Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud

by Ben McKenzie, Jacob Silverman

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES 2023 BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR "A smart, savvy road map through the mayhem of the cryptocurrency madness." —RON CHERNOW, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Alexander Hamilton

From “one of the crypto industry’s unlikely but most prominent critics” (Washington Post), an entertaining and well-researched account of the rise and fall of cryptocurrency.   At the height of the pandemic, TV star Ben McKenzie was the perfect mark for 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 grandiose, utopian promises, and sure, a little bit 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 an investigative adventure into crypto and its remarkable crash. Weaving together stories of average traders and victims, colorful crypto “visionaries,” Hollywood’s biggest true believers, anti-crypto whistleblowers, and government operatives, Easy Money is an on-the-ground look at a perfect storm of irresponsibility and criminal fraud. Based on original reporting across the country and abroad, including interviews with Sam Bankman-Fried, Tether cofounder Brock Pierce, Celsius’s Alex Mashinsky, and more, this is the book on cryptocurrency you’ve been waiting for.

Genres: Nonfiction, Economics, Finance, Audiobook, Business, Politics, Crime

304 pages, Hardcover

First published July 18, 2023

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am literally an economist, and I even interned at the CFTC in grad school, and yet my only semi-first hand experience with crypto was when an NFT shiller hacked my Twitter account. I've always thought of crypto as a very confusing scam that I couldn't be bothered researching any further because I knew I would never invest in it, but the idea of an actor pivoting to journalism to expose fraud in the industry was intriguing to me. Seeing so many celebrities backing various crypto ventures and encouraging their fans to buy in to complete scams has been really disappointing, so I was excited to see an actor go in the complete opposite direction. I thought this book was an interesting and well researched look at the crypto industry and the ways that it has defrauded it's customer base so egregiously. I knew crypto was bad, but I had no idea how bad it actually was, and I'm glad there are people dedicated to exposing the fraud in the industry.

*****

Ben McKenzie writing a book about crypto was not on my bingo card for any year ever, but, as a person with two econ degrees who also loves The OC, I am weirdly delighted by this news

[Nathan Shuherk · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’ve had interest in the (scam of) crypto markets, this is definitely worth your time. Smooth writing and storytelling, a lot of good insights and analysis, and decently funny

[Cari · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I picked this up because it was about crypto and fraud, two topics that interest me of late. I did not realize that Ben McKenzie is an actor and was on The O.C. and Gotham. (He's married to Morena Baccarin from Firefly - I know who she is!!) It was interesting to read McKenzie's journey in becoming a journalist with the specialty of reporting on crypto. He also developed his partnership with Jacob Silverman, a fellow crypto skeptic. The material was fascinating to me--it is a little hard to wrap the mind around, but the authors do a good job explaining crypto clearly and why it's a problem. I wrote a crypto plot in one of my novels, so I had a little bit of an idea, but there was so much more I didn't know about that world. I highly recommend this book if you want an introduction to the topic and how it's shaped our society.

[Ace Anbender · Rating 4 out of 5]

This clearly got review-bombed by crypto dorks. The guy from The OC wrote a hell of a book.

[Bizzy]

DNF at 22%. The writing is funny and engaging, but this is more of an “intro to problems with cryptocurrency” than I was hoping for. The authors also don’t seem to be clear on what their goals are.

I totally get McKenzie’s outrage at just how scammy and unethical the crypto world is, but you can either write a book about your righteous indignation for the group of people who already agree with you, or you can write a book intended to convince skeptics over to your side, but you can’t do both. This book is trying to split the difference – convincing skeptics with the power of righteous indignation – and that doesn’t work, especially not against a group as conspiracy-minded as crypto pumpers. Even the most measured criticisms of minor issues with crypto are dismissed as FUD (“fear, uncertainty, and doubt”), so a guy admitting from the outset that he loathes crypto and everything it stands for is not going to have an impact.

[TheBookWarren · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.25 🌟— This was a bargain-buy for me on Audible, that held some cheeky promise! I have a passing interest in cryptocurrency, and enjoy numbers theory, hearing of fraud form a true-crime angle and so forth. So after starting out quite engaged, bot, did this one dive quick, REAL quick.

Now, I’m no political-animal, by any means! I lean left nor right for the most part, but that seems to be an enforced sliding scale right now — such is the almost sheer pitiable state of the left in 2024 — but even then, I’m still somewhat a middle-man outside of Aussie politics which is extremely dull and boring compared to most worldwide right now. With this in mind, it took all of 60 Seconds for the author to start Trump Bashing. Again, no Trump lover, but I am passionate about the whole “he’s a Russian spy, oops no he’s not but who cares so what we made it up & we will do it again” narrative of the last 18mths, and to hear the immediate may jarring nature of this authors views so blatantly masqueraded as fact, was extremely contemptuous and condescending on levels I’m not sure I’ve seen, unless the text has already outlined that what it’s about to state in politics opinion and not financial current affairs, dished out with a dollop of ignorance and buffoonery!

I digress. I kept my nerve, forgave the author as this text was likely written at a time whereby things APPEARED more clear to the world, ie before it was known that Hillary started the whole Russian spy allegations and it’s their own president who’s got the dodgy alliances. However, unfortunately things did not get much better. Be it the continued condemnation or anything not unashamedly-left, but also tearing the lay-man as a moron in even explaining the most basic vernacular of the specific financial realms.

So alas.. DNF — A rarity for me, although this year is seeing my highest percentage so far, albeit 2 Books only it’s roughly 15% which is extremely high on a personal scale!

But honestly, this man is either a buffoon, bully, moron, satanist or all of the above. With some drama sprinkled-in of course, as I’m sure he is likely none of these! But I’m perturbed & a little huffy, at least I own it, right?!

[Lexi]

This is a really good book to learn about Crypto if you don't already have a solid foundation in why it sucks. I DNFed because I am already pretty familiar with it, but would recommend it to others who want to learn more.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for ryan atwood.

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as entertaining as the recently-read "Going Infinite", but more informative than Michael Lewis' book. This is more broadly about cryptocurrency and also how McKenzie came to be interested in/angered with the topic and started wanting to write about it. I honestly thought the framing was a little tiring at times, but the descriptions of interviewing big crypto players and the absurdity of their claims was great fun. Not sure how good this book would work as an intro to crypto, as it was a little dense at times.

[Andrew Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t say I had really high hopes when I picked this up. For one thing the barrage of crypto messaging is so pervasive that just the word crypto makes me sick. Then the fact that it’s written by an actor who stars in a lot of stuff I’ve never seen, who I think mentions having taken an economics class in college many years ago. So I was delighted to find this is an excellent book, well researched as well as entertaining, and seems to have all of its facts straight, as far as I can tell anyway. Cryptocurrency is a house of cards and when it crashes down I won’t feel sorry for a single person. Not the whales and frauds, and not the lowly sucker who loses his nest egg either. They all know what they’re doing and if they don’t, well, a fool and his money as they say. They’re betting on someone else’s loss. They’re indifferent to the environmental damage. And they’re the most annoying people on earth.

[Fredrik deBoer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unexpected treat, for me. This is an engaging and consistently eye-opening book about a part of the world that I assumed no longer had the capacity to surprise me. The topic of cryptocurrency as one big scam is so saturated, and the public record of abuses so absurd, that I would have thought I was maximally jaded about the topic. But this book is full of funny and telling anecdotes I hadn't encountered before. I also think the decision to exercise restraint with the explicitly political readings was a smart one; the factual material just shouts out about the absurdity and corruption at hand so loudly that I think more overtly polemical stuff would feel like overkill. The whole angle with the actor who gets sucked in to this world isn't really what interests me, but it's a useful framing device. The writing is confident throughout.

(I probably would not have chosen this title. There are so many fucking books titled Easy Money.)

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute sucker for narrative nonfiction like this. Ben is killing it here. Would love to see if he has more in the tank.

[Breann Hunt · Rating 2 out of 5]

(@goodreads let a girl do some fractional stars here)

Finishing this book was a relief. While I found the last 2/3 chapters offered a climax followed by cathartic relief, I found the rest of the book somehow dulled a story the author was telling me was “crazy” and “huge” and “fraudulent”. And maybe that’s the problem at the core of the book— we’re supposed to care about crypto— enough to plod through nearly 300 pages.

And the comparisons to the 2008 financial crisis really fell flat for me. I doubt there will be a “Big Short” adaption of this book. Why? Because the lifespan of this supposed insane industry was 2ish years. We probably only needed an article about it.

[MM Suarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Some customers might have known that the promised yields were based on juiced numbers, but in crypto, the word Ponzi had been practically rehabilitated. Ponzinomics were suddenly everywhere."

I must admit that I never watched any of the shows the author starred in, but the idea of an actor with an economics degree turned journalist and writing a book about crypto somehow appealed to me. I have to say I was not disappointed, the author tackled a complicated subject and made it easy to understand, entertaining, and sometimes funny (some people are rolling their eyes, I know), but seriously, the book is well researched and I learned quite a bit, give it a chance if you have even a remote interest in the topic.

[Michaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than expected, especially coming from an actor and a journalist

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Easy Money is an actors account of his experience digging into the world of crypto. While I don't disagree with any of Ben's points and some of his interviews are interesting, I also feel there wasn't much to be learned from this book.

[Alex Cruse · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars.

I own season 1 of the OC on dvd, so Ben McKenzie was very much known to me but I had not been keeping super close tabs on him until I saw one of his tweets on my timeline during Covid as he started to getting suspicious about the explosion in cryptocurrency. I too was very sus when it came to crypto and it was frankly refreshing to see someone from Hollywood NOT shill an NFT of an ape.

Those tweets were the beginning of this book which was incredibly well-researched, well-written, and full of quantitative and qualitative data and anecdotes. If you want to attempt to understand the world of crypto, SBF, binance, etc., this is an accessible place to start; highly recommend.

[Andrew Michelotti · Rating 4 out of 5]

A painful throwback and deep dive into crypto, gambling and risky investments during the COVID years

[John McKiney · Rating 5 out of 5]

riveting

Ben explores the unbelievable scheme in a way that people can really follow. I really recommend this book and look forward to more books from him if he continues to write.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several months ago, I got a call that I thought my be my doctor’s office but it turned out to be a young woman asking me what I know about cryptocurrency and would I be willing to chat about it? First off, she asked, “what’s your impression of cryptocurrency?”
Me: “It’s a scam.”
She hung up so fast.

I want to be clear that when I gave that answer, I knew very little about crypto other than something didn’t smell right. I have no money so I’ve never really been inclined to invest my $0 in anything let alone crypto.

Imagine my surprise to find out that Ben McKenzie not only shared my off-the-cuff opinion but also wrote a very-well researched book about it? And it was affordably available from my local library? Sign me up!

I’d probably give this closer 4.5 stars actually. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I did not expect to find a book on crypto to make me laugh? I would definitely read another book by Ben McKenzie, about whatever rabbit hole he decides to go down next.

And I do hope that his and Jacob Silverman’s reporting keeps other people from being scammed in the future.

[Mr. Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who had thought about putting some money into crypto back in the day, I’m so glad that I didn’t. Ben’s book thoughtfully explains the fundamental flaws with cryptocurrency - the insolvency, the unregulated market, and the hucksterism shown by the major players (to name just a handful of the issues). The closing chapters really were quite sobering and sad to read - they illuminated how with crypto, the risk of investing brought about little to no reward, but rather, an abundance of ruin, in sometimes tragic ways. This story, which has yet to be completed, is the cautionary tale of our time. This is a must read.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars … Prior to reading the book, I had no idea who the actor turned author was … I’ve never watched any of the shows he appeared in (I’m not in their demographic). I did find it interesting that an actor was intrigued enough to take such a deep dive into the subject. I first heard of him when I saw him on CBS Mornings and thought the book might be interesting.

My previous exposure to the subject matter was when I read ‘Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing’ by Jacob Goldstein & ‘Bitcoin Billionaires…’ by Ben Mizrich. The subject of money & cryptocurrency is of interest to me and after reading the previously mentioned books I was looking & hoping to learn more about the technology & currency as opposed to the personalities. That said, he did a great job exposing the many ‘characters’ in the crypto business. These stories are perhaps the most entertaining parts of the book.

This book satisfied my desire for a better understanding of both the currency and technology behind it. I learned enough about what cryptocurrencies are & why I’ll probably never get more involved in them. The author’s clear position going in & my inclination going in was that cryptocurrencies represent one enormous fraud … essentially a technology based Ponzi scheme. Although I found it a bit difficult at times to wrap my arms around the technology and some of the financial aspects, he does a good job of explaining what crypto is & why there are so many associated problems. Basically when we buy stocks or other commodities there is something supporting their value … products, companies, etc. & when we invest via banks, our money is insured through the FDIC. All cryptocurrencies are is computer code … there is nothing real or of any value that supports or insures an investment.

Many many people have lost everything or almost everything they have by ‘investing’ in what amounts to a get rich scheme. Remember … if it seems too good to be true it probably is too good to be true. Also no one should ever invest in something they don’t completely understand.

There is a lot of money being thrown around for celebrity endorsements & politicians (on both sides of the aisle). There’s also lots of money for a select group who seem to control the vast majority of cryptocurrency. What’s interesting is that it’s all their investor’s money!

