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Virtual Billions: The Genius, the Drug Lord, and the Ivy League Twins behind the Rise of Bitcoin
Bitcoin, the digital currency, was introduced in 2009 with little fanfare; five years later, shocking the world, it was worth $14 billion. This book explores the cyber currency by focusing on the remarkable stories and intriguing personalities ofthose responsible for its sudden Satoshi Nakamoto, the reclusive and anonymous genius who created Bitcoin; Ross Ulbricht, aka the Dread Pirate Roberts, administrator of the largest and most successful Dark Web drug superstore, using Bitcoin to fuel online sale of drugs, hacking services, counterfeit money, and assassinations; and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Harvard graduates, successful litigants vs. Facebook, world-class Olympic rowers, and Bitcoin entrepreneurs who own 1 percent of all bitcoins in existence.Equal parts The Social Network, Sherlock Holmes, and Breaking Bad, this absorbing narrative tells the stories of the reclusive geniuswho waged a one-man war against the global banking system (and he's winning); the quiet and affable computer geek who, until his arrest, profited handsomely from Silk Road, his online drug superstore; and the multitalented Harvard twins, who made a fortune from an intellectual-property suit against Mark Zuckerberg, and now are the chief promoters of Bitcoin as "the next big thing."Bitcoin has introduced us to coke-fueled coding gurus, anger-crazed hitmen-hiring millionaires, and canny "Bitcoin miners" avidly adding processing power to their chilly Icelandic server farms to generate millions of dollars every month. Absurd and almost unbelievable stories abound, and sweep the reader along through the living and breathing, passionate and paranoid insiders who made it all happen.
- GenresTechnologyEconomics
322 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 5, 2016
11 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 9, 2017
Cream spread too thin. Covered way too many topics
August 28, 2016
Eric Geissinger does an outstanding job of laying out the history, functionality, and significance of Bitcoin. While the book is loosely structured as the story of 4 people, each chapter weaves in and out of its stated topic with tangential stories that sometimes bare little significance with Bitcoin. For some reason, the biography of the Winklevoss twins requires we understand the history of pension plans, going back to ancient Rome (where we spend several pages). If you're a trivia buff, some of these tangents prove fascinating but mostly it feels like Geissinger just needed to reach his word count.
April 23, 2022
A very good book, divided in three sections: the beginnings of Bitcoin and the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto; the story of Silk Road; and the Winklevoss twins.
The first part is excellent, it explains in detail the blockchain, encryption, proof-of-work, wallets and how to buy and sell.
The second part tells the story of Ross Albrecht and it is very compelling to read.
The last part is a bit disappointing. An endless and pointless genealogy of the Winklevoss family and rants justifying privilege. Ben Mezrich's book is so much better conveying their story.
But overall I really enjoyed this book.
The first part is excellent, it explains in detail the blockchain, encryption, proof-of-work, wallets and how to buy and sell.
The second part tells the story of Ross Albrecht and it is very compelling to read.
The last part is a bit disappointing. An endless and pointless genealogy of the Winklevoss family and rants justifying privilege. Ben Mezrich's book is so much better conveying their story.
But overall I really enjoyed this book.
February 9, 2023
Eric did a good job in explaining the block chain, birth of bitcoin, Satoshi, Silk Road and Winklevoss twin in bitcoin. Expect to learn the history of it rather than the way you can utilised the bitcoin.
A good read for those interested to know more about the bitcoin.
A good read for those interested to know more about the bitcoin.
September 3, 2022
A thrilling, non fiction, account of bitcoin
April 19, 2022
As always, I read the reviews before I write my own. First off: This is not a book about the technical knowledge behind Bitcoin. You're not going to learn the programming here, or how to get started in Bitcoin, or whatever other How-To you're looking for in that regard. Second: This is not a book about how to become a millionaire with Bitcoin. It's 3 sets of biographies stringing together how Bitcoin came to be and how it has grown. I suppose you could get the same information from multiple Wikipedia articles, however this book is far more investigative and entertaining than a dry factual article.
The first biography is interesting because it delves as far back as possible to analyze why something like Bitcoin would come to exist. If you're a total newbie, it definitely gives you more context than, "Well, it's a type of internet currency." It does go into how the blockchain works and the variety of security concerns, which paints a good picture why everyone thinks/thought Bitcoin is so revolutionary. Here is where I point out this book is already several years old, and one of the criticisms it gets is the author's enthusiasm --- you have to keep in mind, the author can't see into the future! In the time he wrote this, yes...much of what he said did make sense, even if it might no longer hold up.
There are moments when it's clear the author is struggling to meet the word count, and I think the first & last biographies are the most worth reading, not the middle one. That's fair, there isn't always enough to say... the Winkelvoss twins were smart, had someone already as a financial expert in the family to mentor them, and so they made some good decisions and make lots with Bitcoin now. Not much to say.
The third biography is an absolute blast if you're into crime and detective mysteries. Here, the author lays it out point by point and some of the real facts about what happened Robert Ulbricht are bittersweet comedy that makes you laugh out loud. Very, very entertaining arrest! Once again, a good education for absolute newbies who think Facebook is as deep as the Internet goes. His analysis of why he thinks Ulbricht ultimately went off the rails is good food for thought from a societal standpoint.
