The Bitcoin Standard guides you as the reader from point A to point B. Point A is the how and why of money, point B is bitcoin. The book offers a glimpse into the economic view of a liberal. The author of the book is Saifedan Ammous, a professor of economics in Lebanon.
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From shells to gold
The Bitcoin Standard starts at the beginning. Millennia ago we had people already money. Seashells were one of the first 'coins' with which we performed value transactions. Ammous explains how we ended up with government debts through cattle, salt, beads, and metals. You gradually learn why certain types of currency have and/or had value.
An example from the book: the object that serves as money must be hard to come by. There has always been a political or physical limit to money. In areas where few sea shells are, it was paid with shells. According to the writer, gold was actually the next step. It takes a lot of labor to work and is scarce worldwide. There has been so much gold piled up over the centuries that you can not possibly take a big bite out of the market by going back and forth.
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Historical analysis
In addition to the different types of money, a whole bunch of other things is mentioned in this book. In understandable language, you have guided as a reader through various moments in the history of money: Ancient Rome, Constantinople, the First World War. Every situation clearly and clearly explained. The conclusion you can draw after the first few chapters is clear: gold is the best money we have had so far.
Governement money
After the first three chapters, the book becomes more intense. Ammous puts the attack on governments here. They have ruined gold as money. By the way 'they' now give us money, they have all made us slaves of inflation. After all, more money is printed every day, making your money on the bank less valuable. This is constantly repeated and comes to be somewhat messy. Nice detail: until now there has not been talked about bitcoin in this book yet. That is coming now.
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The Bitcoin Standard
After the tirade of Ammous about central banks and governments, we come to the subject that really matters: bitcoin. After reading the final chapters it is also clear where the subtitle of the book comes from: 'The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking'. Ammous makes his points loud and clear: Bitcoin is the new gold, the standard.
First, we had beads, then gold and now we have bitcoin. It protects the hodler against unexpected inflation and you are your own boss about your money. While reading the last chapters, I secretly crept into the feeling that bitcoin is the only coin that is going to save it. But, for the time being, I do not want to surrender myself to that feeling. You already have a lot of books about bitcoin, but this is the first book that also explains why bitcoin has economic value.
Conclusion
Want to know more about money, the monetary system and the place of bitcoin in this whole? Then this book is perfect for you. This book clearly explains why the Ammous is a bitcoin maxim. The middle part of me had something less intense. I understand that you do not agree with the way we now use euros, dollars and other fiats. When bitcoin is mentioned again for the first time since the introduction, the ball begins to roll, everything falls into place. The book is a beautiful whole. I am a bitcoin maxim. The Bitcoin Standard is a must for anyone who finds cryptocurrency interesting.