Cryptocurrency and Blockchain - (MIT Press Essential Knowledge) by Marco Di Maggio (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

How do we build trust in a digital world where institutions, platforms, and intermediaries increasingly mediate money, identity, and ownership? In Cryptocurrency and Blockchain, Marco Di Maggio offers an essential guide to cryptocurrencies and blockchains--two of the most misunderstood technological and economic transformations of the digital age. Rather than focusing on price charts, hype cycles, or programming details, Di Maggio explains why these technologies exist, what problems they attempt to solve, and why they matter for people who are not crypto insiders.

Using plain language, analogies, and real-world examples, the book explains how cryptocurrencies reshape core concepts of money, property, markets, and governance. The author explores topics such as how and why Bitcoin is used as a financial fallback, what stablecoins are and how they have become critical infrastructure for global payments, and how NFTs introduced a new notion of ownership and identity on the internet. Written for curious readers, journalists, students, policymakers, and professionals, Cryptocurrency provides a conceptual framework for understanding crypto as infrastructure, not ideology--helping readers see past the noise to grasp the deeper forces reshaping money, trust, and coordination in the digital economy.

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