The Promise of Bitcoin: The Future of Money and How It Can Work for You

The Promise of Bitcoin: The Future of Money and How It Can Work for You
Author: Bobby C. Lee
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2021-05-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1260468682

WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER From the cofounder of the longest-running Bitcoin exchange comes a compelling argument for how this digital currency will transform the global economy—and how it can work for you. A financial revolution is materializing before our eyes. The way individuals, organizations, and governments conduct transactions—from purchasing a book online to acquiring major corporations to delivering billions in financial aid—will look vastly different in the near future. Bitcoin is spearheading this revolution and may be the best investment opportunity of our time, yet most people have yet to understand its promise. In this book, Bobby C. Lee, one of the earliest, most successful pioneers in the cryptocurrency space, debunks myths and dispels fears that surround Bitcoin, arguing that this rational, logical system is superior to traditional monetary systems. He cites signs of Bitcoin’s widening acceptance: a growing community of users worldwide and multiple initiatives for investing in and holding bitcoin among major financial services organizations and institutional investors who control trillions in assets. Lee offers a primer on the best strategies for investing in this digital currency, the value of which will only continue to grow. He discusses the pros and cons, and covers the complicated yet more profitable method of acquiring bitcoin, mining. He offers predictions for the future, including price, trajectory, use, and participation in the larger economy—as well as developments in regulation, technology, business, and society. Invest in the promise of Bitcoin today.

The Future of Money

The Future of Money
Author: Eswar S. Prasad
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 497
Release: 2021-09-28
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0674258444

A cutting-edge look at how accelerating financial change, from the end of cash to the rise of cryptocurrencies, will transform economies for better and worse. We think weÕve seen financial innovation. We bank from laptops and buy coffee with the wave of a phone. But these are minor miracles compared with the dizzying experiments now underway around the globe, as businesses and governments alike embrace the possibilities of new financial technologies. As Eswar Prasad explains, the world of finance is at the threshold of major disruption that will affect corporations, bankers, states, and indeed all of us. The transformation of money will fundamentally rewrite how ordinary people live. Above all, Prasad foresees the end of physical cash. The driving force wonÕt be phones or credit cards but rather central banks, spurred by the emergence of cryptocurrencies to develop their own, more stable digital currencies. Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies themselves will evolve unpredictably as global corporations like Facebook and Amazon join the game. The changes will be accompanied by snowballing innovations that are reshaping finance and have already begun to revolutionize how we invest, trade, insure, and manage risk. Prasad shows how these and other changes will redefine the very concept of money, unbundling its traditional functions as a unit of account, medium of exchange, and store of value. The promise lies in greater efficiency and flexibility, increased sensitivity to the needs of diverse consumers, and improved market access for the unbanked. The risk is instability, lack of accountability, and erosion of privacy. A lucid, visionary work, The Future of Money shows how to maximize the best and guard against the worst of what is to come.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin
Author: Jose Pagliery
Publisher: Triumph Books
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2014-09-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1623689198

Bitcoin first appeared in 2009, and it's already challenging everything we've come to accept about money, financial institutions, and even government. The digital currency can be nearly anonymous. And it can be traded internationally—without the fees, government regulation, and bank oversight of paper money. But Bitcoin is still risky. Its value fluctuates wildly. More than $400 billion of it disappeared overnight with the fall of a single trading exchange. How is that possible? And why is it so popular? CNNMoney reporter Jose Pagliery explains it all. He details the digital currency's mysterious origins. He explores the dark side of Bitcoin: a world of drugs and assassins for hire. And he examines the economic impact of this revolutionary concept through interviews with pensive economists, wary bank regulators, and free market proponents such as Ron Paul. Bitcoin: And the Future of Money explains how it works and why it matters. The book is essential reading for anyone looking to understand a financial innovation that will forever change how we think about money.

CryptoDad

CryptoDad
Author: J. Christopher Giancarlo
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 431
Release: 2021-10-26
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 111985508X

An insider's account of the rise of digital money and cryptocurrencies Dubbed "CryptoDad" for his impassioned plea to Congress to acknowledge and respect cryptocurrencies as the inevitable product of a fast-growing technological wave and a free marketplace, Chris Giancarlo is considered one of "the most influential individuals in financial regulation." CryptoDad: The Fight for the Future of Money describes Giancarlo’s own reckoning with the future of the global economy—at the intersection of markets, technology, and public policy—and lays out the fight for a Digital Dollar. CryptoDad is Giancarlo's own personal story, detailing his forays into the world of Wall Street to his tenure as the 13th Chairman of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), where he pushed for the agency to recognize the digitization of markets. His growing fame as a Twitter presence in this essential debate has given Giancarlo a platform to makes a case for the future of cryptocurrencies as the natural successor to America’s current failing financial market infrastructure. CryptoDad provides readers with: A thorough exploration of digital change and how it affects the lives of everyone in a global economy A revolutionary consideration of regulatory responses to the rapid pace of technological innovation A call to update our aging financial organizations, particularly the infrastructure of money itself, and focus on renewed faith and confidence in free market innovation A foreword by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, two of the biggest names in cryptocurrencies CryptoDad argues that the next digital wave will be the coming Internet of Value, where cryptocurrencies will do the Internet of Information did to immaterial things: make them accessible, distributable, and movable instantly across the globe. This book is an ideal introduction to the importance of technology in the marketplace.

