Easy Money
Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud
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Easy Money
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Narrateur(s):
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Ben McKenzie
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Auteur(s):
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Ben McKenzie
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Jacob Silverman - contributor
À propos de cet audio
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
From a famous actor and an experienced journalist, a wildly entertaining debunking of cryptocurrency, one of the greatest frauds in history and on course for a spectacular crash.
At the height of the pandemic, TV star Ben McKenzie (The O.C., Gotham) was the perfect mark for cryptocurrency: a dad stuck at home with some cash in his pocket, worried about his family, armed with only the vague notion that people were making heaps of money on something he—despite a degree in economics—didn’t entirely understand. Lured in by the promise of taking power from banks, possibly improving democracy, and sure, a touch of FOMO, McKenzie dove deep into blockchain, Bitcoin, and the various other coins and exchanges on which they are traded. But after scratching the surface, he had to ask, “Am I crazy, or is this all a total scam?”
In Easy Money, McKenzie enlists the help of journalist Jacob Silverman for a caper and exposé that points in shock to the climactic final days of cryptocurrency now upon us. Weaving together stories of average traders and victims, colorful crypto “visionaries,” Hollywood’s biggest true believers, anti-crypto whistleblowers, and government agents searching for solutions at the precipice of a major crash, Easy Money is an on-the-ground look at a perfect storm of 2008 Housing Bubble-level irresponsibility and criminal fraud potentially ten times more devastating than Bernie Madoff.
©2023 Ben McKenzie,Jacob Silverman (P)2023 Spotify AudiobooksIf you're someone who thinks otherwise, this book is probably not for you. Or maybe it is if you want to hear a different perspective? However, if you're someone like me who wholly believes the first line of this review, this book is definitely for you, but also won't tell you anything new if you've been observing the crypto industry's collapse over the last couple of years.
Ben McKenzie is an actor I'm unfamiliar with, who decided during COVID to self-appoint himself the title of journalist and start digging into the crypto industry that once felt like it was taking over the world. He quickly discovered what anyone without blinders on saw as obvious, that the industry was overrun with scams, cons and clueless idiots and venture capitalists willing to throw gobs of money at it for ludicrously generous promises of quick riches. McKenzie (and I think mostly his "contributor" if I'm honest), take all the various big scams that happened, condense them into a succint recollection and also go into both the business and ideological foundations that underpinned them and drove them to such great success before almost immediately going up in flames. It's a compelling listen (which McKenzie does a great job of) that makes you realize just how fragile our financial system is and how much of it operates under near total regulatory capture.
My one main gripe is McKenzie's unwillingness to ever demand personal accountability for the people who fell for these scams. He doesn't mind throwing shade at venture capital firms (nor should he), but he stops short of blaming any individuals who bet their life savings on ridiculous promises and flashy marketing that anyone with a brain could have seen didn't add up, calling it "victim blaming". No, if you can't be bothered to do five minutes of research (often all it takes to find out how scammy much of this stuff was) before throwing your entire financial well being at one of these cons, then you need to learn better critical thinking skills. This doesn't necessarily apply universally, but a LOT of the people who bought into the crypto bubble were little more than useful idiots and hand waving that away is only going to ensure that they never learn anything from their mistakes. If something seems to good to be true, it almost always is.
This is a good, well written and presented book, but if you followed the news or YouTube channels that detailed these scams as they were happening, there isn't much new to learn here. I do recommend it though, especially for people who need a crash course in how to spot scams.
Also, Satoshi Nakamoto is Adam Back. This is all but a certainty now.
Detailing A Crash
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Fabulously entertaining and informative
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Valuable lessons for all investors
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Easy to listen to
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An honest look at a craze that hopefully will be received as a cautionary tale for deco to come
Kudos
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