If You're Curious About These Questions...
You should listen to this audiobook
- Did you know that the secret to a stable economy might be hidden in the ancient history of seashells and giant stones?
- Have you ever wondered why our modern economies are trapped in a cycle of boom and bust—and how a single technological innovation could break it?
- What if the most revolutionary way to protect your wealth from government manipulation was actually inspired by the same principles that powered the Victorian era's golden age?
Listen to The Bitcoin Standard — Free Audiobook
Key Takeaways from The Bitcoin Standard
- Understand why ancient barter systems failed to scale and how money emerged as a universally accepted medium of exchange.
- Discover the story of Yap Island's Rai stones to see why a currency must strictly maintain its limited supply to hold value over time.
- Learn why gold naturally became the basis for sound money due to its indestructibility and slow, predictable supply growth.
- Find out how governments, from the Roman Empire to World War I Europe, have repeatedly triggered economic crises by secretly devaluing currencies to fund wars.
- Explore why Bitcoin is uniquely positioned as the new standard for the digital age, offering a highly stable store of value free from centralized control.
Learning Tools
Reinforce what you learned from The Bitcoin Standard
Mind Map
Quiz — Test Your Understanding
The Bitcoin Standard — Full Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: Recommendation
Chapter 2: Money began as a medium for indirect value exchange.
Chapter 3: Gold became the foundation of sound money.
Chapter 4: European governments devalued their currencies to finance their wartime efforts.
Chapter 5: Gold-backed currency was replaced by fiat money after the First World War.
Chapter 6: Sound money forms the foundation of a functioning economy.
Chapter 7: Unsound money triggers recessions and growing debt.
Chapter 8: Bitcoin is uniquely defined by scarcity.
Chapter 9: Bitcoin is uniquely secure by design.
Chapter 10: Bitcoin may become a new standard, though it still faces challenges.
The Bitcoin Standard Summary & Overview
The Bitcoin Standard (2018) traces the story of money, from the very first rock currencies to the Victorians’ love affair with gold and today’s new kid on the block – digital cryptocurrency. Saifedean Ammous, an economist convinced that we need to embrace the forgotten virtues of sound money, believes Bitcoin might just be the future. Like yesteryear’s gold reserves, it has unique properties that mean it’s ideally placed to act as a medium of exchange that can’t be manipulated by bumbling governments. And that’s great news if we want to return our economies to stability and growth and put the cycle of boom and bust behind us.
Who Should Listen to The Bitcoin Standard?
- People interested in the history of money
- Economists and business buffs
- Anyone with an eye on the future
Books Similar to The Bitcoin Standard
Readers who enjoyed this also liked these titles.
How Bitcoin and Digital Money Are Challenging the Global Economic Order
The Future of Money and How It Can Work for You
How the Technology Behind Bitcoin Is Changing Money, Business and the World
The Untold Story of Bitcoin