The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking

Amazing book! Great description of currencies and made me really think about the fundamentals of money. It’s a GameChanger and hope more will read in future

This book was very helpful to me and I highly recommend. Bitcoin is admittedly an extremely obscure and abstract concept, but once understood, is almost unfathomably enlightening. When one looks at the world around them and sees all the ills and craziness, it's often possible to trace the underlying issue back to a bad incentives created by bad money. This bad money regime is enabled by an ever-present, yet often unseen, handful of individuals who single-handedly possess the ability to take from some to give to others (often in the form of taking from those on the margin and giving to those whose needs are already met). This book is in laymen's terms and is suitable for most everyone, regardless of prior experience with finance, money or business. The book answers a question most have never thought to ponder, "What is money, exactly?". The book provides a great overview of the history of money, lays out the characteristics that make for both good and bad money and finishes with an overview of how Bitcoin was created as a potential solution to some of the negative aspects present in today's fiat money system. Lastly, the book concludes with a balanced pros/cons discussion and highlights potential scenarios that would lead to both Bitcoin working and not working. Though it sounds hyperbole, this book completely changed the way I view money, finance, business, free markets and the world as a whole. Bitcoin provides a plausible avenue to a better world. As the quip from the famous Charlie Munger ironically goes, "show me the incentive, I'll show you the outcome". Bitcoin represents a paradigm shift and realignment in the underlying incentive structure driving outcomes in the world we live in. Cheers and I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.

Before reading The Bitcoin Standard, my understanding of money was pretty basic: you earn it, you spend it, and sometimes the number in your bank account goes up or down seemingly at random. Bitcoin? That was just that confusing internet money thing people argued about online. Saifedean Ammous didn't just explain Bitcoin; he took me on a journey through the history of money itself, from primitive seashells to gold standards to the current fiat system. And let me tell you, that journey is eye-opening. He makes a compelling case for why Bitcoin isn't just another digital fad, but a potential paradigm shift in how we think about value, scarcity, and freedom from centralized control. This book is incredibly well-researched and argued. Ammous has a knack for explaining complex economic concepts in a way that's both rigorous and surprisingly readable. It's not just for the crypto-bros; it's for anyone who's ever wondered why prices keep going up, or what gives money its value in the first place. Reading this book felt like getting a fundamental upgrade to my understanding of the world's financial plumbing. It challenged my assumptions and gave me a completely new perspective on economics and technology. If you want to move beyond the headlines and understand the fundamental principles behind Bitcoin and why it matters, The Bitcoin Standard is an essential read. It's insightful, thought-provoking, and might just change the way you view money forever. Highly, highly recommended!

This book is is a fantastic read for those interested in bitcoin (and blockchain which the author outlines how and why they are synonymous.) This is the most complete and accurate summary of the necessary information to know and understand about this technology, and will help immensely the conscious reader wade through a lot of the superfluous articles surrounding the topic. Saifedean Ammous presents the topic plainly pulling from economic theory, historical context, and technological development/engineering practice providing enough of each to address the use of bitcoin as a new standard of currency. Truly a difficult task, and the author clearly has done a lot of due diligence above and beyond his credentials as a economics professor to bring all these topics together. He is also an effective communicator dispensing of jargon and providing as much background as can reasonably done in a ~300 page publication. Unfortunately since this topic is so vast it is a requirement that the reader come to this book with at least a basic (100s from university level) understanding in macro economics. And at least conceptually a decent comfort with personal computing and networks. If not from development use of tools such as bitcoin wallets, p2p networking/file sharing, cryptographic computer implementations etc. At least again from a university 100s of CS. (Both of which can be learned online for free or nearly so with a PC internet and free time.) The target audience probably is to this point but if the author listed them as prerequisites that could be helpful. But again it may be the assumption that those interested can find this knowledge for themselves and is certainly out scope of this book and it's intent. In any case this book is a gift to the world and a must read.

