This book is, as the blurb on the cover says, “a practical, easy to understand guide to bitcoin, blockchain, NTFs and other digital assets”. While conThis book is, as the blurb on the cover says, “a practical, easy to understand guide to bitcoin, blockchain, NTFs and other digital assets”. While conversational in approach, it is a reference book with clear chapter and paragraph headings, bullet pointed facts, charts, graphs, a glossary and a good index.
While the currencies (aka digital assets), the blockchain technology and the infrastructure that supports them are described,the book is mainly about their global financial impact with the focus on what an individual needs to know before investing in them.
Dismissed by Jamie Diamond and Warren Buffet as recently as 2021, digital currencies have now permeated the top institutions of finance. Ric Edelman shows the worldwide impact and jaw dropping pace of growth of these currencies. National banks in the US, Japan, Canada and other developed nations are planning to issue digital currencies for very good reasons. Portfolios in top investment firms now include digital assets.
The book also describes the services that support digital assets, such as their trading platforms, data mining operations, marketing (an impressive list of celebrities now have major endorsement contracts) and their “custodial” care. There are investment vehicles specializing in some of these supporting services.
There are 4 pages listing digital asset exchanges, some of which you can not only trade on, but invest in. There is a 9 page listing of hedge funds, VC funds and“funds of funds” that specialize in blockchain and digital assets. There is a list of 6 publically traded data mining companies. There are descriptions of derivatives and other investment vehicles. There is a whole chapter on taxation including estate planning.
There is a lot of useful and eye opening information. Ric Edelman shows how institutionalized digital currency has become … it is not a fad. While the "big money" has been made, there are still growth opportunities - and despite the growth the the "product" (the digital assets) all come with risk.
If you want to learn about crypto (even if you are not interested in investing) this is a good place to start....more
Ethan Lou began his bitcoin saga when, as a financial reporter covering oil and conventional business, he interviewed Anthony de Iorio, Co-Founder of Ethan Lou began his bitcoin saga when, as a financial reporter covering oil and conventional business, he interviewed Anthony de Iorio, Co-Founder of Etherium. Bitcoin was interesting, but he was not immediately intrigued. As good reporters do, he followed up.
At bitcoin Meet Ups he met people who led him to more people and venues. He bought some coins and watched their value fall. When he found some discarded computers he recycled them into a bitcoin mining operation in his apartment. Mining seems to be (and I may be wrong) hosting computational space for the bitcoin trading network(s). It pulls a lot of electricity and generates considerable heat.
Many of these chapters are page turning glimpses into life in the bitcoin world.
- There is a lot of text devoted to Jan Cerato, who, like a carnival barker lures people into his infomercial like Meet Ups. - - There is dimension on Gerry Cotten who may have faked his own death (for which Netflix has just released a documentary “Trust No One”). He alone, presumably had “the key” (bitcoin term for password) to Quadriga, his bitcoin trading network meaning there is no access to any Quadriga account. Millions of dollars were lost or stolen. - - There is material on how an oil company planned to issue a coin (ICO – Initial bitcoin offering) to raise money. - - There is a story on how the author went to North Korean for “BItcoin Conference” only to learn that the North Koreans had set it up so that the attendees would be presenters. The North Koreans, famous for their counterfeiting have been presumed to be into bitcoin. From the “conference” he surmised that they knew nothing and did not have enough electricity to pull it off if they could set up a platform. There is a sad story of an American who went to this despite the US State Department not approving the trip.
You see how the government has few tools to deal with the many scams in the bitcoin world. Neither the “brokers” or trading systems are regulated. While crypto may appeal to libertarians, if they wind up on the late side of it (Ceruto says “It is not a Ponzi scheme until it is over”) they will see how an unregulated market can hit you where it hurts.
There is a glimpse of the international partying that goes on around “conferences”. Lou does not come out and say it, but the understanding is that it is quite a drug scene.
This is the story of Coinbase, a trading platform for cryptocurrency. Through it you see the development of “crypto”, how it has become a growing sharThis is the story of Coinbase, a trading platform for cryptocurrency. Through it you see the development of “crypto”, how it has become a growing share of the economy and its potential future.
Prior to Coinbase you needed programming skills to enter the cryptocurrency market. Coinbase was built on the premise that there was a huge demand for this currency and a libertarian style belief in a currency untethered to a government. Coinbase made Brian Armstrong and its other founders and initial developers (most cast aside in along the way) fabulously wealthy.
Developing a financial trading platform from scratch is a formidable job, but the developers had a missionary zeal. The code they developed is called “blockchain”. I’m not sure I understand it, but it has to do with capturing 10 minute intervals of trade and sending these trade records to decentralized locations. Blockchain is good for security, but as your customer base grows the 10 minute intervals can mean a traffic jam.
