Bitcoin

I bought “Bitcoin: The Future of Money?” by Dominic Frisby to learn more about how it all works. I have had some Bitcoin since 2014 as an experiment (still have it) and it still seems to be growing.

The book however leaves me none the wiser about the technology. It is written in a journalistic way and the author is much more interested in the people and the culture behind Bitcoin than the technology. He also seems to be what might be called “left wing” and possibly even anti-capitalist but it’s safer to say “Libertarian” – something I have learned about from the book.

I certainly don’t agree with many of his conclusions, particularly how coming off the gold standard was bad and allowed governments too much monetary control – as a result being able to fund bigger wars(!) That is looking at history through rose-tinted spectacles. We all have a higher standard of living and wealth, which in a historical perspective is much more evenly spread over society. That is largely due to wealth creators, such as banks and a robust legal framework. If you want bread you go to a bakery, beer to a brewery, wealth to a bank.

“The Ascent of Money” by Niall Ferguson is a much better read and something I will be re-reading after Bitcoin.