“Who will be the new owner of money?
“The ‘orderly collapse’ of currency has already begun!”

The most daring 21st-century economics textbook from globally acclaimed economist Saifeddine Amos.

“I read his book and lost all my money.
“I bought $425 million worth of Bitcoin!”
Michael Saylor (Chairman, MicroStrategy)

“Bitcoin is more than just an investment asset,
“A book that proves that there can be unchanging fairness, justice, and truth!”
Ross Stevens (founder of New York Digital Investment Group)

Saifedine Amos, an economic advisor to El Salvador, which adopted Bitcoin as its legal tender, and one of the world's leading Bitcoin experts, delves into the past, present, and future of money, from gold and the dollar to cryptocurrencies.
While there have been many books on Bitcoin's technical analysis, simple history, or specific investment strategies, none have yet described the full picture of the massive "phenomenon" unfolding today from the expert perspective of a world-renowned authority.
This book analyzes the historical and technological reasons why the current monetary system will collapse in the near future and be replaced by Bitcoin. This book will help dispel any lasting doubts about Bitcoin.

It is easier to explain an abacus to someone who uses a computer than to explain a computer to someone who uses an abacus.
--- p.19

The Lotus Sutra system is not the result of a single engineer's design.
Rather, it was a desperate measure by central banks facing the threat of bankruptcy, an inevitable geopolitical consequence of 60 years of politics and money intertwined.
--- p.56

The fiat-based system first eliminated individuals' ability to save, then forced people to treat their homes like savings accounts.

--- p.93

Most fiat currency balances are held on the balance sheets of licensed banks, so the Federal Reserve, which is the fiat currency node in the United States and a full node for the world, can cancel them at any time.
If we define 'ownership' as the ability to dominate and control something, then legal tender, in terms of completely autonomous control, can never be an object of ownership.
Ordinary citizens can only hold fiat money temporarily thanks to the government's favor, which virtually owns all liquid assets.
--- p.102

Just as issuing more tickets to a soccer match does not increase the stadium's capacity, increasing the money supply or credit supply does not increase the assets used in production.
Just as a ticket is merely a substitute for the right to sit in a stadium seat, money and credit are merely rights to use capital goods or final goods used in production.
If a club wants to maximize ticket sales, it should not simply increase the number of tickets issued, but rather hire more civil engineers and construction workers, and expand the size of the stadium by mobilizing more heavy equipment.
If tickets are issued in excess of the stadium's capacity, there will be more spectators than seats available, which will lead to fierce competition for seats.
But once this situation has already occurred, no matter how much you think about it, there is no way to increase the number of seats.
--- p.142

In a hyperinflationary economy, trees are cut down for winter firewood before they even bear fruit, promising businesses are sold off to finance expenses, and future revenue streams are consumed in advance.
--- p.165

Yet, since the pharmaceutical industry's profitability would suffer if people adopted disease-prevention habits, the government-backed medical establishment has no reason to warn about the obvious dangers of modern eating habits.
Why promote diabetes prevention when we need to sell as many insulin doses as possible during the remaining days of people's shortened lives?
--- p.199

The lack of financial constraints on public education is a curse, not a blessing.
(Omitted) A century later, the Lotus Sutra has truly destroyed the modern ivory tower, the center of learning and research.
As a result, universities, once symbols of class and sophistication, have become job creation programs for the uneducated, expensive certification mills, inescapable debt traps, rehearsals for social activities, concentration camps for political indoctrination, and corporate PR agencies.
--- p.228

Realistically, it's difficult to convince a child who refuses to take a car when the only options for getting to Disneyland are a car or walking for days.
--- p.276

Now (European) currencies will be divided into two classes.
Tier 1 currencies are the dollar and pound sterling, which are backed by gold, and Tier 2 currencies are the currencies of other countries backed by the pound and dollar.
A portion of the gold reserves is held by the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Second-tier currencies will lose their sovereignty.
--- p.292

The legal system turns all domestic and international politics into a do-or-die contest, and the winner is given the power to virtually control all economic value within the country or around the world.
--- p.338

Bitcoin can be seen as the liberation of the world's debt.
As Bitcoin continues to grow, demand for loans will weaken.
If so, it would be possible to reverse the massive increase in debt that fiat money has caused over the past several decades.
--- p.353

Bitcoin and non-cash transactions may seem similar because they are both digital, but in reality, they are not comparable.
The essence of Bitcoin is not its digital form, but the absence of counterparty risk.
--- p.364

Just as a spoon cannot replace a knife, cash cannot satisfactorily perform the role of money, so legal tender humans must necessarily have non-monetary assets as an alternative.
--- p.394

Bitcoin makes it possible to monetize, transfer, and consume all the energy that is easily wasted: methane that could have been burned, rivers that could have flooded, oil fields that could have been abandoned, volcanic energy that could have been lost after an eruption.
Difficulty adjustments ensure that Bitcoin is mined only on the power with the lowest opportunity cost, encouraging more miners to seek out and use cheaper energy.
--- p.429

If we convert Bitcoin's market rewards into dollar value each day and add them up, the market capitalization over the past 12 and a half years would be $620 billion, and the total expenses incurred would be $27.33 billion.
The average investment return is about 2200 percent.
In fact, the Bitcoin network's native token has risen an average of 23 times its original value since its creation.
As such, Bitcoin's effectiveness as a mechanism for saving future wealth has far exceeded expectations.
With Bitcoin increasingly recognized as a superior savings technology, more and more wealth is being invested in it, and its inherent scarcity is driving up the value of Bitcoin for existing holders.
--- p.443

Rather than threatening to destroy fiat money, Bitcoin will likely prove to be a neat technological solution that allows fiat money to rest in peace.
Bitcoin simultaneously reduces the demand for fiat currencies and the incentive to create more fiat supply.
It's like someone skillfully and cleverly removes the cards one by one from a house built by stacking up the demand and supply cards of the Lotus Sutra, and then slowly destroys it.

--- p.485