{"product_id":"money-without-masters-maria-irene-9798252037295","title":"Money Without Masters: The Story of Crypto","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe story of digital money - from a radical idea to a global movement.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBitcoin did not appear from nowhere. It was the product of decades of thinking about what money is, who controls it, and whether it could ever exist without institutions, governments or banks standing in the middle.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eMoney Without Masters\u003c\/i\u003e traces that journey from the beginning.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStarting with the cypherpunks of the 1990s and the early experiments that laid the groundwork for Bitcoin, this book follows the full arc of cryptocurrency's development: the rise and catastrophic collapse of Mt. Gox, the creation of Ethereum and its programmable blockchain, the explosion of decentralised finance, and the entrance of institutions such as BlackRock into a space that once prided itself on operating beyond their reach.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRather than focusing on price movements or investment strategies, \u003ci\u003eMoney Without Masters\u003c\/i\u003e asks a deeper question: \u003cb\u003ewhy did these systems appear in the first place?\u003c\/b\u003e What problems were they trying to solve, and how well have they solved them?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten in clear, accessible prose by educator and journalist Maria Irene, this book covers: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe philosophical and technical origins of Bitcoin and the cypherpunk movement\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe rise and collapse of early exchanges, including the Mt. Gox disaster\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHow Ethereum changed everything by making the blockchain programmable\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe role of stablecoins in bridging crypto and the traditional financial system\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEmerging networks such as the Internet Computer (ICP) and the decentralised AI marketplace Bittensor\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe growing idea that future digital economies may involve autonomous software agents transacting with one another - and what that means for money\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is not a book about getting rich. It is not a guide to trading, timing the market or picking winning tokens. It is something rarer: \u003cb\u003ea calm, historically grounded account of how a new form of money came into existence\u003c\/b\u003e, and why that story matters regardless of what the price of Bitcoin does next.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eFor anyone who has heard of cryptocurrency and wants to actually understand it.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Maria Irene\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798252037295\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/17\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 160\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.49lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.34d","brand":"Maria Irene","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48437800861951,"sku":"9798252037295","price":19.9,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_af01c9d0-16ff-44f5-83f4-8fbd6357e4df.jpg?v=1777164146","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/money-without-masters-maria-irene-9798252037295","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}