The system that governs how money works with its brokers & middlemen has stayed roughly the same for centuries Now there's an alternative & it puts us on the cusp of a revolution that could reshape our world At the heart of this lie cryptocurrencies a technology with the transformative potential of the printing press or the internet They bypass the elites & cut out the gatekeepers Unlike traditional money they're peer-to-peer they don't have a nationality they're digital & democratic They are also lawless For the Afghani woman denied a bank account by a repressive society or any of the world's 25 billion unbanked individuals cryptocurrencies open new possibilities What would a world without banks or credit cards or even national currencies look like for all of us? From Silicon Valley to the streets of Beijing this is a book about a revolution in the making a story of human invention & a guide to the future