The Money Book Circle series – Q2 2025 edition
A quarterly series on the hottest new books on finance and technology
On the go? No problem. We have you covered with the audio version:
Book #1: “Bitcoin Age”
by Nik Bhatia
Nik Bhatia has written one of my favorite books on the evolution of monetary systems: Layered Money took readers all the way from gold to CBDCs. So, when I heard that Bhatia came out with a new Bitcoin book, I simply had to give it a read. And once more Bhatia takes us on a gripping journey through the history of money. He sketches the dollar’s ascent to become the world’s reserve currency and how it served as a basic building block to today’s global banking system. He also looks at the ills that have befallen today’s monetary world, in particular inflationary money creation.
Yet while Bhatia puts his finger on issues truly of concern to the future of finance, I disagree with what he presents as the antidote. As in his previous book, Bitcoin is seen as the tool to end all of those shortcomings. Our monetary system is indeed ripe for disruption, full of inefficiencies that cause costs and long waiting times. And digital currencies indeed hold the potential to solve those. But to suggest that an asset is the answer to problems such as inequality or inflation is a stretch.
If you want to rein in inflation, then simply slash government spending. If you want to fight inequality, reform the tax code and upskill your workforce. And yes, I do agree with Bhatia that the invention of Bitcoin will eventually change the financial system like only a handful of other inventions in monetary history. Yet Bitcoin will always stay an asset, not a currency. It is truly digital gold. So just like physical gold, it will not be the prime means of money transfer, but a store of value. And Bhatia himself rightly praises Bitcoin for appreciating value rather than sheding it. But this makes Bitcoin a deflationary asset, which people will prefer to keep rather than spend. Ergo, payments and transactions will have to flow based on another asset.
The birth of Bitcoin did give the world a groundbreaking technology called blockchain. It has already given rise to countless more advanced applications when it comes to the movement of value. Stablecoins, CBDCs, deposit tokens, smart-contract ready blockchains – the list is long. It is a pity that “Bitcoin Age” does not cover those. Instead, the focus on Bitcoin makes the argumentation too simplistic. I understand that a deeper and broader discussion would have come at the expense of the welcomed brevity of the book, but sometimes brevity comes at the expense of precise analysis. And precise analysis is what futurists and investors alike should be basing their decisions on.
Still, Bhatia is a skillful writer, highly knowledgeable in monetary history, and he manages to convey new lessons and perspectives even to those familiar with Bitcoin. Plus, the book is pleasantly short. While it is not the same caliber as Layered Money it definitively does a great job explaining why the Bitcoin-wave has washed across the world of finance with such a heft and why Bitcoin despite its shortcomings is still the unchallenged number of crypto-asset.
Book #2: “The Nvidia Way: Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant”
by Tae Kim
Most of us have come to know Nvidia in the 2000s as the company producing the graphic cards in our computers. Today Nvidia is the number one AI powerhouse and one of the best performing stocks in Wall Street history. Since its IPO in 1999 it boasted a compound annual growth rate north of 30%. I challenge you to find a stock with a better performance. Was this success assured, given Nvidia’s positioning as a manufacturer of gaming chips, which turned out to be the muscles of the AI age? As Tae Kim vividly describes in his book, not at all. Just look at the performance of Nvidia’s chip maker rivals and you get the point. But what set Nvidia apart? And what can it teach other companies seeking to replicate its success?
“The Nvidia Way” offers a riveting, accessible account of how Nvidia’s relentless innovation and its visionary CEO, Jensen Huang, transformed a modest gaming chip startup into a global tech juggernaut at the center of the AI revolution.
At the heart of the book is Kim’s portrait of Huang as a singular, hands-on leader. Huang’s late nights alongside engineers, his intolerance for indecisiveness, and his ability to foster a mission-driven culture are vividly depicted. Kim shows how this leadership style – demanding yet inspiring – became the company’s competitive edge, driving an insane pace of innovation that left rivals incapable of keeping up. The narrative underscores how Huang’s personal work ethic shaped Nvidia’s culture, aligning the workforce around a shared vision and freeing the company from the internal politics that often hobble large organizations.
Kim excels at making Nvidia’s technical milestones accessible to a general audience. The book traces the company’s evolution from gaming chips to the invention of the GPU with the GeForce 256 – a pivotal moment that set Nvidia apart from its competitors. Kim details how Nvidia’s investment in CUDA technology turned its hardware into a cornerstone of AI development, enabling parallel computing that outpaced traditional CPUs. These innovations are presented not just as technical feats, but as strategic masterstrokes that positioned Nvidia at the forefront of both graphics and AI computing.
