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1. Easy to read and makes you better informed for doing so.
   This is a book for everyone. It is well researched, well put together, can be read in chapters in any order if one finds any of the subject matter more, or less, compelling.
   The authors approach to the material makes this less a text book and more kind of a page turner.
   Well done!

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2. money! money! money!
   if you really want to understand the history and utility of money with all its nuances, look no further. easily understood but detailed and expansive. five stars!

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3. The Only Solution That Gives You Control
   Bitcoin could be, perhaps should be, a global-game-changer. Lyn Alden does a fine job of placing Bitcoin in larger contexts: technological, historical, economic, political. Her perspective is that of an engineer evaluating a new tool that has come on the market. By the end, she has compared Bitcoin to historical solutions (gold), current solutions (fiat), and other proposed solutions (other crypto). Only Bitcoin provides the functionality of a strong currency (value that cannot be debased, ease and speed of exchange, privacy, freedom from manipulation, and ability to operate across time and distance). Her historical analysis is necessary so that readers understand what the attributes of a universal currency should be and what vulnerabilities led – over time – to the failure of previous econo-politico-financial monetary solutions.
   Implicitly, she asks, “Does Bitcoin meet the need?” “Does it avoid previous and recurring difficulties?” “Does it create new problems?” “Are there other crypto solutions that are just as good, but cheaper, safer, easier to implement, more acceptable to users, or more acceptable to regulators or governments?” This book is a 500+ page “software review.” After years of research, thought, and due diligence, Ms. Alden concludes that Bitcoin could be a much-needed improvement and should be supported/adopted. She recounts her own journey, from moderate skepticism to cautious support. She believes that fiat currencies and the current global system of petro-dollars has/is/will fail most people in the world. She believes that proof-of-stake currencies are mortally flawed and that stable coins simply digitize the economic unfairness of fiat currency. All that is left on her workbench is Bitcoin (and a few much smaller proof-of-work currencies). Since Bitcoin has already attained considerable size, use, and acceptance, she recommends it. Her recommendation is not absolute, but considered and conditional. Alden is an engineer. She understands the evolution of tools, systems and technologies. She is pragmatic. Bitcoin is the best tool currently available. If the current fiat currency/national bank/petro-dollar system is imploding (I agree it is), drastic change is a required. Economic and political forces advocate for their version of a new system (just as such forces did at Bretton Woods). Alden asks us to see that for what it is and reject the status quo’s self-serving digital solutions. She asks us to embrace Bitcoin since it is the only solution that can give us, “the other 99%,” some “control of the ledger.”
   I am less optimistic than Alden. I consider her evaluation of the global monetary crisis and Bitcoin’s potential value sound. But I do not trust that most people or most companies will refuse the strongly marketed digital solutions offered by governments, regulators, and banks. Most people (sad to say) value convenience, personal costs, and immediate benefits more than privacy, public cost, and long-term benefits. Bitcoin should survive and grow, but it is unlikely to become a single, universal currency. Alden has little faith in public institutions. Sad. Apparently, I have little faith in people (even sadder). Or at least in their ability to resist popular trends.
   The book is a must read for investors and onlookers, academics and non-academics, anyone who wants to understand the reinvention of money. The book’s straightforward style and organization make it accessible and easy to translate. Even if Bitcoin fails to replace our current, flawed system, it can and should serve as a critical/useful alternative.

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4. Lyn Alden has a way of making tough subjects understandable to the financially untrained public
   Author has a deep understanding of financial, macroeconomic subjects, her fund of knowledge is impressive and her engineering background allows her to put things in a nice logical analytic way. For anyone interested in wondering what the vulnerabilities of their entire life savings are ( and that should be mostly everybody) this is a must read.

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5. Worth reading
   Thorough excuourse, in-depth analysis, compiled parallels, attractive author. Worth reading. Great job, would love to dig dipper into financial world.

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6. Wow!
   I am 60 years old and am dumbfounded by what I did not know and learned by reading this book. I consider myself above average in knowing how the US monetary system works – but WOW!.
   The book is complete in the sense that it covers not just the history of money (currency) but the current situation as well, right up through 2023. It makes informed guesses as how our current system may change as well, given the massive creation of base and broad money supply.
   For those interested in crypto-currency and the proposed Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) currently being debated – it will give a clear understanding of what these things are, could be, and their impacts on citizens of the world.
   There are sections of the book that can be technical, but the author lets you know them and when you can skip over those sections – for those people that are not “that” interested in the details. So I found the book to be excellent for both people that just want to learn more and also those that want to use this book as a source to know the details.
   I found the writing excellent. The author definitely has talent.
   I cannot recommend the book more!

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7. mixed
   The second half of this book on Bitcoin is rich, informative, and well presented with a good discussion of tradeoffs and pros and cons. But it is all about the means of payment (technology of distributive ledgers etc.) and nothing about money (what is being paid—dollars, gold, SDRs, bitcoin). The first half, which is more about money, is less enlightening.

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8. fantastic history textbook
   It’s nearly 500 pages, plus another 25 plus pages of references. So sit down and strap yourself in for a ride through the history of money, which for the most part has indeed been Broken Money. Very readable despite the heavy subject matter. References to everything from the hawala system which is de-centralized and not under any single point of control, to the military-industrial complex’s power and wars paid for completely by debt, paid down by debasing and inflating the currency.
   Keeps coming back to ledgers as the foundation of control over money: Who Controls the Ledger? Reviews the superiority of bitcoin because no one controls the ledger, so no government or other entity can dilute the bitcoin supply.
   I regard it as a textbook and marked thirty pages for re-reading and future reference before making investment decisions or voting decisions.

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9. I loved how easy this book was to read and how it mapped out who owned and owns the ledger throughout history and now. This is such an important topic considering how governments abused the ledger over the past few years which saw the highest inflation in decades followed by the sharpest rise in interest rates in decades. Western society has gotten a taste of what country’s like Nigeria and Argentina are going through. Capital countries, rapid currency debasement, asset seizure, and unauthorized bank account seizure. I live in Canada and witnessed first hand as peaceful protestors bank accounts were seized without proper due process. This book is a wake up call to everyone that unless you fight and are aware of this it could happen to you.

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10. Very readable, distilled economic commentary. Definitely changed my perspective on where the US dollar is going and it’s negative impact on the majority of the developed world over the last century.

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11. Es un libro excelente, con una visión integral del universo financiero, accesible para lectores con ciertos conocimientos previos. La primera mitad es excepcional. La segunda mitad se centra en activos digitales, su utilidad, su impacto energético y su trasfondo filosófico. Es más compleja, pero también muy interesante. Especialmente atractivo su enfoque sobre privacidad en el ámbito de las transacciones, y su impacto en las libertades y los derechos humanos. Muy recomendable

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12. Great reading for anyone who wants to understand money in today’s world. Excellent reading.

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13. One of the most clear and complete explanation about the current situation of money and economic.

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