Virtual Billions: The Genius, the Drug Lord, and the Ivy

Virtual Billions: The Genius, the Drug Lord, and the Ivy League Twins behind the Rise of Bitcoin

Bitcoin, the digital currency, was introduced in 2009 with little fanfare; five years later, shocking the world, it was worth $14 billion. This book explores the cyber currency by focusing on the remarkable stories and intriguing personalities ofÂ those responsible for its sudden success: Satoshi Nakamoto, the reclusive and anonymous genius who created Bitcoin; Ross Ulbricht, aka the Dread Pirate Roberts, administrator of the largest and most successful Dark Web drug superstore, using Bitcoin to fuel online sale of drugs, hacking services, counterfeit money, and assassinations; and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Harvard graduates, successful litigants vs. Facebook, world-class Olympic rowers, and Bitcoin entrepreneurs who own 1 percent of all bitcoins in existence.

Equal parts The Social Network, Sherlock Holmes, and Breaking Bad, this absorbing narrative tells the stories of the reclusive geniusÂ who waged a one-man war against the global banking system (and he's winning); the quiet and affable computer geek who, until his arrest, profited handsomely from Silk Road, his online drug superstore; and the multitalented Harvard twins, who made a fortune from an intellectual-property suit against Mark Zuckerberg, and now are the chief promoters of Bitcoin as "the next big thing."Â

Bitcoin has introduced us to coke-fueled coding gurus, anger-crazed hitmen-hiring millionaires, and canny "Bitcoin miners" avidly adding processing power to their chilly Icelandic server farms to generate millions of dollars every month. Absurd and almost unbelievable stories abound, and sweep the reader along through the living and breathing, passionate and paranoid insiders who made it all happen.
Country USA
Brand Prometheus Books
Manufacturer Prometheus
Binding Hardcover
ReleaseDate 2016-04-05
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781633881440

Country	USA
Brand	Prometheus Books
Manufacturer	Prometheus
Binding	Hardcover
ReleaseDate	2016-04-05
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781633881440

Virtual Billions: The Genius, the Drug Lord, and the Ivy League Twins behind the Rise of Bitcoin

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