The book also highlights Huang’s business acumen, particularly his philosophy of maintaining strong, collaborative relationships with key partners like TSMC. Kim illustrates how this approach helped Nvidia build a resilient supply chain and avoid the pitfalls that felled other tech giants, such as Intel’s missed opportunities in smartphones and AI.
While “The Nvidia Way” is largely admiring of Huang’s leadership, Kim does not shy away from critique. The book acknowledges that Huang’s dominance sometimes overshadows the contributions of co-founders Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, as well as broader market forces that contributed to Nvidia’s rise. It also notes that the narrative occasionally glosses over the challenges and uncertainties Nvidia faces as AI scaling laws and market competition evolve.
“The Nvidia Way” stands out as a compelling study of leadership, innovation, and strategy in the unforgiving world of technology. Kim’s account is both inspiring and instructive, offering valuable lessons on how a visionary leader and a cohesive team can turn ambition into industry dominance. While the book’s focus on Huang sometimes comes at the expense of a broader perspective, it remains a gripping and revealing peek behind the curtain of Wall Street’s biggest success story in decades. Tae Kim has had tremendous success with this book and rightly so.
Book #3: “Financial Longevity: Increase your Wealth Span, Spend Money Guilt-Free and Gain the Confidence to Enjoy Your Bigger Future.”
by Michael Merlin
“Financial Longevity” by Michael Merlin is a concise, practical guide aimed at helping readers align their financial resources with the realities of longer lifespans. In essence, the argument of the book is that your wealth span has to match your life span. And at the core of this idea lies the powerful metaphor which likens financial wellbeing with physical one. Just like our physical health suffers from various diseases, so does our financial health. And both are shaped by our habits, positively as well as negatively. Though this book is not specifically targeted at people investing in technology, it does hold a number of valuable lessons for them in particular. The extreme unpredictability of the sector makes us particularly prone to some bad habits, say giving in to FOMO or panicking in a downturn.
Drawing on over two decades as a Certified Financial Planner and founder of Merlin Wealth Management, Merlin presses financial concepts into actionable advice for a broad audience. His core premise is that as people live longer than ever, the traditional approach to financial planning-focused on retirement at a fixed age-no longer suffices. Instead, he advocates for “financial longevity:” ensuring your wealth lasts as long as you do. Merlin’s writing is jargon-free and on a higher abstraction level, making it suitable for those just starting their financial journey. Seasoned investors will not learn much new about financial concept, but they will benefit from re-visiting how to build a handful of crucial habits. In the end, this can make more impact that knowing the most complex formulas.
A central feature of the book is Merlin’s identification of three “financial diseases” that commonly shorten wealth spans. For each, he offers simple, actionable strategies to “treat” these pitfalls-such as undisciplined spending, lack of planning, and poor investment habits. Chapters like “Curing the Disease of Being Undisciplined,” “Slow and Steady Wins the Race,” and “Upgrading Your Investment Philosophy” provide readers with step-by-step guidance to build and maintain healthy financial habits.
Merlin also emphasizes the importance of multi-generational planning, communication, and involving family in wealth decisions. This holistic approach is grounded in his professional experience and personal values, inspired by his grandmother’s struggles with financial literacy. And here is the part I like best about the book: All proceeds from Financial Longevity support The Perpetual Path Foundation, Merlin’s non-profit dedicated to financial education and community advancement, reinforcing the book’s mission of empowerment and giving back.
Financial Longevity is a timely, approachable resource for anyone concerned about outliving their wealth in a rapidly changing world. Michael Merlin’s blend of professional expertise and personal insight offers readers a roadmap to financial security, confidence, and a more fulfilling future. As tech investors we are driven by the dynamism of the industry from one innovative breakthrough to another, from fear of regulatory crackdowns to funding shortages and valuation crashes, as well as gripping exuberance in-between. In this world more than any other we have to remind ourselves to zoom out and assess where these investments actually fit into our big goals. And we have to train our habits to make the right decisions in often overheated day-to-day decisions.
Interested in more books on finance and technology? Check out the top 50 list below.
Or check out the last issue of The Money Book Circle by clicking on the picture below:
Note: None of the content of this article and this newsletter, nor my books, presentations, and seminars is legal, tax, investment, financial, or investment advice. Nothing contained constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments. The content is gathered from publicly available information and the expertise of the author. It does not contain any insider information. Also, as an Amazon Associate I occasionally earn from qualifying purchases.