Before Babylon, Beyond Bitcoin by David Birch

Before Babylon, Beyond Bitcoin by David Birch

Technology is changing money and this book looks at where it might be taking us. Technology has transformed money from physical objects to intangible information. With the arrival of smart cards, mobile phones and Bitcoin it has become easier than ever to create new forms of money. Crucially, money is also inextricably connected with our identities. Your card or phone is a security device that can identify you - and link information about you to your money. Dave Birch looks back over the history of money, spanning thousands of years. He sees in the past, both recent and ancient, evidence for several possible futures. Looking further back to a world before cash and central banks, there were multiple 'currencies' operating at the level of communities, and the use of barter for transactions. Perhaps technology will take us back to the future, a future that began back in 1971, when money became a claim backed by reputation rather than by physical commodities of any kind. Since then, money has been bits. The author shows that these phenomena are not only possible in the future, but already upon us. We may well want to make transactions in Tesco points, Air Miles, Manchester United pounds, Microsoft dollars, Islamic e-gold or Cornish e-tin. The use of cash is already in decline, and is certain to vanish from polite society. The newest technologies will take money back to its origins: a substitute for memory, a record of mutual debt obligations within multiple overlapping communities. This time though, money will be smart. It will be money that reflects the values of the communities that produced it. Future money will know where it has been, who has been using it and what they have been using it for.

"David Birch brings out in rich and lucid detail the full historical journey money has been undertaking and the technological revolutions it has encountered en routeHistorical scholars, technologists, monetary economists and policy makers will all find something in here to hold their attention, to reshape their view of history or technology, finance or policy." From the foreword by Andrew Haldane, Chief Economist of the Bank of England and member of the Monetary Policy Committee

David Birch is an internationally-recognised thought leader in digital money and digital identity. He is a Director of Consult Hyperion, the technical and strategic consultancy that specialises in electronic transactions. He is the author of 'Identity is the New Money' (LPP).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781907994654
ISBN 10	1907994653
Title	Before Babylon, Beyond Bitcoin
Author	David Birch
Series	Perspectives
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	London Publishing Partnership
Year published	2017-06-30
Number of pages	288
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.