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dfigurelle's review against another edition
4.0
4.5
Great information, wish I picked up a few years ago
Great information, wish I picked up a few years ago
dontcallmewoody's review against another edition
3.0
This is a much more business focused look at Cryptocurrency than the last book, Digital Gold. The authors are definitely BitCoin evangelists who believe this is going to take off no matter what, but they are still journalists and they temper that view point by showing how it could all amount to nothing.
Very readable. Sometimes dry. Pretty much only for people very interested in the possibilities of Bitcoin.
Very readable. Sometimes dry. Pretty much only for people very interested in the possibilities of Bitcoin.
zosiablue's review against another edition
4.0
I’m fascinated by money and I hate it. It makes for a lot of hate reading, but I can’t pull myself away.
Anyway, I read this because despite being a techie, I was totally ignorant about crypto & blockchain. My husband got into it, so I figured it was time for me to stop ignoring it.
I’m glad I read this. It’s an incredibly detailed and researched rich history of crypto & a deep dive into all possible futures and applications. It was written in 2015, so I did some back and forth between Google and the book to see what still held true.
I love the original premise. And I hate the VCs and billionaire bros who have co-opted it, though this is the only way it has a chance to become mainstream. Like the authors say, there are people in crypto who want to “change the world and make a lot of money doing it” and they don’t see a contradiction.
Regardless, I deeply understand & respect crypto now, which was my goal, so
Anyway, I read this because despite being a techie, I was totally ignorant about crypto & blockchain. My husband got into it, so I figured it was time for me to stop ignoring it.
I’m glad I read this. It’s an incredibly detailed and researched rich history of crypto & a deep dive into all possible futures and applications. It was written in 2015, so I did some back and forth between Google and the book to see what still held true.
I love the original premise. And I hate the VCs and billionaire bros who have co-opted it, though this is the only way it has a chance to become mainstream. Like the authors say, there are people in crypto who want to “change the world and make a lot of money doing it” and they don’t see a contradiction.
Regardless, I deeply understand & respect crypto now, which was my goal, so
indyreadrosa's review against another edition
5.0
Good round up. Hits all the intro to Cryptocurrency stories. Amiable without being breathless. The last chapters attempt to cover what people can build on top of the various blockchain technologies and what gov't could do about it.
annathompson19's review against another edition
3.0
Informative deep dive into the beginnings of Bitcoin, but then takes a turn to the state of the field, which would have been great had I been reading it in 2014 (when it was published). Nonetheless, I thought it was well written and explained, particularly the history of the development of the coin - which is quite a saga. Giving it 3 stars only because it’s a bit obsolete now.
floatsomejetsome's review against another edition
4.0
Very good intro to and history of bitcoin and blockchain, including the basics of how the technology works and potential futures for both bitcoin and the blockchain technology.
blackoxford's review against another edition
4.0
Competing For Trust
Just as light is considered as both a particle and a wave in modern physics, the new forms of exchange that have been developed using the technology of the Internet are both currencies and commodities. This is another way of saying that neither in physics nor economics do we have an adequate description of either light or money, although we might temporise and muddle on regardless.
Surprisingly perhaps, we may be further ahead in developing a unified theory of money thanks to the 'experiments' that have been undertaken over the last two decades that involve so called cryptocurrencies - DigiCash, bit-gold, b-money, hashcash and Bitcoin among many others. What this experience shows is that money isn't really either a 'medium of exchange', that is a special kind of thing which neutrally denominates the value of other sorts of things. Nor is it really a 'store of value' that is a commodity like gold which can from time to time be converted into or even used as currency.
Rather money is in reality 'merely' an entirely symbolic entry in a ledger, that is a system of rights and obligations, that is accepted as accurate and trustworthy in a community. It is the perceived integrity of the ledger that is the essential condition for money to exist. Whether it exists as a currency or a commodity is a secondary consideration at best. If nothing else, this is the manifest lesson of both the successes and failures of bitcoin technology in its most general applications.*
That is the story of this book. And like the best of post-modernist fiction, it is a story without a definitive denouement. No one can predict the ledgers that will be created and trusted. There are good reasons to trust the (still evolving) system of regulated money that is based in banking and governmental control (it works most of the time for most people in the developed world). And there are equally good reasons to mistrust it as well (most of the world is in fact excluded and governments have a natural tendency to abuse their power).
