Some experts say that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are just a scam; others say they're "the most important invention since the internet." It's hard to tell who's right.

Authored by Silicon Valley leaders from Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, Bubble or Revolution cuts through the hype to offer a balanced, comprehensive, and accessible analysis of blockchains and cryptocurrencies.

You'll learn the core concepts of Bitcoin and blockchain technologies to understand their strengths and weaknesses from real-world case studies; dive deep into their technical, economic, political, and legal complexities; and gain insights about their future from exclusive interviews with dozens of tech industry leaders.
Are blockchains and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin a bubble or a revolution? We'll help you decide for yourself.

What's inside: Bitcoin and the blockchain

• How Bitcoin and blockchains work from a technical perspective with no assumed technical knowledge
  
• Satoshi Nakamoto and the history of Bitcoin, the original blockchain
  
• A thorough overview of crucial crypto concepts (eg. blocks, keys, mining, nodes, etc.)
  
• Frameworks for understanding when it actually makes sense to use blockchain
  
• Major application scenarios for blockchain and cryptocurrencies and where it'll fall flat
  

Public blockchains and altcoins

• Emerging trends in blockchain technology
  
• What you should know before buying any cryptocurrency
  
• An overview of Etherum and smart contracts
  
• An overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the top altcoins and stable coins, including Monero (XMR), Tether (USDT), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
  
• Alternatives to blockchain and cryptocurrencies
  
• New kinds of decentralized ledger technology (DLT)
  
• The economics of both traditional payment methods and cryptocurrencies
  
• Cryptocurrency security best practices and major breach case studies

Private blockchains

• How blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and traditional banking and finance will interact with one another in the future
  
• Public blockchains vs private blockchains
  
• Limitations and shortcomings of public blockchains and cryptocurrencies
  
• The role of blockchain in the strategy of top tech companies like Facebook and Microsoft
  
• Case studies of how non-tech companies are effectively utilizing blockchain (eg. Walmart using it to prevent foodborne illness)
  
• Business blockchain case studies ranging from gaming (e.g. Xbox) to cloud services (e.g. Microsoft Azure's blockchain-as-a-service and Amazon's AWS offering)
  
• Blockchain's use for big data, internet of things (IoT), and machine learning (ML)

Cryptocurrency regulation and policy

• ICOs vs STOs vs IPOs
  
• KYC and AML laws
  
• The debate over whether cryptocurrencies are securities
  
• The official stance of various countries on crypto
  
• An overview of crypto policy and regulatory hurdles
  
• The role of crypto in emerging markets and China
  
• Digital democracy and voting on the blockchain

The future of decentralized technology

• If, how, and when the tokenization of national currencies will play out
  
• Facebook and WhatsApp's upcoming cryptocurrencies
  
• Currency tokenization and China's efforts to tokenize the yuan
  
• Blockchain, IoT, and the tangle
  
• Cryptocurrencies vs. fiat vs. the gold standard
  
• Predictions about the future of money, business, and currency
  
• Why blockchains would do better on Mars than Earth