Kings of Crypto
One Startup's Quest to Take Cryptocurrency Out of Silicon Valley and Onto Wall Street
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- €30.99
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- €30.99
Publisher Description
"Tech writer Roberts debuts with a page-turning account of the rise of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase from the Y Combinator startup incubator to becoming a 'pillar of the larger crypto economy.'" — Publisher's Weekly
For a moment late in 2018, one bitcoin, which physically amounts to a few electrons blipping on a tiny bit of silicon, was worth $20,000—the same as a pound of gold. Libertarian technologists who believed bitcoin would be the foundation of a new world order saw the moment as an apotheosis. Everyone else saw a bubble. Everyone else was right, and the bubble burst. But bitcoin survived, and the battle for its soul rages on.
Kings of Crypto drops us into the unfolding drama, tracing the rise, fall, and rebirth of cryptocurrency through the experiences of major players across the globe. We follow Silicon Valley entrepreneur Brian Armstrong and the turbulent rocket ride of his startup, Coinbase, as he tries to take bitcoin mainstream while fighting off hackers, thieves, and zealots. Author Jeff John Roberts keenly observes the world of virtual currencies and what happens when startups try to disrupt the world of high finance. Clear explanations of crypto technology are woven into an amazing landscape full of meme-fueled startup hijinks, hacking (so much hacking!), shady investors, government investigations, billionaire bros and their Lambos, and closed-door meetings with Jamie Dimon.
This is the surprising story of the origins of cryptocurrency and how it is changing money forever.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tech writer Roberts debuts with a page-turning account of the rise of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase from the Y Combinator startup incubator to becoming a "pillar of the larger crypto economy." Coinbase launched in 2012 with a mission to "make bitcoin simpler," and in time it folded in other cryptocurrencies; after a successful A round of funding, one venture capitalist called it the "JP Morgan of bitcoin." By 2017, Coinbase had hundreds of employees, who aided the company in weathering 2018's "crypto winter" when bitcoin prices fell dramatically, and a year later the company controlled "more than 5 percent of all bitcoins in existence." Along the way, Roberts captures political infighting and adrenaline-fueled moments ("We're going to build this! We're going to run through brick walls!" one founder encourages employees) as the scrappy startup becomes a corporate powerhouse. Eccentric characters, like one executive who eats only a combination of Tate's cookies and half-and-half for days at a stretch, make for a zippy narrative with plenty of personality. Roberts brings the murky world of cryptocurrency to life in this novelistic, unforgettable story.
