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  • Published: 8 January 2015
  • ISBN: 9781473521155
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 384

Cryptocurrency

How Bitcoin and Digital Money are Challenging the Global Economic Order




1988 saw the birth of the internet. 2008 gave us bitcoin. Today, cybercurrencies are changing the world we live in.

‘If the word ‘blockchain’ makes you want to call a plumber, or you think Satoshi is some kind of raw fish, you need to read Cryptocurrency today. If you're already a bit-convert, you'll still learn a lot’ Niall Ferguson, author of The Ascent of Money
1988 saw the birth of the internet. 2008 gave us bitcoin. Today, cybercurrencies are changing the world we live in. What would a world without banks, credit cards or national currencies look like for all of us?
For centuries, the system that governs how money works has stayed the same. Now there’s an alternative, and it puts us on the cusp of a revolution that could reshape our world. At the heart of this lie, cryptocurrencies, a technology with the transformative potential of the printing press or the internet. They bypass the elites and cut out the gatekeepers. Unlike traditional money, they don’t have a nationality, they’re digital and democratic. They are also lawless.

From Silicon Valley to the streets of Beijing, this is a book about a revolution in the making, a story of human invention, and a guide to the future.

‘Fascinating’ The Times

‘Not only demystifies and explains bitcoin, but shows where it fits into the cultural zeitgeist and where it's pointed, and what that may mean for our financial system’ John Mauldin, New York Times bestselling author

‘I can think of no better guide to what the future holds’ Eswar Prasad, author of The Dollar Trap

  • Published: 8 January 2015
  • ISBN: 9781473521155
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 384

About the authors

Paul Vigna

Paul Vigna is a markets reporter for The Wall Street Journal, covering equities and the economy. He writes for the popular MoneyBeat blog, and is the anchor of the daily, live show of the same name. Before that post, he wrote and edited the Market Talk column for Dow Jones Newswires.

Michael J. Casey

Michael J. Casey is a senior columnist at The Wall Street Journal. Casey’s work has appeared in publications as diverse as Foreign Policy, The Huffington Post, The Far Eastern Economic Review, The Financial Times, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe. He is the author of The Unfair Trade: How Our Broken Financial System Destroys the Middle Class.

Praise for Cryptocurrency

Engaging, lucid, and thought-provoking … I can think of no better guide to what the future holds

Eswar Prasad, author of The Dollar Trap

Not only demystifies and explains bitcoin, but shows where it fits into the cultural zeitgeist and where it's pointed, and what that may mean for our financial system

John Mauldin, New York Times bestselling author

Invaluable ... a fascinating field guide to the phenomenon in which three of the most powerful forces shaping our world today meet - the reform of finance, technological innovation, and the rejection of traditional politics

Felix Martin, author of Money: the Unauthorised Biography

Admirably clear and judicious … If the word ‘blockchain’ makes you want to call a plumber, or you think Satoshi is some kind of raw fish, you need to read Cryptocurrency today. If you're already a bit-convert, you'll still learn a lot

Niall Ferguson, author of The Ascent of Money

Anyone who views bitcoin as a voodoo concept must read this totally comprehensible narrative outlining the history of money and how bitcoin might become a new and better currency. For those confused by Bitcoin concepts this clearheaded and readable book sets forth credible reasons why Bitcoin might or might not be an evolving economic miracle

Arthur Levitt, former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission

Admirable

New Scientist

Fascinating... Vigna and Casey are cautious, though enthusiastic guides to this strange new world... they know how to dig beneath the surface and they also know how to write. The book is full of fascinating stories, from the origins of money... to the Silk Road bust... Somewhere in this world of blockchains and cryptocurrencies lies the seed of the next online revolution- one that brings radical decentralization, autonomous organisations, a cull of brokers and fixers, a new constraint on government and fiat currencies, and a supercharge to the sharing economy

The Times

Fascinating food for thought

Michael Anderson, Western Gazette

Vigna and Casey demystify cryptocurrency – its origins, its function, and what you need to know to navigate a cyber-economy

Money Science

[A] fascinating book

Philip Roscoe, Literary Review

Cryptocurrency provides an accessible introduction to a complex field… The style is journalistic but the content is dense, well researched and extensively documented

David Throsby, The Times Literary Supplement