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The Cryptopians

Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze

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The Cryptopians

By: Laura Shin
Narrated by: Laura Shin
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About this listen

 The story of the idealists, technologists, and opportunists fighting to bring cryptocurrency to the masses.

In their short history, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have gone through booms, busts, and internecine wars, recently reaching a market valuation of more than $2 trillion. The central promise of crypto endures—vast fortunes made from decentralized networks not controlled by any single entity and not yet regulated by many governments.

The recent growth of crypto would have been all but impossible if not for a brilliant young man named Vitalik Buterin and his creation: Ethereum. In this book, Laura Shin takes readers inside the founding of this novel cryptocurrency network, which enabled users to launch their own new coins, thus creating a new crypto fever. She introduces readers to larger-than-life characters like Buterin, the Web3 wunderkind; his short-lived CEO, Charles Hoskinson; and Joe Lubin, a former Goldman Sachs VP who became one of crypto’s most well-known billionaires. Sparks fly as these outsized personalities fight for their piece of a seemingly limitless new business opportunity.

This fascinating book shows the crypto market for what it really is: a deeply personal struggle to influence the coming revolution in money, culture, and power. Cryptocurrency Business

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All stars
Most relevant
I’ve worked in quite a few startups and read books about them. I always find that the “early days” accounts tend to be whitewashed if not outright embellished. There is none of that with this book. It’s so thoroughly well researched and unflinching in laying out the facts as they are/were. I’m a web 3 operator but found myself learning a few things with this book. Definately best book of the year so far. Don’t hesitate. Buy it, you won’t regret

The definitive history of the start of crypto as we know it

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The beginning was a bit slow but it got better and better. Incredible to listen to such a detailed story of how Ethereum started and evolved in the first 5 or 6 years.

Very detailed story of how ethereum started

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The book is obviously well researched and is a source of information you just wouldn't find anywhere else. You can tell Laura put a lot of time and dedication into this. However I was expecting more. Yes it's non-fiction so there's only a limited number of ways to deliver the deliver the content, but I got bored in places and often struggled to finish individual chapters in one sitting. Being in crypto for 5 years now I was really excited to listen to this but it just wasn't for me really. Thoroughly researched though and I cannot deny that.

Struggled to finish it

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It’s well written, but I think sometimes is too descriptive, maybe lacks some passion and magic to the narrative.
I understand it’s a non-fiction book so it needs to be factual. Nevertheless the story could have been emphasized with off the beaten track stories around the crypto ecosystem.
The audio is also lacking emotion and always in the same tone, needs to be enhanced.

Only average in all topics

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I’ve been invested in and loosely following Bitcoin and Ethereum since mid-2017, but bot an active contributor or someone with time to hang out on the endless Slack, Reddit and Discord channels.
In this book, Laura takes us behind the headlines to explore the unseen people, emotions, politics, and perspectives of the early crypto years.
This is a must read for anyone interested in the topic - just starting out or wanting to learn more. Despite being thoroughly researched and content-rich Laura’s book is also very accessible, human, and digestible.
A highlight of my reading year so far.

An in-depth look behind the scenes of a story you might think you know

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