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  • The Cryptopians

  • Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze
  • By: Laura Shin
  • Narrated by: Laura Shin
  • Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (44 ratings)
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The Cryptopians

By: Laura Shin
Narrated by: Laura Shin
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Summary

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 listeners 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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Laura Shin (P)2021 PublicAffairs

What listeners say about The Cryptopians

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Only average in all topics

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.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Struggled to finish it

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.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Gossip and excessive detail

I couldn't bring myself to finish this book. it starts alright, with the description of how it all began, but it gradually evolves to mainly gossip (oftentimes several versions of it for the same situation) and completely irrelevant details for the story. The relevant information, the important part of the book, gets drowned in the filler text and irrelevant information, like two or three versions of how someone might have been fired and which color nail polish someone had or how many times a coin that was tossed spined on the table.
I would love to know how it all happened, but with all the noise, it became impossible to go past chapter 5.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

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

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.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Title should be "Dramatic Etherum Founders Story"

Great research but It focuses much more on the descriptive and dramatic side of the ETH project founding than the business side. Also struggling with her excess use of sss sounds and words through headphones lol

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

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

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

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