central banks to perform one final settlement transaction with every other bank in the network per day, and that if each of these banks served 10 million customers this would allow Bitcoin (or at least a central bank derived version of it) to be used by the world’s entire population. Even putting aside the many significant problems that this approach would introduce, such as a return to (semi) trusted third parties and the possibility of these central banks running fractional reserve systems, Ammous never gives us any explanation of how this system would actually work, even in broad terms. For that reason I would rate this book 4.5 out of 5 stars if Amazon allowed such a rating.
With that aside, I would nonetheless very much recommend this book for anyone interested in the economic, monetary, and historical case for Bitcoin as ‘digital gold’. If Ammous’s predictions for the future of Bitcoin and the world monetary system come to pass then it will be not only a highly entertaining and interesting book but an important one too.
by Amazon_reviewer
This was a very good book, with lots of interesting details. I highly recommend you read this book if you are interested in the topic. If you enjoyed this book, I would also recommend these other authors and their books Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon, BBCD Satoshi, Buy Bitcoin You’ll Thank Yourself In The Future, and Andreas Antonopoulos, Mastering Bitcoin Programming the Open Blockchain. I would recommend buying this book as part of your research into banking and money.
by Buy it, read it and gift it
Buy it, read it and gift it
by Rm
Even if you don’t want to invest in bitcoin this book will teach you what government issued money is, it helps you understand why prices go up and why certain things happen and ultimately what a sound money is. In terms of bitcoin it contains the building blocks that everyone needs to understand the subject
by Pier Ferraro
As a Bitcoin maximalist, I found “The Bitcoin Standard” to be an indispensable resource in understanding the fundamental principles behind Bitcoin and its role in the global economy. This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the history of money and the impact of decentralization on financial systems.
The author, Saifedean Ammous, does an exceptional job of breaking down complex concepts in a manner that’s accessible to readers from various backgrounds. His writing style is engaging and thought-provoking, making it easy to follow and digest the information presented.
“The Bitcoin Standard” delves into the advantages of Bitcoin as a sound form of money, emphasizing its scarcity, durability, and resistance to censorship. It also provides valuable insights into the potential implications of Bitcoin adoption for economic growth and financial freedom.
One of the book’s strengths is its thorough examination of historical and contemporary monetary systems. This context allows the reader to appreciate the significance of Bitcoin as a groundbreaking innovation that could reshape our understanding of money and finance.
In conclusion, I highly recommend “The Bitcoin Standard” to anyone interested in Bitcoin, whether they’re a long-time enthusiast or just beginning their journey into the world of cryptocurrency. This book has earned a well-deserved 5-star rating, and I believe it should be considered essential reading for anyone passionate about the potential of Bitcoin to transform the global economy.
by Neil
Overall a really interesting read which clearly lays out the case for Bitcoin as a new currency. However, the book is full of repetitions and is ideologically stacked against Keynes. One can make a point on the merits of sound money, such as Bitcoin, without a 300-page binge thrashing the Keynesian school of thought, while advocating a highly questionable and extreme libertarian view of life.
Further, the book is full of tenuous shortcuts, For example, “unsound money management = extreme loss of life in the wars of the 21 st century. I personally find this view highly questionable. What does one make of technical progress and innovation, which made killing on an industrial scale possible in WWI and WWII? Was that all linked to unsound money policy?
Last but not least, a key question remains unaddressed by the author. Is there any room for fiat currencies if and when a Bitcoin standard is established? Using his example of gold vs all other metal substitutes, he demonstrated how alternatives, such as silver and bronze disappeared over time, as they could not compete against gold as a store of value. It would have been useful to understand where S. Ammous saw the ultimate faith of fiat currencies in a Bitcoin standard world order.
Despite the aforementioned comments, I highly recommend this thought provoking book.