How Money Got Free

How Money Got Free
Author: Brian Patrick Eha
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 367
Release: 2017-04-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1780746598

In the space of a few years, Bitcoin has gone from an idea ignored or maligned by almost everyone to an asset with a market cap of more than $12 billion. Venture capital firms, Goldman Sachs, the New York Stock Exchange, and billionaires such as Richard Branson and Peter Thiel have invested more than $1 billion in companies built on this groundbreaking technology. Bill Gates has even declared it ‘better than currency’. The pioneers of Bitcoin were twenty-first-century outlaws – cryptographers, hackers, Free Staters, ex-cons and drug dealers, teenage futurists and self-taught entrepreneurs – armed with a renegade ideology and a grudge against big government and big banks. Now those same institutions are threatening to co-opt or curtail the impact of digital currency. But the pioneers, some of whom have become millionaires themselves, aren’t going down without a fight. Sweeping and provocative, How Money Got Free reveals how this disruptive technology is shaping the debate around competing ideas of money and liberty, and what that means for our future.

Learning Bitcoin

Learning Bitcoin
Author: Richard Caetano
Publisher: Packt Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2015-10-30
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1785286153

Embrace the new world of fiance by leveraging the power of crypto-currencies using Bitcoin and the Blockchain About This Book Set up your own wallet, buy and sell Bitcoin, and execute custom transactions on the Blockchain Leverage the power of Bitcoin to reduce transaction costs and eliminate fraud A practical step-by-step guide to break down the Bitcoin technology to ensure safe transactions Who This Book Is For If you are familiar with online banking and want to expand your finances into a resilient and transparent currency, this book is ideal for you. A basic understanding of online wallets and financial systems will be highly beneficial to unravel the mysteries of Bitcoin. What You Will Learn Set up your wallet and buy a Bitcoin in a flash while understanding the basics of addresses and transactions Acquire the knack of buying, selling, and trading Bitcoins with online marketplaces Secure and protect your Bitcoins from online theft using Brainwallets and cold storage Understand how Bitcoin's underlying technology, the Blockchain, works with simple illustrations and explanations Configure your own Bitcoin node and execute common operations on the network Discover various aspects of mining Bitcoin and how to set up your own mining rig Dive deeper into Bitcoin and write scripts and multi-signature transactions on the network Explore the various alt-coins and get to know how to compare them and their value In Detail The financial crisis of 2008 raised attention to the need for transparency and accountability in the financial world. As banks and governments were scrambling to stay solvent while seeking a sustainable plan, a powerfully new and resilient technology emerged. Bitcoin, built on a fundamentally new technology called “The Blockchain,” offered the promise of a new financial system where transactions are sent directly between two parties without the need for central control. Bitcoin exists as an open and transparent financial system without banks, governments, or corporate support. Simply put, Bitcoin is “programmable money” that has the potential to change the world on the same scale as the Internet itself. This book arms you with immense knowledge of Bitcoin and helps you implement the technology in your money matters, enabling secure transactions. We first walk through the fundamentals of Bitcoin, illustrate how the technology works, and exemplify how to interact with this powerful and new financial technology. You will learn how to set up your online Bitcoin wallet, indulge in buying and selling of bitcoins, and manage their storage. We then get to grips with the most powerful algorithm of all times: the Blockchain, and learn how crypto-currencies can reduce the risk of fraud for e-commerce merchants and consumers. With a solid base of Blockchain, you will write and execute your own custom transactions. Most importantly, you will be able to protect and secure your Bitcoin with the help of effective solutions provided in the book. Packed with plenty of screenshots, Learning Bitcoin is a simple and painless guide to working with Bitcoin. Style and approach This is an easy-to-follow guide to working with Bitcoin and the Blockchain technology. This book is ideal for anyone who wants to learn the basics of Bitcoin and explore how to set up their own transactions.

