The Age of Cryptocurrency: How Bitcoin and the Blockchain Are Challenging the Global Economic Order

Couldn't expect much better from MSM writers. After all, the authors are Wall Street Journalists!

good book must read

There are two steps you need to go through in order to understand cryptocurrency.The first thing you have to do is ask yourself a series of questions "what is money?" "What is value?" "What is a payment?" "How does our payment system work?" "How does our money work?" "How does Bitcoin work?" "How well does Bitcoin conform to how we understand money/payments/assets/value as working?" "What are crypto-currency's strengths/weaknesses? And how do these strengths/weaknesses compare to the system we are using now?"It is only once you have taken the time to thoroughly examine these questions that you can move on to the second step and begin to look at the second half of the equation and start talking to the people involved. Here you ask the Bitcoin Fanboys why they like it. You ask the doubters and trolls why they hate it. You ask the critics what they would change. You ask the intellectuals what they are impressed with or what they have doubts about. And all the while you must ask yourself "how objective is the person I am talking to?"Jeffery Robinson's book Bitcon was deeply flawed because he basically skipped over the first part. He created a narrative of opinions without ever asking how objective those viewpoints were. And while he quite correctly divided the crypto currency space up into true believer and doubter, he failed to recognize that those doubters tend to be every bit as fanatical, unbalanced, and uninformed (on the subject) as the cult-like faithful.Vigna & Casey do not fall into this trap. "The age of cryptocurrency" is intelligent, thought provoking, and well researched. This book provides an easy context to understanding this very important technology. Reading this will make you begin to appreciate why many people believe this protocol may change the world of finance in a way similar to how the internet changed communications.The only complaint I have is that sometimes I think they have fallen a little too much under Bitcoin's spell. While they do bring up problems, talk about the scams, thefts, and libertarian/anacho-capitalist fanaticism that a lot of us find so ugly about the space, I'm not entirely sure they spent enough time on these problems. As an example they spend time examining how Bitcoin might help the unbanked without really stressing how the crazy volatility is a serious detriment to this.But I'm nitpicking. If you read this with an open mind you will finish the book informed (even if you still have legitimate doubts). If you come to it with a bias firmly closing your mind (either for or against) then I'm sure you can find something in this book that will let you keep your mind safely closed.

This book is a good introduction to bitcoin. I really didn't know too much about the cryptocurrency and I turned to this based on recommendations that it explained the technology behind bitcoin (blockchain) fairly understandably and handled some of the main economic questions. Overall I found it was a pleasing read at most parts and had its share of pluses and minuses.On the positive side, the book focuses an entire chapter (5) on how the blockchain works and I think the authors did a good job simplifying and explaining this rather complex topic. Understanding the blockchain technology is really best suited to people with a computer science or cryptography background, so having an intermediate text like this is great. Another positive is the extensive history of the start of bitcoin and the early days of progress made to get it used in everyday transactions. It is a very thorough account of many of the startups that have come out of bitcoin and I think that the book offers a great summary to get up to speed.It is also the extensive account of the startups that I didn't like as much. There's a lot and it really jumps around. This discussion really slows down the pace and excitement of learning about this technology, something the earliest chapters focused on. I was hoping for more discussion on the economics of bitcoin, such as how it would handle the complex needs of managing market gyrations, something central banks do around the world to help prevent severe recessions.While reading you quickly begin to see that the dream of bitcoin "replacing" today's currencies is little unrealistic, especially in the decentralized fashion hoped for by its early adopters and promoters. The authors implicitly say as much many times over. The challenges facing the currency though may be overshadowed by the adoption of the underlying technology (blockchain) by all sorts of applications. There's no doubt though that this path is complex. I look forward to reading the book that portrays that history one day. For now, this is a good intro and a history of the young, new technology and I would recommend it for anyone seeking both a description of events and an explanation of how it all works.

This book about cryptocurrency was written by independent journalists, rather than insiders of the emerging industry; offering a somewhat, objective perspective. I have already read several books about cryptocurrency and this book offers some unique attributes. I enjoyed reading about the historical details of the people involved in the early development of Bitcoin. The explanation of the technology was not as clear as the one provided by “The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains”. However, the end of the book explored the future direction of these developments and the impact on society, which I thought was done well (given that the book is now getting a little old with references up until 2015 only).

This book gets five stars from me for this reason – it is very well researched, well-written and well-organized. The book covers the development and history of cryptocurrency and bitcoin, and there’s a survey of its history, including the tension between anarchist free-for-all advocates vs. more traditional finance system advocates. Much of the book is devoted, though, to what might become of cryptocurrency in the future and how it could very well completely change the international financial system. For me personally, the chapter on the introduction of cryptocurrency in developing countries was the most interesting, especially the sudden availability of financial options for women who traditionally have been shut out of money matters. That said, this book really goes into the weeds at times. Having a general knowledge of both domestic and international finances is very helpful at understanding this book. And the book is most definitely not a “how-to” invest in cryptocurrency. Look elsewhere for that. Also the book, first published in 2015, is already a bit dated although still a useful introduction.

The book came with no creases, but it had black ink on the front cover and on the top of the book. While this wasn't a big deal for me personally, as I planned to annotate throughout the book anyway, I was surprised that it came in not perfect condition. The book so far has been a great read.