Saifedean Ammous

The Bitcoin Standard

1. IDEA 1

   Money must hold its value

   Ammous argues that good money, which he calls sound money, keeps its value over time. People then save and plan for the future instead of spending quickly. Weak money, he argues, pushes people toward short-term thinking.

2. IDEA 2

   Good money is easy to trade

   Ammous describes salability: how easily money can be exchanged across distances, over time and in different amounts. The best monies, in his view, score well on all three. He uses history to illustrate each quality.

3. IDEA 3

   Scarcity keeps money strong

   Ammous explains the stock-to-flow ratio, comparing existing supply with new production. Money that cannot easily be produced in large quantities resists losing value. Gold's very high ratio, he says, explains why it lasted so long as money.

All 8 ideas from The Bitcoin Standard →