Eswar S. Prasad's The Future of Money examines how technological innovation and policy experimentation are transforming the very nature of currency and finance. Prasad, a former IMF official and Cornell economist, surveys developments from cryptocurrency to central bank digital currencies, from mobile payments to algorithmic trading. He explains how the dominance of the U.S. dollar in global finance has persisted even as China, the eurozone, and private cryptocurrencies have sought to challenge it. The book is particularly strong on central bank digital currencies, explaining why dozens of countries are exploring or piloting them and what their widespread adoption might mean for privacy, financial inclusion, and monetary policy. Prasad takes readers inside the technical debates about blockchain, distributed ledgers, and programmable money, making complex concepts accessible without oversimplifying. He also examines the risks: how digital currencies could enable surveillance, facilitate illicit finance, or destabilize banking systems. Throughout, he maintains analytical balance, neither dismissing innovation as hype nor embracing it uncritically. Readers will come away understanding not just how money is changing but why it matters for issues from economic inequality to geopolitical competition. Essential for anyone seeking to understand how the financial system is evolving and what it might look like in the coming decades.