And the same can be said of the new cryptocurrencies (the logical unassailability of distributed blockchain technology doesn't guarantee the integrity of the software which puts this logic into commercial practice nor does it ensure the integrity of the necessary connections - dealers, exchanges, storage facilities etc. - between any cryptocurrency and the rest of the world).
So whatever the outcome, the future of money is going to involve both a system of regulation and a less than free-for-all proliferation of ledgers. Minimally, the competition for trust will be interesting. Let's hope it isn't disastrous as well. To the extent that Goldman Sachs is involved, my hope diminishes.
*Ensuring the integrity of the ledger requires just about every philosophical strategy available in the epistemological playbook. See here for some details: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1679484372
Just as light is considered as both a particle and a wave in modern physics, the new forms of exchange that have been developed using the technology of the Internet are both currencies and commodities. This is another way of saying that neither in physics nor economics do we have an adequate description of either light or money, although we might temporise and muddle on regardless.
Surprisingly perhaps, we may be further ahead in developing a unified theory of money thanks to the 'experiments' that have been undertaken over the last two decades that involve so called cryptocurrencies - DigiCash, bit-gold, b-money, hashcash and Bitcoin among many others. What this experience shows is that money isn't really either a 'medium of exchange', that is a special kind of thing which neutrally denominates the value of other sorts of things. Nor is it really a 'store of value' that is a commodity like gold which can from time to time be converted into or even used as currency.
Rather money is in reality 'merely' an entirely symbolic entry in a ledger, that is a system of rights and obligations, that is accepted as accurate and trustworthy in a community. It is the perceived integrity of the ledger that is the essential condition for money to exist. Whether it exists as a currency or a commodity is a secondary consideration at best. If nothing else, this is the manifest lesson of both the successes and failures of bitcoin technology in its most general applications.*
That is the story of this book. And like the best of post-modernist fiction, it is a story without a definitive denouement. No one can predict the ledgers that will be created and trusted. There are good reasons to trust the (still evolving) system of regulated money that is based in banking and governmental control (it works most of the time for most people in the developed world). And there are equally good reasons to mistrust it as well (most of the world is in fact excluded and governments have a natural tendency to abuse their power).
And the same can be said of the new cryptocurrencies (the logical unassailability of distributed blockchain technology doesn't guarantee the integrity of the software which puts this logic into commercial practice nor does it ensure the integrity of the necessary connections - dealers, exchanges, storage facilities etc. - between any cryptocurrency and the rest of the world).
So whatever the outcome, the future of money is going to involve both a system of regulation and a less than free-for-all proliferation of ledgers. Minimally, the competition for trust will be interesting. Let's hope it isn't disastrous as well. To the extent that Goldman Sachs is involved, my hope diminishes.
*Ensuring the integrity of the ledger requires just about every philosophical strategy available in the epistemological playbook. See here for some details: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1679484372
halfmanhalfbook's review against another edition
2.0
Money supposedly makes the world go round. It doesn’t; that’s physics; but it is the lifeblood of business and the system that controls it, governments, banks, brokers and the other middlemen have made and lost fortunes with it and with that control comes power. Cryptocurrencies might be something that you have heard of, but like most people you are probably unaware how this new form of money is aiming to revolutionise the concept of money.
Bitcoin is probably the best known of these new cryptocurrencies. They are beginning to offer a genuine alternative to regular currencies, allowing people without access to credit and banks a way into global finance. This new money is a peer-to-peer type verified by technologies such as the blockchain and encryption allowing the bypassing of regular money channels. It is not subject to regular laws either, it was extensively used on the Silk Road website for illegal transactions and has gained some notoriety, however it is democratic and anyone can mine the coins to spend how they choose.
It is an interesting book about a new form of cash and whilst the authors do their best to explain it in simple and straightforward terms, it is at time very technical and complex. It is worth reading though, especially if you have an interest in technology or finance; but be prepared to be baffled at times.
Bitcoin is probably the best known of these new cryptocurrencies. They are beginning to offer a genuine alternative to regular currencies, allowing people without access to credit and banks a way into global finance. This new money is a peer-to-peer type verified by technologies such as the blockchain and encryption allowing the bypassing of regular money channels. It is not subject to regular laws either, it was extensively used on the Silk Road website for illegal transactions and has gained some notoriety, however it is democratic and anyone can mine the coins to spend how they choose.
It is an interesting book about a new form of cash and whilst the authors do their best to explain it in simple and straightforward terms, it is at time very technical and complex. It is worth reading though, especially if you have an interest in technology or finance; but be prepared to be baffled at times.