The Bitcoin Standard
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 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 a new invention of the digital age, the problem it purports to solve is as old as human society itself: transferring value across time and space. 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.
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- If one wishes to keep an open mind and explore non-mainstream views of the modern world economy, I recommend the first chapters of The Bitcoin Standard, by Saifedean Ammous, an actual trained economist. He has been interviewed by Lex Fridman if you prefer to hear him in podcast version.
These chapters are not about bitcoin, but the societal shift that happened at the turn of last century when countries abandoned the gold standard to finance their wars. The Keynesian economic policy. The concept of time preference which shifts when the value of a currency is diluted by inflation. How very rich entities are allowed to grow richer simply because they are able to get large sums of money "at the source" before inflation has had the chance to raise prices for all of us, etc.
Very unpopular in this circles where the mention of bitcoin is cause to raise pitchforks, and everybody loves to quote economists that seemingly have no clue what is going on.
- I read “The Bitcoin Standard” which I really enjoyed. However i’m not finding “The fiat standard” as interesting.
- It is quite plausible that bitcoin becomes the global reserve asset, just as gold was in the past. Bitcoin is superior to gold in every single aspect except for the number of years it has existed. To learn more:
https://www.amazon.com/Bitcoin-Standard-Decentralized-Altern...
- The Bitcoin Whitepaper is fairly small and quite an easy read, and it is the source of all this ideas. There is only a couple of math formulas that you don't need to fully understand to understand the paper itself. Some of the concepts on the paper deserve to be explored further and you can resort to Wikipedia to dive deeper.
I find the book "The Bitcoin Standard" by Saifedean Ammous a good read to break down those concepts. Nevermind the extremists or so called "maximalists" and their exaggerations. The book is a really good intro to macro economics and helps understanding why cryptocurrency is interesting as a store of wealth and/or money replacement.
- BTC is sound money, even if not yet as widely used for transactions yet. We literally have the worst inflation in 40 years with the likes of Janet Yellen admitting they were wrong about 'transitory inflation', and yet we're good with Central Banks being allowed to dilute money. I encourage you to read about why Bitcoin makes sense as the ultimate store of value that fiat is pegged against. The book called The Bitcoin Standard is a great read.
- Many---nearly all---altcoins are dangerously close to ponzi schemes, except bitcoin. Bitcoin stands apart as the sole protocol that's really decentralized and doesn't promise ridiculous returns.
However, given that Bitcoin is jn the process of monetizing and may become the world's base layer of money, it stands to gain a lot of value the long term compared to the melting icebergs of central bank and commercial bank created fiat currencies.
If this doesn't make sense, please read "The Bitcoin Standard" and "Inventing Bitcoin" to understand this technological advance.
One can prefer sundials to watches, but reality was changed when the watch was invented.
