The Bitcoin Standard

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.

Autorentext

SAIFEDEAN AMMOUS, PHD, is a Professor of Economics at the Lebanese American University, and member of the Center on Capitalism and Society at Columbia University.

Klappentext
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BITCOIN'S HISTORY, PROPERTIES, USES, AND FUTURE "Bitcoin has no owner, no authority that can decide on its fate. It is owned by the crowd, its users. And it now has a track record of several years, enough for it to be an animal in its own right. Its mere existence is an insurance policy that will remind governments that the last object the establishment could control, namely, the currency, is no longer their monopoly. This gives us, the crowd, an insurance policy against an Orwellian future." From the Foreword by Nassim Nicholas Taleb In The Bitcoin Standard, economist Saifedean Ammous walks readers through the fascinating history of the technologies of money and explores what gave these technologies their monetary role, how they lost it, what that teaches us about the desirable features of money, and how Bitcoin is designed to improve on these technologies. Ammous elucidates the economic, social, cultural, and political benefits of sound money over unsound money to allow for an informed discussion of the potential role Bitcoin could play in the digital economy of the future. Rather than as a currency for criminals or a cheap mass consumer payment network, this book argues Bitcoin is emerging as a decentralized, politically neutral, free-market alternative to national central banks, with potentially enormous implications for individual freedom and prosperity. For anyone looking for a clear understanding of this new digital money, The Bitcoin Standard is the essential resource.

Inhalt
About the Author xi

Foreword xiii

Prologue xv

Chapter 1 Money 1

Chapter 2 Primitive Moneys 11

Chapter 3 Monetary Metals 17

Why Gold? 19

Roman Golden Age and Decline 25

Byzantium and the Bezant 28

The Renaissance 29

La Belle Époque 34

Chapter 4 Government Money 41

Monetary Nationalism and the End of the Free World 43

The Interwar Era 47

World War II and Bretton Woods 53

Government Money's Track Record 60

Chapter 5 Money and Time Preference 73

Monetary Inflation 81

Saving and Capital Accumulation 90

Innovations: Zero to One versus One to Many 96

Artistic Flourishing 98

Chapter 6 Capitalism's Information System 105

Capital Market Socialism 109

Business Cycles and Financial Crises 113

Sound Basis for Trade 126

Chapter 7 Sound Money and Individual Freedom 135

Should Government Manage the Money Supply? 136

Unsound Money and Perpetual War 145

Limited versus Omnipotent Government 149

The Bezzle 155

Chapter 8 Digital Money 167

Bitcoin as Digital Cash 168

Supply, Value, and Transactions 177

Appendix to Chapter 8 191

Chapter 9 What Is Bitcoin Good For? 193

Store of Value 193

Individual Sovereignty 200

International and Online Settlement 205

Global Unit of Account 212

Chapter 10 Bitcoin Questions 217

Is Bitcoin Mining a Waste? 217

Out of Control: Why Nobody Can Change Bitcoin 222

Antifragility 230

Can Bitcoin Scale? 232

Is Bitcoin for Criminals? 238

How to Kill Bitcoin: A Beginners' Guide 241

Altcoins 251

Blockchain Technology 257

Acknowledgements 273

Bibliography 275

List of Figures 282

List of Tables 284

Index 285