The Future of Money: From Gold Standard to Blockchain

Recommended for those who are investing in cryptocurrencies or are interested in cryptocurrencies!
This book was published in 2018 and can be considered a work that "testifies" to Bitcoin, but about 60% of the entire book discusses money itself, and also covers Hayek and Keynes.
The most important thing I learned from the book is: distinguish between soft currencies and hard currencies (all soft currencies are transient; hoarding hard currencies is the core goal).
In terms everyone is familiar with, it means: all altcoins aim to exchange your Bitcoin.
The key indicator mentioned in the book is: stock-to-flow ratio (only when this ratio is high enough is it worth holding long-term).
Similarly, this ratio almost perfectly predicted one of the most criticized issues in the last cycle of altcoins: high market cap, low circulation, and continuous issuance.
If you had read this book back then, it likely would have helped you avoid a series of trap tokens like ARB, which have high market cap and low circulation.
Besides the concept of hard currencies, the book also accurately predicted several development directions for Bitcoin after 2018.
For example:
1/ Bitcoin’s Layer 2 solutions;
2/ Using Bitcoin as collateral to issue other tokens (stablecoins/lending);
3/ Central banks purchasing Bitcoin as reserves.
The book also logically explains what Bitcoin can and cannot do.
For example:
1/ It cannot be widely used as a payment network (due to block size limits and node operation costs), but it will be popular as a settlement network (off-chain computation, on-chain settlement).
2/ Bitcoin’s anonymity is actually pseudo-anonymous; transactions can be traced back to specific individuals. To some extent, this also reflects the existence of privacy tracks and mixing needs, which can be considered in light of the hot privacy sector since the second half of last year, to think about the reasons behind it.
This book broke some of my misconceptions about Bitcoin and also taught me many investment principles.
If I had read it carefully before the 2022 bear market, I probably wouldn’t have experienced a major retracement.
Because I lack an economics background, the first 60% was a bit tiring to read, but it was very worthwhile!