In this book, Chris Skinner explores the financial world from ancient times to the present day, tracing its evolution and analyzing the revolutionary changes of recent years. He details how mobile technology is radically transforming financial services, turning the smartphone into a transaction machine and enabling billions of people to interact with each other in real time. New technologies are making the world truly global, but they are disruptive for traditional financial institutions. The author pays a lot of attention to what fate awaits traditional banks in the world of simple and cheap transactions if they do not rebuild and continue to ignore modern trends. Published in Russian for the first time.