Welcome back to Wednesday! Today I want to talk about a book I just finished, Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux. This book was highly recommended by a few different podcasts I listen to, and the pitch that convinced me to take a look at it was that “it’s a book about how crypto is not as dumb as you think… It’s even dumber.”

And my goodness, how dumb it is. We shared in plenty of snark over crypto in 2021/2022, so much of it may not be new to you, but Faux goes deep into the personalities that boosted crypto. Characters such as the co-creator of Inspector Gadget and one of the child actors from The Mighty Ducks who describes himself as a “doula of creation,” some of the “degens” who proudly showcased their NFT apes they paid thousands of dollars for. It’s easy to laugh at the scenes Faux describes: the weirdos, the cult following, the wild parties, and the egotistical people who find themselves to have net worths in the millions (or billions). 

But then it takes a sharp turn when following up on a crypto-related scam takes Faux to Cambodia, where he learns about an honest to goodness human trafficking ring that lures people with the promise of jobs, but then forces them into scamming people for crypto. These people are held captive, tortured when they don’t meet their quotas, and have very little option of escaping. This is a dark side of crypto that I was not even aware of, and while perhaps such things would exist even in its absence, the challenges tracing the money and unwillingness from the major crypto exchanges to comply with investigations makes tracking down and prosecuting these operations challenging. Truly sickening, and I think worth being aware of this very real human cost, and a wider understanding of who is on the other end of that spam text.

The book wraps up with the crypto crash and the arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried, whose trial is currently ongoing. But the story of crypto probably isn’t over. Tether, the coin Faux originally started investigating, is still holding its value of being equivalent to $1, despite all sorts of questions about its reserves and backing. And it is probably only a matter of time before a run on coins starts again, driving up the price of Bitcoin again. There are still marks out there, and potential money to be made by convincing people that if they get in now, they can strike riches the likes of which they can only dream of.

If you’re interested in learning more about the rise and fall of crypto, I’d recommend checking it out. My interest stemmed primarily from a curiosity about internet sub-cultures, and so I lacked some of the understanding of business concepts that Faux takes as a given. While I know generally what a Ponzi scheme is, I wish he’d spent more time talking through some of the insanity of crypto speculation and the poor economic decisions underpinning it. But if that doesn’t hold you back, check with your local library for a copy.

… oh, wait, this isn’t the Book Nook? How embarrassing. Well in that case, just be kind and thoughtful today. Cheers.