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

by Andrew R. Chow

For fans of Billion Dollar Whale and Going Infinite and from the Time correspondent who covered this remarkable story, a perceptive, eye-opening chronicle of the human side of the fallout from the cryptocurrency bubble.As cryptocurrency rose in popularity during the pandemic, new converts bought into the idea that crypto would not only make them rich, but usher in imminent revolutions across art, finance, politics, and gaming. This male-dominated, overhyped industry caught the zeitgeist through people like FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, now convicted of one of the most calamitous acts of financial fraud of the last century. During his meteoric rise, Bankman-Fried outflanked idealists in the movement like Vitalik Buterin, who sought to use his creation Ethereum to build fairer systems. But Bankman-Fried’s growth-obsessed, by-any-means approach to crypto proved far more intriguing to people who just wanted to get rich—which led to the creation of a slew of insanely risky financial instruments that mirrored those of the 2008 financial crisis. Now, based on in-depth reporting and research within an extensive network in the global crypto community, the full, shocking story of the battle for crypto’s soul is revealed as never before. Engaging and accessible, Cryptomania reveals the wrenching human cost of this economic and cultural meltdown—from the conmen and eccentrics driving the bubble to the victims caught up in their current.

Genres: Nonfiction, Finance, Technology, Business, History, Economics, True Crime

416 pages, Hardcover

Published August 6, 2024

Reviews

[Wendelle]

There's several books on the market about Sam Bankman Fried and the FTX saga, there's some unique aspects I think this book offers. First it offers a lot of detail and good description. It's written by one of the leading journalists who broke the story and covered this tech space for a long time now. The second significant difference is the thrust or framing of this book. In my opinion, this book frames the story as a a contrast or binary between SBF and Vitalik Buterin. Buterin for some reason figures largely in this book, and always in idealistic or positive terms. Meanwhile, the book unequivocally declares SBF as a sociopath in the introduction, and positions his downfall as a grift that was intentional from the very beginning. It knits together several aspects of SBF, and multiple points of failure or questionable behavior to purportedly prove that SBF's malice is by design. First, he intentionally donated to both political parties heavily regardless of ideology. This was allegedly as part of an ubiquitous charm offensive and ad blitz where the only political goal is enlarging SBF's influence in Washington towards the benefit of his crypto empire. Second, the book says he put on a gloss of reputation of charitable giving, when his actual contributions are a drop in the bucket compared to his net worth. Third, he tried to raise FTX's profile as the good player in the crypto space by emphasizing its benefits for 3rd world artists and workers, but he was actually abandoning them or resulting in negative net gains for them once the media spotlight faded. The book features some Afrofuturistic artists who got gobbled up by the NFT crash, and some Southeast Asian game players of Axies, who ultimately had little to show for their effort. Fourth, the book said they were bad for Bahamas, that they muscled Bahamas into designing laws that were beneficial for them. The book even labels SBF's actions as extraction worthy of a digital colonizer. Fifth, it talks about the actions SBF purportedly took that actively fell in the category of a con. He instructed his coworker to permit a maximum of 65 billion dollar negative remit in FTX's books on Alameda Research's name, for one. The book definitely decries SBF's cult of personality.

All this might be true, or exaggerated, I don't know, as I don't know any of these people obviously. What's rather head-scratchy for me is that in the same breath where SBF's cult of personality is denounced, Vitalik Buterin gets featured in very complimentary light. This might be true, I don't know, but maybe elevating personalities on pedestals, as if the crpyto space needs a headliner personality, is no longer the way to go. Buterin is shown as the antithesis of SBF, that he is a purist where crypto's future is concerned, that he is decentralizing and collectivist where SBF was centralizing and dogmatic. This may be true, again I know these people as much as I know Methuselah. But maybe it's time to set aside personalities, in this field were so many have fallen, and focus on ideas of crypto without crowning anyone. I don't think it's necessary to feature how Buterin attended a party in a fur suit, only to walk away from the crowd of cheers from crypto believers, like some weary messiah. Maybe that was meaningful, and of course Buterin and SBF are towering juggernauts in the futurist world, and of course maybe Buterin is exactly as this book describes. But this kind of personality buildup of a different personality was rather head-scratchy for me

[CatReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Cryptomania, journalist and TIME technology correspondent Andrew Chow takes a deep and global-centric dive into dark side side of cryptocurrencies. Stories profiled herein include the rise and precipitous falls of:

- Sam Bankman-Fried and his cryptocurrency exchange platform called FTX (also extensively profiled in Michael Lewis's 2014 Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon)
- NFTs (non-fungible tokens, aka the bizarre notion of buying and somehow owning rights to random .jpg images), with a focus on global artists who tried to use NFT sales as a fundraising mechanism for charity, and largely failed over time -- I really appreciated the focus on African artists here, as African stories tend to be very underrepresented in Western consciousness
- an online Pokemon-knockoff game called Axie Infinity that uses cryptocurrency in-game and spawned a doomed pyramid scheme in parts of Malaysia and the Philippines revolving around people with means profiting off of people without means who'd spend dozens of hours a week playing the game to try to earn a living - this was downright dystopian. Here's a brief video reported by Chow in TIME about it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this brief look at the perils of cryptocurrency, and especially appreciated the stories and perspectives from Africa, Asia and Oceania that were news to me.

Further reading:
Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon by Michael Lewis (2024) | my review
Blockchain: The Next Everything by Stephen Williams (2019) - a book that hasn't aged well in light of recent events

My statistics:
Book 187 for 2024
Book 1790 cumulatively

[dakotadief · Rating 4 out of 5]

crypto forever screams your stupid boyfriend. fuck you kevin.

[Ryan Manganiello · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best cryptocurrency books I have read in a long while. It's extremely detailed and goes even deeper into the world and mind of Sam Bankman-Fried, much deeper than Michael Lewis does in his Sam fanboy book Going Infinite.

It clearly describes how a mentally disabled man-child almost actually takes over the entire United States of America political system, simply by throwing money at both Democrats and Republicans.

One of the biggest takeaways for me that I earned from this masterpiece of writing is that the system is extremely broken, because if certain hiccups didn't occur in the order that they had, this Sam character actually may have succeeded and would currently be controlling large parts of how the United States operates... a very scary outcome indeed.

[Cindy.Sherban · Rating 5 out of 5]

well written, short chapters compelled me to read faster than I might have liked. Not a feel good read...greed and deceit are prominent features. Makes one wonder about he critical thinking skills of many. Pushing for deregulation is a double edged sword. Regulation is designed to slow things down., perhaps provide safety. Undoubtedly it can be streamlined, but reading of the lobbying that wen on to push for changes in SEC or finagling instead into the less stringent, more easily manipulated commodities/futures regulatory arm was rather unnerving.
I count myself lucky to have (mostly) enjoyed all my years of employment and work at hobbies too. i am always surprised that people hate working or specifically their job. can't imagine that.
I think this is a must read for a lot of politicians.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone hopes to get in on the ground floor of something that will be big. They will become instant millionaires. There will also be people who try to take advantage of the investors simply for their money. This is what happened with cryptocurrency. It started with good intentions but then the money was too easy to make and the risks became higher. This the story of just one company that exploited their investors. Every few years there is another story.
For some reason people are not happy with what they have and are looking for the big payday. This story will happen again.

Thank you to #goodreads, #AndrewRChow and #SimonandSchulster for a copy of this book.
#Cryptomania

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun and page turning read. You wouldn’t believe the story if it was in the movies could be true, but indeed it is and Chow takes us through not only SBF and his extraordinary hubris, but the whole industry evolution into the FTX demise.

It is a page turner story - crafted well through real participants in all aspects of the industry from NFT’s through coins and Cryptocurrencies, to platforms like FTX. We learn about the complexities of crypto while still keeping the story engaging and fun.

