Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part I. Setting the stage: Racing to the future -- Money and finance: the basics -- Part II. InnovatIons: Will Fintech save the world? Or at least make it better? -- Bitcoin sets off a revolution, then falters -- Crypto mania -- Part III. Central bank money: The case for central bank digital currencies -- Getting CBDCs off the ground -- Part IV. Implications, challenges: Consequences for the international monetary system -- Central banks run the gauntlet -- A glorious future beckons, perhaps.

"New technologies are shaking the foundations of traditional finance. Leading economist Eswar S. Prasad foresees the end of cash, as central banks develop their own digital currencies to compete with Bitcoin and Facebook's Diem. Money and finance are on the verge of dramatic transformations that will reshape their roles in the lives of ordinary people"--