What do you think?
Rate this book
Hype Machine: How Greed, Fraud and Free Money Crashed Crypto
'A gripping real-life financial thriller.' CLAER BARRETT, AUTHOR OF WHAT THEY DON'T TEACH YOU ABOUT MONEY
'Fast-paced and highly accessible ... A must read.' GILLIAN TETT, AUTHOR OF ANTHRO-VISION
'Anybody who wants to understand the cryptocurrency mania should read Hype Machine.' LIONEL BARBER, FORMER EDITOR OF THE FINANCIAL TIMES
On 2 November 2023, in one of the largest fraud trials in history, Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of stealing billions of dollars from the customers of his crypto-exchange, FTX.
How did this 31-year-old Californian in shorts and a T-shirt manage to become one of the most famous CEOs in the world? How did greed, fear and free money inflate the crypto bubble until it finally popped with devastating consequences for millions of people who lost money in the crash? Who were the enablers, investors and innovators who transformed the original promise of crypto into a digital Wild West?
Hype Machine is the definitive story of the boom and bust of crypto, written by award-winning Financial Times journalist Joshua Oliver. Expansive, nuanced and eminently entertaining, it demystifies the crypto circus by following the journeys of its most influential participants and the trajectory of SBF, its enigmatic ringmaster.
Oliver, who reported on the crypto crash with extensive access to SBF himself, introduces readers to the people and ideas that shaped crypto's wild rise and fall, including Arthur Hayes, Changpeng Zhao and the coterie of acolytes who surrounded FTX. Through exclusive interviews, compelling research and with ringside seats at the trial of the decade, he paints a vivid, detailed and tragi-comic picture of this defining financial moment of our times.
'Fast-paced and highly accessible ... A must read.' GILLIAN TETT, AUTHOR OF ANTHRO-VISION
'Anybody who wants to understand the cryptocurrency mania should read Hype Machine.' LIONEL BARBER, FORMER EDITOR OF THE FINANCIAL TIMES
On 2 November 2023, in one of the largest fraud trials in history, Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of stealing billions of dollars from the customers of his crypto-exchange, FTX.
How did this 31-year-old Californian in shorts and a T-shirt manage to become one of the most famous CEOs in the world? How did greed, fear and free money inflate the crypto bubble until it finally popped with devastating consequences for millions of people who lost money in the crash? Who were the enablers, investors and innovators who transformed the original promise of crypto into a digital Wild West?
Hype Machine is the definitive story of the boom and bust of crypto, written by award-winning Financial Times journalist Joshua Oliver. Expansive, nuanced and eminently entertaining, it demystifies the crypto circus by following the journeys of its most influential participants and the trajectory of SBF, its enigmatic ringmaster.
Oliver, who reported on the crypto crash with extensive access to SBF himself, introduces readers to the people and ideas that shaped crypto's wild rise and fall, including Arthur Hayes, Changpeng Zhao and the coterie of acolytes who surrounded FTX. Through exclusive interviews, compelling research and with ringside seats at the trial of the decade, he paints a vivid, detailed and tragi-comic picture of this defining financial moment of our times.
339 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 14, 2024
23 people are currently reading
114 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 11, 2024
3.5 stars
I knew very little about crypto but wanted to understand the Bankman-Fried trial better, and this book provides good foundational knowledge. There are a few parts where it is dry and dense, but I found it readable as a beginner.
If you're a crypto bro, I wouldn't recommend this book as it's beginner-friendly and crypto-negative. This is understandable because in the introduction, Oliver makes it clear that his mother's pension is a victim of Bankman-Fried.
I would love to know more about the dynamic between Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, and their friends at FTX. I found that fascinating but Oliver only touches on it.
I still think beanie babies are the most ridiculous financial bubble ever, but Oliver does make a good argument for it being crypto.
I knew very little about crypto but wanted to understand the Bankman-Fried trial better, and this book provides good foundational knowledge. There are a few parts where it is dry and dense, but I found it readable as a beginner.
If you're a crypto bro, I wouldn't recommend this book as it's beginner-friendly and crypto-negative. This is understandable because in the introduction, Oliver makes it clear that his mother's pension is a victim of Bankman-Fried.
I would love to know more about the dynamic between Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, and their friends at FTX. I found that fascinating but Oliver only touches on it.
I still think beanie babies are the most ridiculous financial bubble ever, but Oliver does make a good argument for it being crypto.
March 24, 2024
Easy to read difficult to put down
Nicely written story, difficult to put down. Balanced view on what crypto promised and the little that has been delivered.
Nicely written story, difficult to put down. Balanced view on what crypto promised and the little that has been delivered.
February 20, 2025
Presents a comprehensive storyline of the whole FTX and alameda ordeal, I found the ending mark particularly interesting, the author said that the trust in cryptocurrencies exemplified a distrust in traditional financial systems, almost akin to a type of financial populism. I found this point striking yet after arguing that cryptocurrencies defied its original purpose to be an entity independent of fiat currencies. For the author to first affirm the layers of interdependence between tradfi and defi, and then to accuse cryptocurrency to be a distrust in tradfi seems contradictory.
March 20, 2025
Very basic history of the downfall of a crypto exchange.
What is remarkable is that these ginormous scams, of which there are many every month, flourish, continue, take billions and billions, get much publicity, little scrutiny and will only continue.
Obviously humans are lazy, deceitful and dishonest when given the opportunity to steal from the common citizen while governments go incredible little about fixing the problem?
Oh, and its a good read about $8b fraudster Sam Bankman Fried who ended up with just 25 years in prison. (He gets a day for every $875,000?)
What is remarkable is that these ginormous scams, of which there are many every month, flourish, continue, take billions and billions, get much publicity, little scrutiny and will only continue.
Obviously humans are lazy, deceitful and dishonest when given the opportunity to steal from the common citizen while governments go incredible little about fixing the problem?
Oh, and its a good read about $8b fraudster Sam Bankman Fried who ended up with just 25 years in prison. (He gets a day for every $875,000?)
April 20, 2025
Clarity from a financial journalist of what crypto actually is and how far it has strayed from the "ideal" of its creator/s. Now it's the ultimate Ponzie scheme coupled to regular "pump and dumps". A few people will get extremely rich in an unregulated market, it's inevitable there will be a final and complete collapse as with all pyramid schemes, just don't be part of it.
June 22, 2024
A fantastic read, a perfect follow up to Numbers go up!
August 5, 2025
Taught me a lot about the crypto market
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews