Publishers Weekly
06/24/2024
Chow, a tech reporter for Time, debuts with a scrupulous postmortem of how “ego and arrogance” drove the 2022 cryptocurrency crash. Blaming the collapse on the “Jenga tower of insanely risky financial instruments” engineered by FTX exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried, Chow portrays the former mogul as a child of privilege who fostered a “relentless work culture” marked by 15-hour days and indulged in risky trades despite promising creditors to do the opposite. Covering the saga through Bankman-Fried’s fraud conviction, Chow provides a more complete tally of his subject’s misdeeds than previous treatments, but he really shines in contrasting the FTX founder with the stories of genuine blockchain idealists. For instance, Chow describes how 25-year-old Nigerian artist Owo Anietie hoped to lift his family out of poverty and fund local initiatives by selling NFTs for crypto, only to grow cynical after FTX’s bankruptcy rendered the NFT market virtually worthless. More pointedly, Chow presents Russian-born computer programmer Vitalik Buterin, creator of the blockchain Ethereum, as the anti-SBF, a true believer in decentralizing financial power to the extent that he negotiated down his share of the business in 2022. Buoyed by richly reported portraits of well-known and obscure players connected to FTX’s collapse, this is a worthy addition to the crowded field of crypto investigations. Photos. Agent: Todd Schuster, Aevitas Creative Management. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
"Cryptomania is an epic, essential recounting of the 2022 crypto bubble, in which aspiring heroes strived to upend a predatory creator economy, and then villains like Sam Bankman-Fried co-opted a movement for their own greedy ends. It's a deeply-reported page-turner that manages to be both scathing and empathetic."—Taylor Lorenz, author of Extremely Online
“Finally—here’s the book that goes right into the heart of the cryptocurrency cyclone. In this riveting account, Chow does something miraculous—he actually explains this crazy industry before describing in forensic detail how it all went bust.”—Christopher Leonard, New York Times Bestselling Author of Kochland and The Lords of Easy Money
“In its short lifespan, cryptocurrency has gone through booms and busts and booms again. Trying to capture its story at any given moment is like trying to catch water between your fingers. But in Cryptomania, Andrew Chow gives readers the inside story of the (mostly) men who drove the hype cycle to end all hype cycles, and left chaos and financial ruin in their wake. Read it to understand what crypto was supposed to be, what it became, and what could still happen.”—Bryan Walsh, author of End Times
“Cryptomania is a page-turning adventure that manages to be smart, fun, damning and trenchant all at once—a globe-spanning roller-coaster ride that perfectly captures the surreal rise and fall of the world of crypto. Whether you care about crypto or just love a good story, even if you find the whole sordid saga somewhere between incomprehensible and appalling, this is the book for you.”—Molly Ball, author of Pelosi
“Deftly reported and masterfully told, the stories of greed and graft in Cryptomania play out like allegories for our age. Andrew Chow knows this crooked terrain inside and out, and it shows on every page.”—Simon Shuster, author of The Showman
“An engaging, in-depth account of crypto’s digital gold rush, Cryptomania brings you down the rabbit hole, exposing an idealistic industry undone by fraud, corruption and a whole lot of greed.”—Kurt Wagner, author of Battle for the Bird
“Cryptomania confidently and authoritatively captures the rise of the decentralized finance movement. Andrew Chow has deftly made the complex trappings of crypto legible while the stakes are grounded in the human story of several powerful figures who could not see past their own hubris."—Kevin Nguyen, author of New Waves
“[An] explosive investigation...whenever the next big ‘disruptor’ comes around to upend an industry, remember this cautionary tale of greed and corruption.”—Esquire
“A scrupulous postmortem of how 'ego and arrogance' drove the 2022 cryptocurrency crash...Buoyed by richly reported portraits of well-known and obscure players connected to FTX’s collapse, this is a worthy addition to the crowded field of crypto investigations.”—Publishers Weekly
Molly Ball
Cryptomania is a page-turning adventure that manages to be smart, fun, damning and trenchant all at once - a globe-spanning roller-coaster ride that perfectly captures the surreal rise and fall of the world of crypto. Whether you care about crypto or just love a good story, even if you find the whole sordid saga somewhere between incomprehensible and appalling, this is the book for you.
Taylor Lorenz
"Cryptomania is an epic, essential recounting of the 2022 crypto bubble, in which aspiring heroes strived to upend a predatory creator economy, and then villains like Sam Bankman-Fried co-opted a movement for their own greedy ends. It's a deeply-reported page-turner that manages to be both scathing and empathetic."
Kevin Nguyen
Cryptomania confidently and authoritatively captures the rise of the decentralized finance movement. Andrew Chow has deftly made the complex trappings of crypto legible while the stakes are grounded in the human story of several powerful figures who could not see past their own hubris."
Bryan Walsh
In its short lifespan, cryptocurrency has gone through booms and busts and booms again. Trying to capture its story at any given moment is like trying to catch water between your fingers. But in Cryptomania, Andrew Chow gives readers the inside story of the (mostly) men who drove the hype cycle to end all hype cycles, and left chaos and financial ruin in their wake. Read it to understand what crypto was supposed to be, what it became, and what could still happen.
Simon Shuster
Deftly reported and masterfully told, the stories of greed and graft in Cryptomania play out like allegories for our age. Andrew Chow knows this crooked terrain inside and out, and it shows on every page.
Christopher Leonard
Finally—here’s the book that goes right into the heart of the cryptocurrency cyclone. In this riveting account, Chow does something miraculous—he actually explains this crazy industry before describing in forensic detail how it all went bust.
Kurt Wagner
An engaging, in-depth account of crypto’s digital gold rush, Cryptomania brings you down the rabbit hole, exposing an idealistic industry undone by fraud, corruption and a whole lot of greed.