Money

Money
Author: Jacob Goldstein
Publisher: Hachette Books
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2020-09-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0316417181

The co-host of the popular NPR podcast Planet Money provides a well-researched, entertaining, somewhat irreverent look at how money is a made-up thing that has evolved over time to suit humanity's changing needs. Money only works because we all agree to believe in it. In Money, Jacob Goldstein shows how money is a useful fiction that has shaped societies for thousands of years, from the rise of coins in ancient Greece to the first stock market in Amsterdam to the emergence of shadow banking in the 21st century. At the heart of the story are the fringe thinkers and world leaders who reimagined money. Kublai Khan, the Mongol emperor, created paper money backed by nothing, centuries before it appeared in the west. John Law, a professional gambler and convicted murderer, brought modern money to France (and destroyed the country's economy). The cypherpunks, a group of radical libertarian computer programmers, paved the way for bitcoin. One thing they all realized: what counts as money (and what doesn't) is the result of choices we make, and those choices have a profound effect on who gets more stuff and who gets less, who gets to take risks when times are good, and who gets screwed when things go bad. Lively, accessible, and full of interesting details (like the 43-pound copper coins that 17th-century Swedes carried strapped to their backs), Money is the story of the choices that gave us money as we know it today.

Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies

Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies
Author: Arvind Narayanan
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2016-07-19
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1400884152

An authoritative introduction to the exciting new technologies of digital money Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies provides a comprehensive introduction to the revolutionary yet often misunderstood new technologies of digital currency. Whether you are a student, software developer, tech entrepreneur, or researcher in computer science, this authoritative and self-contained book tells you everything you need to know about the new global money for the Internet age. How do Bitcoin and its block chain actually work? How secure are your bitcoins? How anonymous are their users? Can cryptocurrencies be regulated? These are some of the many questions this book answers. It begins by tracing the history and development of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, and then gives the conceptual and practical foundations you need to engineer secure software that interacts with the Bitcoin network as well as to integrate ideas from Bitcoin into your own projects. Topics include decentralization, mining, the politics of Bitcoin, altcoins and the cryptocurrency ecosystem, the future of Bitcoin, and more. An essential introduction to the new technologies of digital currency Covers the history and mechanics of Bitcoin and the block chain, security, decentralization, anonymity, politics and regulation, altcoins, and much more Features an accompanying website that includes instructional videos for each chapter, homework problems, programming assignments, and lecture slides Also suitable for use with the authors' Coursera online course Electronic solutions manual (available only to professors)

How Would You Like to Pay?

How Would You Like to Pay?
Author: Bill Maurer
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 110
Release: 2015-10-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0822375176

From Bitcoin to Apple Pay, big changes seem to be afoot in the world of money. Yet the use of coins and paper bills has persisted for 3,000 years. In How Would You Like to Pay?, leading anthropologist Bill Maurer narrates money's history, considers its role in everyday life, and discusses the implications of how new technologies are changing how we pay. These changes are especially important in the developing world, where people who lack access to banks are using cell phones in creative ways to send and save money. To truly understand money, Maurer explains, is to understand and appreciate the complex infrastructures and social relationships it relies on. Engaging and straightforward, How Would You Like to Pay? rethinks something so familiar and fundamental in new and exciting ways. Ultimately, considering how we would like to pay gives insights into determining how we would like to live.

The Truth Machine

The Truth Machine
Author: Paul Vigna
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2018-02-27
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1250114608

"Views differ on bitcoin, but few doubt the transformative potential of Blockchain technology. The Truth Machine is the best book so far on what has happened and what may come along. It demands the attention of anyone concerned with our economic future." —Lawrence H. Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus at Harvard, Former Treasury Secretary From Michael J. Casey and Paul Vigna, the authors of The Age of Cryptocurrency, comes the definitive work on the Internet’s Next Big Thing: The Blockchain. Big banks have grown bigger and more entrenched. Privacy exists only until the next hack. Credit card fraud is a fact of life. Many of the “legacy systems” once designed to make our lives easier and our economy more efficient are no longer up to the task. Yet there is a way past all this—a new kind of operating system with the potential to revolutionize vast swaths of our economy: the blockchain. In The Truth Machine, Michael J. Casey and Paul Vigna demystify the blockchain and explain why it can restore personal control over our data, assets, and identities; grant billions of excluded people access to the global economy; and shift the balance of power to revive society’s faith in itself. They reveal the disruption it promises for industries including finance, tech, legal, and shipping. Casey and Vigna expose the challenge of replacing trusted (and not-so-trusted) institutions on which we’ve relied for centuries with a radical model that bypasses them. The Truth Machine reveals the empowerment possible when self-interested middlemen give way to the transparency of the blockchain, while highlighting the job losses, assertion of special interests, and threat to social cohesion that will accompany this shift. With the same balanced perspective they brought to The Age of Cryptocurrency, Casey and Vigna show why we all must care about the path that blockchain technology takes—moving humanity forward, not backward.