Rhian Lewis - The Cryptocurrency Revolution

Essential reading. This is an accessible, coherent and up-to-date non-technical introduction to the fast-paced jargon-laden world of cryptocurrency. Comprehensive in scope, it provides lucid insights into the philosophy of money, the evolution of the major cryptocurrencies, token economics, state-issued cryptocurrencies, regulation and much more.

Professor William Knottenbelt, Director, Centre for Cryptocurrency Research and Engineering, Imperial College London

A recommended read to understand how blockchain technology shapes the future of finance. Rhian Lewis tells an exciting story about the rise of cryptocurrencies while also explaining complex concepts behind them.

Quynh Tran-Thanh, Chief Product Officer, CryptoCompare

The Cryptocurrency Revolution is essential reading for anyone who wants to gain a clear understanding of digital currencies and blockchain-enabled economies and the way these rapidly evolving technologies are set to change our world.

Jamie Burke, Founder, Outlier Ventures

This book is an excellent overview, with topics including Bitcoin, other cryptoassets, as well as money in general and its regulation. It is not purely technical, but goes exactly as deep as needed to understand this inspiring and highly dynamic blockchain ecosystem.

Professor Dr Philipp Sandner, Head of Frankfurt School Blockchain Center, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management

Finance in the age of Bitcoin, blockchains and tokens

Rhian Lewis

For Andrew and my parents, Colin and Diana

So many conversations have inspired the writing of this book that it is impossible to list everyone here. However, Id like to extend particular thanks to my interviewees, Teana Baker-Taylor, Citlali Mora Catlett, Richard Crook, Eden Dhaliwal, Helen Disney, Damien Ducourty, Ian Grigg, Barney Mannerings and Colin Platt for their time and insight. Thanks to Danny Weston, Raiomond Mirza and Martin Jee for conversations and feedback that informed some of the themes in this book.

The world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency has introduced me to literally hundreds of amazing people whom I would not otherwise have met, many of whom have become friends. So thanks go to all Bitcoiners I have met in Berlin and London (and on Twitter!), especially Anna Kurth, Chris Davis, Magda, Neha M, Nind, Ali, Su, Michele, Ksenya and the Proof of Work tribe. Thanks to my CountMyCrypto co-conspirator Bruce Thomas, to YoperSouls Enrico Mariotti, Massimiliano Gerardi and Gianluigi Davassi for our adventures with Yope and Mamoru, and to my amazing colleagues at B9lab.

Thank you to Amy Minshull, Heather Wood and their colleagues at Kogan Page for believing in the book and helping me at every step. And a heartfelt thanks to all my friends who do not necessarily share my obsession with these topics but kindly indulged me and listened to me all the same, especially Clare Hyam and Amelia Harris.

Finally, I would like to thank the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, for giving me the reason to write this book.

If youre reading this book, you want to know more about virtual currencies, perhaps because you want to know how your business can take advantage of this new technology, or because you want to understand the wider financial implications of cryptocurrencies and other blockchain-based payments.

If you are under the impression that Bitcoin is a niche payment mechanism used primarily for ransomware, it may surprise you to learn that in the 10 years of its existence, this original cryptocurrency has become so mainstream that you can pay your taxes with it or include it in your pension in some countries, buy it from a ticket machine at a Swiss railway station or buy a coffee with it.

Banks and financial institutions are investigating the use of Bitcoins underlying blockchain technology to develop new asset classes as well as introduce streamlining and greater efficiency in their processes. Meanwhile, tech behemoths such as Facebook are introducing their own virtual currencies, while governments around the world are vying to be the first to introduce a truly effective national blockchain-based digital currency.

With cryptocurrencies and other forms of digital money moving firmly into the mainstream, it has become more and more important for individuals in all walks of life to understand the revolution that is currently taking place in payments and economics.

This book will help you understand why the current wave of virtual currencies is beginning to gain traction when similar innovations that were launched decades ago died a quick death. It will also demonstrate why those who claim that it is a fad will be proved very wrong indeed as this revolution in payments changes everything about the way we live and transact with each other.

Blockchain-based money also poses new challenges for individuals, corporations and governments, such as the ability of individuals to choose methods of payment other than national currencies such as the pound, euro, yen, yuan or dollar, and the extra powers that companies such as Facebook will gain if they become issuers of a type of virtual currency.

All this reminds us that the most notable feature of the digital currency revolution over the last 10 years has been the pace of change. Cryptocurrency years are like dog years, and the eye-watering speed of innovation in this sector means that ideas that sounded new 18 months ago have been quickly discarded in favour of new theories. Small startups with their flexibility and fail fast approach have been well placed to take advantage of these exciting new technologies because larger businesses tend to have more layers of management, shareholders to keep happy and a greater desire to work with rather than challenge regulators.

In this book, you will be introduced to concepts such as tokenization, the differences between private and public blockchains, and some of the financial use cases for blockchains that do not explicitly have a currency attached to them.

People tend to talk about blockchain or cryptocurrency as though it is some kind of magic, monolithic entity, but in fact these terms encompass a whole lot of overlapping innovations that share certain attributes.

This book focuses mainly on digital currencies and payments, rather than the general application of blockchains for uses such as supply chains or voting. Payments are important because the internet has changed the way people pay for goods and services, and the fintech sector has become one of the most exciting and profitable areas of business innovation the world over. Besides, it would take a book many times the size of this one to cover the many different areas in which people and businesses are innovating with the help of blockchain technology.

If you are a programmer or IT professional who wants to take a deep dive into the nuts and bolts of how Bitcoin actually works, then this is probably not the book for you. People who are interested in Austrian economics and why Bitcoin works as hard money will not read a better book than The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous. And