Cloudmoney: Cash, Cards, Crypto and the War for our Wallets

Description

Cloudmoney take us to the frontlines of a war for our wallets that is also about our freedom- it is a captivating tour of the world of money that also asks the most important questions about our future. 'A wonderfully revolutionary text' - YANIS VAROUFAKIS The reach of corporations into our lives via cards and apps has never been greater; many of us rarely use cash these days. But what we're told is natural and inevitable is actually the work of powerful interests. And the great battle of our time is for ownership of the digital footprints that make up our lives. Cloudmoney tells a revelatory story about how the fusion of big finance and tech requires physical cash to be replaced by digital money underpinned by the banking sector, or 'cloudmoney'. Diving beneath the surface of the global financial system, Brett Scott uncovers a long-established lobbying infrastructure waging a covert war on cash. He reveals the technical, political and cultural differences between our different forms of money, and shows how the cash system has been under attack for decades, as banking and tech companies promote a cashless society under the banner of progress. Cloudmoney takes us to the frontlines of a war for our wallets that is also about our freedom. From marketing strategies against cash, to the weaponization of Covid-19 to advance fintech platforms, and the cryptocurrency rebels and fringe groups pushing back, it asks the most pressing questions- Who benefits from a cashless society and who gets left behind? Is the end of cash the end of true privacy? And is our cloudmoney future closer than we think?

Brett Scott is a campaigner, monetary anthropologist and former broker. He is the author of The Heretic's Guide to Global Finance- Hacking the Future of Money, and has appeared in a wide range of TV shows, radio broadcasts and documentaries, including BBC World News and Sky News. He has written extensively on financial reform, digital finance, alternative currency, blockchain technology and the cashless society for publications like the Guardian, New Scientist, Huffington Post, Wired Magazine and CNN.com, and also publishes the Altered States of Monetary Consciousness newsletter. His Twitter is @suitpossum

If people could see clearly how their money is created, they would rebel - especially now that it is digitised. Brett Scott's highly readable and topical Cloudmoney is, in this sense, a wonderfully revolutionary text -- Yanis Varoufakis Cloudmoney is a brilliant, fascinating and utterly accessible book - a pioneering and political guide to the fast-evolving web of global finance... If you want to understand what money is - and what it is in danger of becoming - start right here -- Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics Your head has been deliberately filled with falsehoods and confusion about money. This brilliant book helps you understand how that happened, who profits from our collective financial ignorance, and how we might best fight back. Filled with dazzling insight and admirable clarity, this is a book you'll soon be recommending far and wide -- Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved The rush to a cashless society isn't about convenience. It is about power. Brett Scott cuts through the hype with this brilliant critique of digital money and the rise of fintech empires, while offering a compelling alternative vision. Don't miss this book -- Jason Hickel, author of Less Is More An important reflection on the new world of finance. Brett Scott writes with gusto about blockchain, crypto and the power nexus between Big Tech and the banks in a cashless society -- Lionel Barber, author of The Powerful and The Damned