The book raises useful questions about the development of bitcoin, which was designed in 2009 by Satoshe Nakamoto and relaunched in 2025 by the new American presidency. Bitcoin is both a cryptographic asset and an alternative currency under shadow banking. It performs the three functions of an official currency: unit of account, transaction vector, and store of value. The bitcoin system is decentralized and self-managed. It exploits blockchain technology, based on the encapsulation of transactions in blocks whose digital footprint (the hash) in the form of complex probabilistic equations, is verified by mining farms (Proof of Work).
The control of the system – which is increasingly used by states, administrations, businesses, and households – now presents strategic challenges for governments, central banks, and commercial banks. Transactions financed by bitcoins are subject to regulation by the Financial Stability Board, the Basel Committee, the Bank for International Settlements, the Financial Action Task Force, at the international level, and the MICA regulation, within the framework of the European Union. Despite this increasingly restrictive framework, since the failure of Facebook’s libra, bitcoin continues to raise questions and concerns among monetary institutions, financial institutions, and the general public. Bitcoin also raises ecological problems, being a consumer of electricity and contributing to global warming.
The authors of the book expose the dilemmas faced by governments, some of which (Salvador, Nigeria) have adopted it as an official currency, others (like China) have banned it, and most tolerate its use under certain conditions. The European Central Bank has relegated it to the rank of “pseudo-currency”. It seems that bitcoin is now considered a “safe haven” (the “bitcoin-gold”), a way to circumvent international sanctions (for Russia), an alternative to the dollar (for the BRICS), or “a digital value reserve”.
Reading the book requires sustained attention because of its conceptual and technical nature, but it contributes to a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the current international monetary system.
Jean-Charles Galli is a teacher-researcher and advisor to start-ups. Alexandre Stachtcenko is a strategy director at Paymium.
Jean-Jacques Pluchart