Cryptomania

Hype, Hope, and the Fall of FTX's Billion-Dollar Fintech Empire

By: Andrew R Chow

Narrated by: Eric Yang

For fans of Bad Blood and Too Big to Fail, an explosive, page-turning account of one of the largest financial frauds in US history, chronicling the utopian promises, human collateral, and incineration of billions of dollars in the 2022 crypto crash, by Time magazine’s technology correspondent.

As cryptocurrency rose in popularity during the pandemic, new converts bought into the idea that crypto would not only make them rich, but would usher in imminent revolutions across art, finance, politics, and gaming. Cryptocurrency caught the zeitgeist through figures like FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who only two years later would be convicted of one of the most calamitous acts of financial fraud in US history.

During his meteoric rise, Sam Bankman-Fried outflanked idealists in the movement like Vitalik Buterin, who sought to build fairer, more democratic systems through Ethereum. Bankman-Fried pursued a growth-obsessed, by-any-means approach to crypto, which proved seductive to those who just wanted to get rich. But this Silicon Valley–like approach also drove the creation of a spate of high-risk financial instruments that mirrored those of the 2008 financial crisis. Accused of misleading investors and mishandling funds, Bankman-Fried became a target of prosecutors.

Now, Cryptomania unfolds the tumultuous twenty months inside this male-dominated, overhyped industry that led to its downfall. Drawing on exclusive reporting and an extensive network in the global NFT community, Andrew Chow chronicles the battle for crypto’s soul, and the human toll of its economic meltdown—from the conmen and eccentrics driving the bubble to the victims caught in its burst.

Critic reviews

"Eric Yang narrates this account of the spectacular rise and fall of FTX's cryptocurrency wunderkind, Sam Bankman?Fried (SBF). Author Andrew R. Chow is a correspondent for TIME, and Yang approaches the story with a reporter’s detachment, allowing the facts to speak for themselves. And speak they do! While Yang uses a measured tone, avoiding sensationalism, the facts detailing SBF's shocking hubris and willingness to risk the funds of others will appall listeners. Yang seamlessly merges the many direct quotes in the book without breaking the compelling narrative, employing a simple but effective pause before each quote. Even listeners with no interest in crypto will be transfixed by the greed and lies that transformed an altruistic endeavor into a con that duped millions and cost billions."

SBF = bad / Andrew Chow = Good

Fantastic work by author and journo Andrew Chow. This is by far the best book on the fall of crypto and SBF.