The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking

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 He even attacks academia for continuing to teach such outdated and even invalid economics concepts.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.

Excellent book! A must-read even if you don't care about Bitcoin.The author discusses the foundations of what makes 'sound' money and describes how, over history, we've departed from these foundations, leading to a recurring set of consequences that inevitably end with the downfall of the currency and sometimes of the civilization/country. In particular, I found the history of the Roman currency interesting and telling.Later, the book discusses why gold has historically been a great store of value, and shows hard numbers that prove that it fits the conditions previously described as ideal for sound money. This part of the book feels airtight in its logic.As the author moves on to the era of fiat money, the book helped me understand the significance of Bretton Woods, the Nixon shock, as well as understand how the Keynesian, Monetarist and Austrian school of political economy understand the cycles of capitalism. I had not previously realized that despite the fact that centralized economies are no longer considered sound economic policies, the way that our Central Banks control the interest rate and currency emission is a residue of that kind of thinking. And, in the context of Democratic governments vying for the public's support, this gives Governments a tool that offers immediate short-term relief in exchange for fuzzy long-term pain which most likely will be felt by the next administration. Many of the vices of populist governments are fundamentally exploiting this loophole.The book became less insightful to me in the last 20% as it discusses Bitcoin. The discussion is centered around the properties that make it a suitable sound currency for the future, relating them to the previously established framework. While the conclusions are generally correct, Bitcoin is discussed entirely on an economic level and you won't find many technical details or explanations relating the technical design to its emerging properties.

Great for anyone interested in the past, present, and future of money.Highly recommended !

Well written, logical, readable prose. Excellent summary of what money is and what inflation really is. Clearly he’s explored his Ludwig Mises so he must know something. Problem is China has banned bitcoin. How can a digitial currency liberate a population when its own government makes it a capital crime to transact in it. The last thing we want is central banks adopting bitcoin, we want central banks to be abolishedIve read a great deal about bitcoin and im still not convinced that its anything other than a special digital tokien and purely speculative asset. There are ten thousand digital currencies out there now. At some point there will likly be a shakeout. Some shock will remove the US dollar as the worlds reserve currency . When that happens all the digi coins will prob end up worthless bc some political jurisdiction will tie its currency to good old GOLD again. Making bitcoin irrelevant. For all the excitement and bluster and “this time its different” talk, there are so many aspects to bitcoin that make it unsuited as an actual store of value. For one it has no value as a commodity . You cant fill teeth with bitcoin. You cant use bitcoin as an electrical conductor. Some say, well the distribution network has value. Yes thats possible. It just seems like the whole digital currency crazy is just another artifact of this absolutely insane inflationary environment we find ourselves in where people are convincing themselves that imaginary Digital tolkiens are actually money. Kind of like convincing yourself that a masks stops covid virus particles.

Excellent book. Suitable for any beginner who wishes to sum up every explanatory BTC video for 1 comprehensive book. I recommend this to all my friends and family as a great resource and it came highly recommended from a very knowledgeable and well educated source on the topic.

THE classic and very telling

Absolutely incredible. This book gave me a beautiful lesson on the history of money. Additionally, it explained bitcoin simply where anyone can understand what problem it is solving. Finally, it painted a picture of the future of money.