About the authorIntroduction1 Finance as Big Tech's El DoradoThe high-tech eraMore than just a city of goldIsn't techfin just fintech backwards?Facebook and WeChat want you to exchange more than cat picturesGoogle and Apple let their mobile muscles playAmazon wants to be your bankerReferences2 Railroads for a new age: birth of the blockchainPioneers tinker with a truth machineA trust crisis and the advent of bitcoinDefinitively more than a faster horseThe moment banking started to listenReferences3 Lure of the wild: redefining the idea of moneyRedefining the idea of moneyGold rush and TelegramEncountering bulls and bearsReferences4 Two roads ahead: centralizationIdeology clash: to decentralize or not to decentralize?Problems with decentralizationBig Tech and Big Banking saddle upReferences5 Land rush: crypto-economicsEthereum and other Swiss Army knivesRise of the token economyThe automation of finance - from smart contracts to DAOsReferences6 DeFi unicorn stampedeDeFi and the return of cryptoThe five major DeFi application categoriesMoney LEGOThe chain gangBig Tech powerhouses in the cloudsMerging old and new territoryReferences7 The decentralization delusionWho runs the crypto-DeFi show?Pay-to-play consensusTreacherous concentrationReferences8 Robber barons feel assured and overshootBecoming captains of blockchain industryOne tech giant chooses another pathThe hubristic dream of a modern LibraGeopoliticsSo what if Big Tech runs our financial system?References9 The sheriffs come to town: regulation bends the trajectoryLibra backlashRegulatory rodeoCertainty lures settlersReferences10 Dawn of a new era: central bank digital currencies vs private stablecoinsWhy create new central bank money?Paving the way for an autonomous economyWorries of a super-stateAre CBDCs sounding the death knell for private stablecoins?References11 Commercial banks and the frontier experienceStill centralized, yet transformedPutting legacy into the museumPlatformization - invading Big Tech territoryThe super money engineBanks integrating DeFiReferences12 Setting out for the next frontier: the metaverse and Web3NFT-maniaFacebook finds new land - meet the metaverseThe difference between Web2, Web3 and the metaverseMetaFi - money in the metaverseThe showdown between Big Tech, Big Banking and Big GovernmentReferencesFinal remarksGlossaryIndex