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Digital cash : the unknown history of the anarchists, utopians, and technologists who created cryptocurrency
Brunton F., PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, Princeton, NJ, 2019. 272 pp. Type: Book (978-0-691179-49-0)
Date Reviewed: Feb 10 2020

This comprehensive book covers the history of digital cash/currency, including the current era of Bitcoin and blockchain technology. The author argues that digital cash is to be understood in terms of authentication, ownership, and certainty and proof for digital objects. He further claims that the term “passing current” is a generally accepted term for a cash exchange (paper or digital), passing from person to person. The book does not include exercises. It is ideal reading for a senior seminar on digital cash.

The book not only talks about history and technology, but also about people involved in digital cash. This makes the book very riveting. It has 12 chapters.

In chapter 1, “Speculating with Money,” the author traces the history of how people speculate on the value of money. The next chapter, “Secure Paper,” discusses the history of producing, securing, and authenticating paper money.

Chapter 3, “Recognizing Without Being Known,” gives a whirlwind historical tour of one-way trapdoor functions and public-key cryptography, which form the backbone of digital cash. In chapter 4, “Blinding Factor,” the author discusses the surveillance and control of digital cash, for example, with credit cards and automated teller machines (ATMs).

“Collapse of Governments” discusses early efforts, mostly by the cyberpunk culture, in making digital cash. In chapter 6, “Permanent Frontiers,” the author explores the three components of coordination, application, and adoption. Chapter 7, “Nanosecond Suitcase,” describes the importance of computational speed and how it plays a pivotal role in digital cash and stock transactions. The author also discusses hashing technology and distributed systems and the role they play in digital cash.

In chapter 8, “Hayek in Biostasis,” the author discusses how the ideas of Hayek play into digital cash. He also discusses cryptographically authenticated cash that modern digital cash systems provide. The “Future Desires” chapter sets the stage for the creation of Bitcoin. It is peppered with references to works by Szilard, Hayek, and Bakhmet’ev, that is, how they paved the way to the creation of Bitcoin.

In “Emergency Money,” the author includes a time frame for the creation of Bitcoin, in 2008, during the banking and financial crisis. Nakamoto announced Bitcoin to the world through a cryptography mailing list. In a section on the currency of computational work, Brunton details the working intricacies of Bitcoin. It includes a single ledger of all transactions and owners (all the transactions are appended). If you are only interested in Bitcoin, this is the chapter to read.

In the final two chapters, “Escape Geographies” and “Desolate Earth,” the author writes about the problems, challenges, and opportunities Bitcoin provides.

I enjoyed reading this dense book on the history, technology, and social implications of digital cash. One should set aside a week to digest the material in both this and other related titles [1,2], and then a month, a year, or a lifetime to ruminate further.

More reviews about this item: Amazon, Goodreads

Reviewer:  M. S. Krishnamoorthy Review #: CR146883 (2007-0161)
1) Burniske, C.; Tatar, J. Cryptoassets: the innovative investor’s guide to Bitcoin and beyond. McGraw Hill Education, New York, NY, 2018.
2) Antonopoulos, A. The Internet of money. CreateSpace, Scotts Valley, CA, 2016.
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