Great read c

[Thk · Rating 3 out of 5]

In contrast to Michael Lewis' "Going Infinite", author was decidedly more "clinical" in approach in assembling vignettes that make for easy reading but may not string across as well. Also, author seems to be have clearly taken sides in who are the villains and who are the heroes in the narrative, and it can appear to be very one-sided at times. The sounding out of the crypto initiatives in the African and Asian contexts are very welcome, but can sound like the limited viewpoints of the few interviewed - good to expand on these though.

[Michael Song · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this book, skimming through pages of the last few chapters. It's sad, because I feel like this story had a lot of potential, and I had personally lost a few hundred bucks on FTX that I have only recently gotten back.

The book spent far too much time on people disconnected from FTX. Maybe this shows the far-reaching effects from the fallout, but it made me lost interest. This 300 page book could have been 50 pages if it focused more sharply on the story in the title.

[Kellylynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a bit about the drama of crypto currency with a heavy focus on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX. I definitely learned a lot about what happened and the mess/instability of the new currency. That there isn't much Federal oversight. Overall I still don't really know much about cryptocurrency.

I won this in one of the giveaways.

[Becca G · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like learning about the downfall of XTF and how so many people fell for the hype. I know most of the information that was in the book, but there were bits and parts that I didn't know about. 3.5 stars as it looks at the people who used XTF and not really those in the company. I would love a book breaking down that mess and the finances as it keeps being compared to Enron.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learned so much about crypto and the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried. Greed eventually leads to downfall rightfully deserved. Chow's writing is very detailed and easy for a novice to understand.
An enlightening and informative read.

[Marco G · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have read this year. Author excelled in recounting this history in a way that I could not put down. I went in knowing nothing about crypto, and I was delighted to get not just a history of FTX's downfall but an entertaining crash course in crypto, bitcoin, and nft's.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book on the topic so far.

[Petraq · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such an interesting piece of information on the Fall of FTX, which I wanted to read a little more about ever since the news broke out.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all know how it ends, but a great read as to how much of a house of cards it was and the crypto industry as a whole.

[Abigail Keaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is money……….what is value?

[Tiffany Velasquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot about Crypto. The history , the intended purpose , the benefits and drawbacks. Very well written.

[Ions · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well organized summation of the cryptocrash/NFT crash from the early 2020s. Author presented the subject matter in a way that wasn't overwhelming or dense.

[Anya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who could say no to messy niche drama with a satisfying dose of karma at the end?

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive look at the crypto markets in the last few years, centring around the FTX rise and fall. No veiled contempt for the industry like other books covering it.

[EyesonArt · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️ I enjoyed reading through this book, looking forward to more book and serious authors like those.

[EngiNerdReview · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 ⭐️
See my full review through the link:
https://open.substack.com/pub/enginer...

[Karl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative about the crash. Sounds just like the stock market

[William Schlickenmaier · Rating 5 out of 5]

What Empire of AI should have been. A must read.

[Ryan_hg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crypto, Blockchain, NFTs all in one. Story on how greed destroyed a potential technology that might be good for all.

[Chris Herpers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, you can see that the author has an intimate knowledge of his subject. It's a nonfiction book which reads like a thriller even if, honestly, I must have understood maybe 40% of it. I was trying to show off with my wife the other day and tell her I now had a better grasp of cryptocurrency so she asked me to explain it to her and I went "uhhh". Still, I recommend it.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, but I think there are probably better books out there to learn about this topic. There was an underlying narrative throughout that cryptocurrency and NFTs would have led to a utopia and it was only the evil white capitalists that were holding us back.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly fun read. It takes a more personal, human approach than many other books on the topic. If follows the rise and fall of several players in the crypto space ranging from hopeful artists, young people in poor countries looking to escape poverty, and of course Sam Bankman-Fried.