## Book review a glorious future for money

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Book review a glorious future for money](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2021/09/book-review-a-glorious-future-for-money-prasad)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2021/09/book-review-a-glorious-future-for-money-prasad/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2021/09/book-review-a-glorious-future-for-money-prasad/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2021/09/book-review-a-glorious-future-for-money-prasad/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Authors: JON FROST
- Published: September 2, 2021

---

### Publication and bibliographic details
- Review title: Book review a glorious future for money
- Reviewer: JON FROST, head of innovation and the digital economy in the Monetary and Economic Department at the Bank for International Settlements.
- Reviewed book: The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution Is Transforming Currencies and Finance
- Author of book: Eswar S. Prasad
- Publisher: Belknap Press, Cambridge, MA, 2021, 496 pp., $35.00
- F&D Magazine, September 2021
- Read time indicator on page: Less than a minute(0 words) Read

### Key findings and syntheses from the review
- Scope of digital disruption
  - Digital technologies are disrupting money itself, not just peripheral financial services.
  - Fintech has already produced large impacts including the dramatic growth of mobile money in East Africa and China, the emergence of peer-to-peer lending, and microinsurance.
  - Fintech has included hundreds of millions of new users in the financial system—particularly in emerging market and developing economies.
- Cryptocurrencies and distributed ledger technologies
  - The review describes Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the distributed ledger technologies underlying them.
  - There is noted disappointment around their actual use in payments to date.
- Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)
  - CBDCs are presented as one of the most far-reaching innovations.
  - Potential benefits listed:
    - Could serve as a backstop to privately managed payment systems.
    - Further enhance financial inclusion.
    - Improve monetary policy transmission.
    - Help fight corruption.
  - Potential risks listed:
    - Bypassing of banks.
    - Loss of privacy.
    - Orwellian oversight of citizens by authorities.
  - Mitigation: Risks can be mitigated through proper design and legislative oversight.
- Breadth of coverage in the book
  - Sweeping overview of developments in payments, from specifics of Ant Group’s business to the e-krona project and Venezuela’s Petro.
  - Includes anecdotes such as ABBA singer Björn Ulvaeus’s battle against cash in Sweden and a quoted dismissal of regulatory sandboxes by Maria Vullo: “Toddlers play in sandboxes. Adults play by the rules.”
  - Discusses implications of fintech and CBDCs for cross-border payments and the role of the US dollar as a reserve currency.
- Genre and comparative context
  - The Future of Money is positioned alongside Felix Martin’s Money: The Unauthorized Biography and Lana Swartz’s New Money.
  - Emphasis that the design of money is not merely technical but a deeply important societal issue.

### Policy implications and recommendations emphasized
- Issuance and non-issuance of CBDCs are both conscious policy actions.
- To make the right choices, a broad dialogue with a well-informed public is key.
- Proper design and legislative oversight are necessary to mitigate the risks associated with CBDCs.

### Additional reviewer and publisher notes
- The review is written by JON FROST of the Bank for International Settlements.
- Opinions expressed in articles and other materials are those of the authors; they do not necessarily reflect IMF policy.
- The views expressed here are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Bank for International Settlements.

*Source: IMF F&D Magazine page — Book review a glorious future for money (September 2021).*

---


_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2021/09/book-review-a-glorious-future-for-money-prasad_