1. Introduction -- 2. Means of Exchange: Ever Present Competition -- 2.1. The Medium of Exchange – Historical Overview -- 2.2. What Roles Does Money Serve? -- 2.3. Competing Money -- 2.4. Virtual Money? -- 3. Platform-Based Currencies -- 3.1. Special Currencies of the Traditional World -- 3.2. Platform-Based Currencies in the Digital Era -- 3.3. Conclusion -- 3.4. Discussion -- 4. Cryptocurrencies -- 4.1. The Double Spending Problem -- 4.2. How Does Bitcoin Work? Brief Overview -- 4.3. Not the First One – Predecessors of Bitcoin -- 4.4. Problems with Bitcoin (New Challenges) -- 4.5. Competition Against Other Cryptcurrencies -- 4.6. Non-Currency Use of Blockchain Technology -- 4.7. Trading Cryptocurrencies -- 4.8. How Do Cryptocurrencies' Attributes Compare to Earlier Money? -- 5. Conclusions.

Digital currencies are a fairly new phenomenon brought about by the spectacular rise of the internet. While Bitcoin is the most famous, there are numerous other digital currencies—from Amazon Coin to Zetacoin. Beyond Bitcoin explores the economic forces underlying the design of their features and their potential. Halaburda and Sarvary argue that digital currencies are best understood by considering the economic incentives driving their creators and users. The authors present a framework that will allow systemic analysis of this dynamic environment and support further discussion of the design of digital currencies' features and the competition in the market.