Three months ago, I embarked on a journey to unravel the complexities of financial technology, and “The Bitcoin Standard” by Saifedean Ammous was the first book I chose. What an extraordinary starting point it turned out to be! This book, now a cornerstone in my collection of over twenty titles on the subject, easily secures a spot in my top three for its clarity, depth, and transformative insights. As I sit down to write this review today, I am struck by how profoundly it shaped my understanding of money, economics, and the revolutionary potential of Bitcoin. Ammous masterfully combines historical analysis, economic theory, and forward thinking vision to craft a compelling case for Bitcoin as a decentralized, sound money system. The book begins with a captivating exploration of money’s evolution from primitive barter systems to gold, backed currencies laying a foundation that makes the concept of Bitcoin accessible even to newcomers like I was at the time. Ammous doesn’t just explain what Bitcoin is; he illuminates why it matters, dissecting the flaws of fiat currencies with surgical precision. His discussion of inflation, central banking, and the erosion of purchasing power was an eye opener, making me question assumptions I would never thought to challenge. What sets “The Bitcoin Standard” apart is its ability to weave technical detail with broader philosophical and economic implications. Ammous dives into Bitcoin’s mechanics its fixed supply, proof of work, and decentralized ledger without overwhelming the reader. His writing is clear and engaging, balancing academic rigor with a passionate advocacy for financial sovereignty. I was particularly struck by his concept of “time preference,” which illustrates how sound money like Bitcoin incentivizes long term thinking and savings over reckless consumption. This idea alone reshaped how I view personal finance and societal priorities. The book’s historical parallels, from the gold standard to the rise and fall of empires, added a rich context that made Bitcoin feel not just innovative but inevitable. Ammous argues persuasively that Bitcoin’s design as a deflationary asset could restore economic stability and individual freedom in a world plagued by monetary mismanagement. I found its laser focus on Bitcoin’s unique properties refreshing. It’s not a broad fintech primer but a deep dive into why Bitcoin stands alone. Reading “The Bitcoin Standard” was like being handed a map to navigate the chaotic world of modern finance. It’s rare for a book to be both a page turner and a profound education, but Ammous delivers exactly that. For anyone curious about financial technology, economics, or the future of money, this book is a must read. It didn’t just teach me about Bitcoin it gave me a new lens to see the world. Three months and twenty books later, its lessons remain as powerful and relevant as ever. Highly recommended!

Excellent book! Very well written, very concise. Well cited with strong arguments.

Excellent book! A must-read even if you don't care about Bitcoin. The author discusses the foundations of what makes 'sound' money and describes how, over history, we've departed from these foundations, leading to a recurring set of consequences that inevitably end with the downfall of the currency and sometimes of the civilization/country. In particular, I found the history of the Roman currency interesting and telling. Later, the book discusses why gold has historically been a great store of value, and shows hard numbers that prove that it fits the conditions previously described as ideal for sound money. This part of the book feels airtight in its logic. As the author moves on to the era of fiat money, the book helped me understand the significance of Bretton Woods, the Nixon shock, as well as understand how the Keynesian, Monetarist and Austrian school of political economy understand the cycles of capitalism. I had not previously realized that despite the fact that centralized economies are no longer considered sound economic policies, the way that our Central Banks control the interest rate and currency emission is a residue of that kind of thinking. And, in the context of Democratic governments vying for the public's support, this gives Governments a tool that offers immediate short-term relief in exchange for fuzzy long-term pain which most likely will be felt by the next administration. Many of the vices of populist governments are fundamentally exploiting this loophole. The book became less insightful to me in the last 20% as it discusses Bitcoin. The discussion is centered around the properties that make it a suitable sound currency for the future, relating them to the previously established framework. While the conclusions are generally correct, Bitcoin is discussed entirely on an economic level and you won't find many technical details or explanations relating the technical design to its emerging properties.

When I started investing in cryptocurrency I didn't understand anything about it as I am not extremely good with computers and I have zero knowledge about coding. I initially invested as I assume most do and that was to make a quick profit. However the more I studied blockchain technology the more I started to understand it, and it kept leading me back to Bitcoin. Once I had read the whitepaper a few times I was down the rabbit hole and was consumed with understanding it. What followed were months of trying to understand all the ins and outs of Bitcoin without having a solid understanding of cryptography. I gained knowledge but everything was still above my head when it came to the intricate details. It was then that I heard about the book The Bitcoin Standard. The book is absolutely perfect for anyone who is mildly interested in Bitcoin, it begins with teaching you how to understand money, what was first used for money and why that certain form of money either succeeded or failed. It then dives into economics, the two different kinds and why they are both fundamentally wrong, the amount of detail in these chapters is so easy to understand and leaves you with a solid understanding of why empires succeeded or were destroyed. It then submerges into the history of Bitcoin, who created it, and how it was created. It simply explains to you how everything is linked together from the miners to the nodes, to the average user like you and me. Every concept is easy to grasp and leaves you with a solid understanding about all of it. In conclusion; this masterpiece will have you questioning economics to their very core, wondering how and why we have accepted our form of money up to this point. The book will blow your mind about what money is, and it will make you understand why more and more people everyday still want to hold and use Bitcoin. The Bitcoin Standard is a must read if you're a crypto enthusiast.