Publication Day!
Jan. 27 has arrived, and with it, the publication of “The Age of Cryptocurrency” (and a massive blizzard that’s about to dump two feet of snow on the east coast, but that’s another story). We are extremely excited to have finally made it to this day. The reception so far has been really quite positive, and we’re anxious to see how the book does now that it’s on bookshelves.
Our weekend essay in the Wall Street Journal is a good primer on the promise of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, if you haven’t read the book yet. It will give you a taste of the direction we’re going in.
Also over the weekend, the Washington Post gave the book a very strong review. “To their ample credit, Paul Vigna and Michael J. Casey, veteran Wall Street Journal reporters, resist the common temptation to hype their trendy subject,” the finance writer Daniel Gross said. “They’ve written a reported explainer that patiently documents bitcoin’s rise, acknowledges its flaws and highlights its promise. Smart and conscientious, ‘The Age of Cryptocurrency’ is the most thorough and readable account of the short life of this controversial currency.”
Here’s an excerpt from our Journal essay:
No digital currency will soon dislodge the dollar, but bitcoin is much more than a currency. It is a radically new, decentralized system for managing the way societies exchange value. It is, quite simply, one of the most powerful innovations in finance in 500 years.
If applied widely to the inner workings of our global economy, this model could slash trillions in financial fees; computerize much of the work done by payment processors, government property-title offices, lawyers and accountants; and create opportunities for billions of people who don’t currently have bank accounts. Great value will be created, but many jobs also will be rendered obsolete.
Bitcoin has some indisputable flaws, at least in its current iteration. Its price fluctuates too wildly. (Who wants the cost of their groceries to vary by 10% from week to week?) Its anonymity has made it a haven for drug dealers. “Wallets” (as the individual software applications that manage bitcoin holdings are known) have proven vulnerable to cyberattack and pillaging, including the wallets of big exchanges such as Tokyo’s Mt. Gox and Slovenia’s Bitstamp.
Even though the core program that runs bitcoin has resisted six years of hacking attempts, the successful attacks on associated businesses have created the impression that bitcoin isn’t a safe way to store money. Until these perceptions are overcome or bitcoin is replaced by a superior digital currency, the public will remain suspicious of the concept, and regulators will be tempted to quash it.
Like any young technology, bitcoin is a work in progress, but its groundbreaking core software program is constantly being improved. It is open-source and copyright-free, and thus accessible to anyone who wants to peer inside it, copy it, suggest improvements or create applications for it.