Roberts takes you through the ups and downs of Coinbase. There are market forces (booms and “crypto winters”), regulatory issues and lots of personnel turnover. As new currencies came on the market (through ICOs – Initial Coin Offerings), Coinbase stayed with trading for only four. There were internal civil wars, some based on turf, but others on the clash of the anti-establishment mission and the pressure to expand into banking-like services.
You see Coinbase respond to competition. Two significant competitors - GDAX and Binance - forced Coinbase into the Wall Street world they had shunned. GDAX developed Ethereum, which uses the blockchain technology for legal contracts and was able to enter a more professional market (as distinguished from Coinbase which was founded to serve the general public). More recently, Binance grew from trading currency to rivaling banks while attempting to skirt regulation. It has pioneered services like storage, and has captured the large Asian market.
In this short journey through the crypto world, you encounter crypto celebrities who are not yet household names. First is Satoshi Nakamoto who wrote the initial 9 page document outlining the role and mission of a crypto that inspired the original crypto entrepreneurs. Vitalik Buterin, the child of Russian immigrants, created a new blockchain (Ethereum) and made it accessible to non-programmers for legal contacts. CZ - Chengpen Zhao who as a child immigrated to Canada with his parents is the founder of Binance. He dreams of running unregulated banks from his yacht in international waters.
You see the future of d.App which are the decentralized applications of blockchain (if I didn’t describe this accurately – you get the drift). You learn enough about ICOs to question if they differ from (regulated) IPOs. You think about “cold storage” (originally thumb drives in the pocket of crypto pioneers). You ponder the outcome of a global private company or a fanatical dictator gaining control the world’s currency/currencies.
Above is just a sketch of what this 225 page book covers. It would have been better if I started with a book on the currency instead of its trading platforms (I didn’t understand the difference when I picked this up), but Roberts did a masterful job of summarizing crypto world. If you are interested in a “crypto for dummies” type of history you will benefit from this highly readable survey....more
Why the US prison population is brimming while the crime rate is declining and why there have been no Wall Street prosecutions in the aftermath of theWhy the US prison population is brimming while the crime rate is declining and why there have been no Wall Street prosecutions in the aftermath of the swindle that destroyed homes and savings had not been explained to my satisfaction until I read this book. Matt Taibbi presents the structures, culture and attitudes that ensnare poor and mostly minority Americans for petty "crimes" and contrasts them to the parallel structures, culture and attitudes that allow white collar perpetrators to go unpunished.
This contrast, "The Divide", is staggering. "Lying" on a welfare application about whether you have 3 days of food in your home is prosecuted as fraud, but lying that you certified credit card statements (when you signed thousands of these in an hour) is not. Probable cause is considered before searching corporate officers and offices, while fourth amendment protections for the poor and minorities have all but vanished. A slight display of "attitude" in an unwarranted search can lead to an arrest, a felony charge, a jail sentence and a changed life. Meanwhile, prosecutors defend their three cents on a dollar company paid settlements for very large crimes with no consequences for the people who engineered and carried out the theft.
There are very clear descriptions of complex issues such as the evolution of "collateral consequences" (the consideration of potential damage to the economy or the firm's other employees in a decision of whether or not to prosecute) from Eric Holder's memo in the 1990's to its practice today. There are clear histories of the demise of Lehman Brothers, how Fourth Amendment rights have been chipped away through judicial balancing of "rights and need", the acceptance of the practice of "gutter service" (court summonses that are not necessarily delivered) and more.
The examples are far reaching on the business side from mortgage fraud, to the extreme tactics of those who short stocks to the way credit card debt is bought, sold and criminalized. On the people side the examples show how a simple, and unfair, police stop runs into lost work time/wages at work, potential jail time and a fine that cannot be afforded. You learn what happens over the Mexican border after undocumented workers are deported.
There is a lot of information here. It fittingly begins with the story of the Abacus Bank, the only financial institution prosecuted with actual consequences in the aftermath of the swindle that almost destroyed the US economy. The story is perfect, the bank is small, no loans defaulted but some loan applicants "lied" on their mortgage applications.
Taibbi shows how the poor and small businesses are vulnerable to system that calls for results such as police quotas and prosecutorial wins. There is a bit of hope at the end, as Taibbi cites a tough new Justice Department appointee, but it seems like a drop in the proverbial bucket.
This book should be required reading for those in police academies and law schools. It won't be, because like the loiterer who goes to jail, it's too easy to label the writer and besides, it doesn't have an index or proper (footnote) documentation. ...more
Not everything legal is ethical. This book shows the host of ways the arcane pension laws, accounting practices and befuddled press have made formerlyNot everything legal is ethical. This book shows the host of ways the arcane pension laws, accounting practices and befuddled press have made formerly well funded pension funds cookie jars for CEOs and companies. How little recourse pensioners have for redress is amazing. It is in the company's ("shareholder") interest to run the clock because the actuarial table favors the company, and there is no obligation to the employee's heirs. An eye opener as to how it works....more
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