"Bitcoin poses the right question, but gives the wrong answer," write
Luca Fantacci and Massimo Amato in this lucid and highly original
treatment of the cryptocurrency phenomenon. A Fistful of Bitcoins
uncovers the paradoxes of the first "digital cash" to achieve global
attention: a disruptive payment infrastructure married to a dangerous
and deflationary monetary system. From the cryptographic protocols to
the quasi-religious ideologies and the retrograde monetary theories
supporting Bitcoin, the authors reflect on what Bitcoin gets right and
disastrously wrong about our current monetary predicament. With
implications for monetary theory and policy, the prospect of central
bank-issued digital currencies, and the future of blockchain-based
applications, this book will be of interest beyond economics, political
science and management for a general public concerned about not just
what money is but what money might - and should - become.