CRYPTOCURRENCY QUICKSTART GUIDE

Reichental conducts a comprehensive tour of the obscure world of cryptocurrency.

According to the author, founder of the global business and tech advisory firm Human Future, the foundation of the “fourth industrial revolution,” powered by “hyper-connectivity, digitalization, and data,” will be cryptocurrency and blockchain, its “technological architecture.” He furnishes a remarkably thorough introduction to the “cryptocurrency ecosystem,” explaining its historical evolution while sketching its possible future. Reichental covers all the bases, including an impressively accessible synopsis of the technological aspects of cryptocurrency (especially blockchain), detailing the ways in which this “trustless system” is designed to provide a secure alternative to any central banking system. The author’s approach is both theoretical and practical—in addition to giving an overview of the basic ideas, he also discusses buying and selling cryptocurrency and commodities such as non-fungible tokens. Reichental aims to educate the reader rather than advocate for the promise of cryptocurrency, and he roundly succeeds at this; while his enthusiasm for the subject is plain, he diligently documents its dangers (“And make no mistake, the risks right now are extraordinarily high”). The author is especially astute detailing the volatility of cryptocurrency as a financial asset, and he explains, with meticulous care, the significance of the recent FTX scandal for the industry. Reichental consistently addresses, with admirable intellectual balance, the advantages and disadvantages of every new invention, as when he demonstrates his restraint while commenting on NFTs: “Many argue it’s as valid to collect a digital art piece with the artist’s digital signature as, say, a signed baseball card or a signed print of a painting. Detractors see a superficial and temporary marketplace that naive enthusiasm is overinflating.” The entire book is written in this manner: unfailingly evenhanded and satisfyingly informative. For the novice in search of a lucid primer or the more seasoned veteran interested in well-organized summary, this is a helpfully instructive reference.

A clear and detailed map for the navigation of murky financial terrain.