Digital Currency and Blockchains Provide Banking Services for Even Those with Flip Phones

Local currency in Kenya is transitioning "from multicolored paper notes to a digital token based on blockchain" supported by a Swiss company, Bancor ("Closing the Cash Gap with Cryptocurrency," Bloomberg Businessweek, November 3, 2018). This project is noteworthy because the use of digital currency is going beyond "speculation or illicit trade" to becoming the "basis for financial inclusion and economic stimulus for the poorest."

Review selected hard copy/online library books related to cryptocurrency and blockchains at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Place Hold" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to request for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more information in the library catalog:

• Bitcoin
• blockchains
• electronic commerce
• electronic funds transfers
• electronic commerce
• mobile commerce

The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking by Saifedean Ammous
Wiley, 2018
call number: 332.1 Amm (note: in processing - can place a hold to request it)

"When a pseudonymous programmer introduced "a new electronic cash system that's fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party" to a small online mailing list in 2008, very few paid attention. Ten years later, and against all odds, this upstart autonomous decentralized software offers an unstoppable and globally-accessible hard money alternative to modern central banks. The Bitcoin Standard analyzes the historical context to the rise of Bitcoin, the economic properties that have allowed it to grow quickly, and its likely economic, political, and social implications." - publisher's summary excerpt

Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Is Changing the World by Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott
Portfolio, 2018
call number: 332.1 Tap (note: in processing - can place a hold to request it)

"Blockchain is the ingeniously simple technology behind Bitcoin. But it is much more than that. It is a public ledger to which everyone has access, but which no single person controls. It enables companies and individuals to collaborate with an unprecedented degree of trust and transparency. It is cryptographically secure, but fundamentally open. And soon it will be everywhere...Don and Alex Tapscott reveal how this game-changing technology will shape the future of the world economy, dramatically improving everything from healthcare records to online voting, and from insurance claims to royalty payments." - publisher's summary excerpt

The Truth Machine: The Blockchain and the Future of Everything by Michael J. Casey and Paul Vigna
St. Martin's Press, 2018
call number: 332.1 Cas

"Michael J. Casey and Paul Vigna demystify the blockchain and explain why it can restore personal control over our data, assets, and identities; grant billions of excluded people access to the global economy; and shift the balance of power to revive society's faith in itself. They reveal the disruption it promises for industries including finance, tech, legal, and shipping." - publisher's summary excerpt