Of all the things, I found the conceptual discussion around what is money and what is currency the most interesting. It's not something we really think about at all, when it's worth thinking about as a society that builds our whole lives around it.
The first biography is interesting because it delves as far back as possible to analyze why something like Bitcoin would come to exist. If you're a total newbie, it definitely gives you more context than, "Well, it's a type of internet currency." It does go into how the blockchain works and the variety of security concerns, which paints a good picture why everyone thinks/thought Bitcoin is so revolutionary. Here is where I point out this book is already several years old, and one of the criticisms it gets is the author's enthusiasm --- you have to keep in mind, the author can't see into the future! In the time he wrote this, yes...much of what he said did make sense, even if it might no longer hold up.
There are moments when it's clear the author is struggling to meet the word count, and I think the first & last biographies are the most worth reading, not the middle one. That's fair, there isn't always enough to say... the Winkelvoss twins were smart, had someone already as a financial expert in the family to mentor them, and so they made some good decisions and make lots with Bitcoin now. Not much to say.
The third biography is an absolute blast if you're into crime and detective mysteries. Here, the author lays it out point by point and some of the real facts about what happened Robert Ulbricht are bittersweet comedy that makes you laugh out loud. Very, very entertaining arrest! Once again, a good education for absolute newbies who think Facebook is as deep as the Internet goes. His analysis of why he thinks Ulbricht ultimately went off the rails is good food for thought from a societal standpoint.
Of all the things, I found the conceptual discussion around what is money and what is currency the most interesting. It's not something we really think about at all, when it's worth thinking about as a society that builds our whole lives around it.
May 30, 2016
The best part about the book is the lucid and detailed explanation about how the blockchain works, that uses no mathematical notation or terms. The rest of it is unmemorable.
There isn't a lot of meat for the technically minded, which was fine, until the writer invoked BBT (the sitcom) to explain nerds. For all his circumspection and impartiality, the book did seem to have an unsaid opinion that technology was not as important the social implications of it.
The book painstakingly maintains balance, going into all kinds of non-technical aspects of a cryptocurrency. I particularly liked a point made about how scientists and technologists have a poor understanding about fields not their own, and the question of whether Ross Ulbricht would be a better person had he visited the Sistine Chapel.
This is the ultimate failing of the book- the trivia overload soon descends into pedanticism. After the initial explanation of the blockchain, it is hardly ever mentioned. It's all libertarianism and bitcoin from then on (so forget about Ethereum and 21 being discussed). Reading about Ulbricht and the Winklewii was interesting, but really, who cares?
There isn't a lot of meat for the technically minded, which was fine, until the writer invoked BBT (the sitcom) to explain nerds. For all his circumspection and impartiality, the book did seem to have an unsaid opinion that technology was not as important the social implications of it.
The book painstakingly maintains balance, going into all kinds of non-technical aspects of a cryptocurrency. I particularly liked a point made about how scientists and technologists have a poor understanding about fields not their own, and the question of whether Ross Ulbricht would be a better person had he visited the Sistine Chapel.
This is the ultimate failing of the book- the trivia overload soon descends into pedanticism. After the initial explanation of the blockchain, it is hardly ever mentioned. It's all libertarianism and bitcoin from then on (so forget about Ethereum and 21 being discussed). Reading about Ulbricht and the Winklewii was interesting, but really, who cares?
April 17, 2016
Want a nice clear explanation of Bitcoin? Well, this will get you there, but there's a lot of digression and background and opinion. That could be good for many readers, but I wanted something a bit more even handed, and to the point. Geissinger likes to get to the backstory, the roots, and while this results in many interesting side trips (the history of American Libertarianism, for instance), I found that an article in The London Review of Books delivered the crisp, unbiased reporting I was looking for. John Lanchester's long article When Bitcoin Grows Up in the April 21, 2016 issue is as clear and informative an explanation of what Bitcoin is and means as any you're likely to find.
October 2, 2016
For a book with a terrible cover, this was spectacularly informative and fun.
One note--the conclusion section displays a PHENOMENAL lack of understanding of the history of the phonograph. Figuratively everything is wrong, from the idea that it was successful right out the gate (it was ignored by everyone, including Edison, as a novelty for the first decade) to the poor historiography that follows.
But this wasn't a book about the phonograph, so I'll ignore that.
One note--the conclusion section displays a PHENOMENAL lack of understanding of the history of the phonograph. Figuratively everything is wrong, from the idea that it was successful right out the gate (it was ignored by everyone, including Edison, as a novelty for the first decade) to the poor historiography that follows.
But this wasn't a book about the phonograph, so I'll ignore that.
May 15, 2016
This book is divided into three parts - an explanation of Bitcoin technology, a biography of Ross Ulricht and the story of the Winklevoss twins' involvement with Bitcoin. The first part is pretty good, the next two get bogged down into libertarianism and politics and feels like a lot of filler.
August 19, 2017
An unfortunately small percentage of the writing in this book is about Bitcoin. It is mostly long asides, anecdotes, and political screeds. Avoid at all costs.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews