The Bitcoin Standard
In his thought-provoking book, "The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking," Saifedean Ammous delves into the world of Bitcoin, exploring its origins, its economic properties, and its potential to revolutionize the global financial system. Ammous argues that Bitcoin, with its decentralized nature and limited supply, represents a sound money alternative to the fiat currencies controlled by central banks.
I first heard Saifedean Ammous on Lex Fridman’s podcast, hammering crypto altcoins, Modern Monetary Theory, and Keynesian economics. I was hooked. I’ve been interested in crypto for a few years and was invested in Bitcoin. However, my interest was shallow, frankly. I had the smooth brain thinking that crypto, as an asset class, would boom into the mainstream. Look at the massive retracements in 2018 and 2022; you can tell that didn’t happen. I still knew something was there regardless, and Ammous outpainted that notion with his book “The Bitcoin Standard.” It’s a great introductory read on Bitcoin and how it’s more than some magic internet money. In fact, it’s actually the hardest monetary asset ever created. It doesn’t need the world’s most violence-capable military to back it up either (looking at you, U.S. dollar). Ammous takes the reader from the foundational question of “what even is money?” to monetary policy over the centuries, then up to today. Even if you’re skeptical about Bitcoin as a monetary solution and asset, Ammous (an economics professor) still provides a rich economic perspective into many of the world’s problems caused by easy money (fiat currency).
Please let me know if you read this book and decide to invest in Bitcoin! Also, please buy it and store it in a cold wallet. If you have questions about this and how to do it, please holler.