ABSTRACT
It has been now more than 15 years since the first cryptocurrency ever – the Bitcoin – was released. What was originally addressed as an experimental project, with probably no big expectations about its success, and it is now one of the thousands of cryptocurrencies available on the market. This book tried to reconcile the financial interest toward cryptocurrencies with the technical aspect about the blockchain and DLT technology. The concept of money – as we know it today – is the result of a long evolution process, that started in ancient times, with a social agreement about commodities, and that evolved with the use of metal coins first, deposits and banknotes later, until the current concept of fiat money, where the acceptance rate of a currency is based on the reputation of the issuer and its ability to make the currency properly works as a means of payment, a store of value, and a unit of account.