On the downside it tends to be a bit repetitive. I often get the impression that authors of many of today’s non-fiction books are essentially stretching really good magazine or newspaper articles/series into books. I get it, but it’s a bit annoying.

If you’re new to cryptocurrencies or only have a cursory familiarity with them I thing you’ll find this book an interesting and enjoyable read. If you’re more experienced and familiar with cryptocurrencies you may not find this as enjoyable.

[Peter Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

The big problem here is the writing is horrible. Every attempt at humor or cleverness is horribly cringe, and is formatted basically like this:

“But there’s one thing gamblers aren’t known for: Restraint.”

Any time the author brings himself into the book, the bad writing made me want to put it down. Just empty snark and unfunny quips over and over. You are beaten with themes over the head rather than left to interpret them.

The actual details about crypto, the business specifics and the profiles of major players, are interesting and well researched.

If you’ve already followed crypto as a skeptic, this won’t really add much other than added detail to broad themes you already get. But it’s a solid, easy read for anyone in your life who might still buy into the bullshit, or any other bullshit that we get fed by future scammers.

[Linda Hutchinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Easy Money
Author: Ben McKenzie, Jacob Silverman
Source: NetGalley
Publish Date: July 18, 2023

Easy Money was genuinely more interesting than you would think when writing about cryptocurrency. I’m married to a forensic accountant, and we talked about this book A LOT because I am trying to wrap my head around this crazy Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Don’t know what I am talking about, then check out this book written by Ben McKenzie, who is the TV star/actor from The OC. Ben is no joke and has a degree in economics. I wanted to understand why people like Tom Brady, Giselle, Kim Kardashian, and many of Hollywood’s A-listers would risk millions of dollars (I said millions) on something so volatile and risky. Many people with a lot of money just burned that cash when they went into cryptocurrency because, at its core, it’s somewhat akin to a fraudulent Ponzi scheme. The only person who has made more money in risky ventures is Bernie Madoff. I don’t gamble, and I have never even visited Las Vegas, but I am risk-averse, and this book will explain just how “shady” these deals are. I swear this book is not dull, and I’m not an accountant, but I am stymied by how stupid some people with a lot of money can be when they think they will get even richer (easy money). It’s greed. Well done and informative. #EasyMoney #AbramsPress #cryptocurrency #economics #finance #risk #gamble #nosafeguards @mrbenmckenzie @netgalley @abramsbooks #money
🪙

I received a complimentary copy of this ARC. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to Abrams Press, NetGalley, and the author for the opportunity to read this novel. Pub. Date: July 18, 2023.
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#book #books #bookaddict #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookshelf #booksbooksbooks #readersofinstagram #reader #booklove #bookreader #reader

[Jacob Binder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up hoping for betting insight into the fraud and corruption and waste of the crypto industry, and it certainly meets that mark, just not in the style I was expecting. I thought this book would be closer to traditional nonfiction journalistic reporting, but instead it is stylized as the personal narrative of actor Ben McKenzie on a personal adventure to expose some of crypto's biggest players for the fraudsters that they are. The personal narrative makes it a lighter, more accessible read, and I guess this style is necessary to reach a wider audience. A recurring message throughout the book is that most retail crypto investors necessarily will lose their money; the game is set up for insiders to win at the expense of hopeful but ill-informed consumers. Overall this book left me sad about the state of not just financial literary in American society, but literacy and critical thinking writ-large. This book is a helpful start at sounding the alarm bells on an industry that is essentially unregulated gambling with no use function or social value and I hope it reaches the right people.

[Melani · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first heard about this book (from a podcast interview with the author's wife) I knew I wanted to read it. I mean, a book about one of the biggest scams in the past couple of years by the actor of Gotham (a show I adore) and The OC (a show I have never seen but am aware of because I was alive in 2003)? Yea, I was reading that. So I pre-ordered a kindle version and waited. When I had a bit of time to pick it up, I quickly realized that the technical stuff was going to make my eyes glaze over, but the technical stuff wasn't super relevant to understand exactly what was going on. I mean, it's good for people who are more money savvy, or for people who enjoy the technobabble, but I didn't really need it for my understanding of the book. However, I knew it would be a barrier to me reading the book, so I switched to the audiobook, where I could let the story of what was happening drown out the technical details. There are a few hiccups in the audio version, some places where I think the editing might have eliminated a sentence or two, and one spot where McKenzie's name is just repeated three times. It's a little weird, for that reason I think if you're going to go my route of the audio book, I suggest nominally following along with a physical or digital copy as well. That said, I don't think those few hiccups were negatives to fully understanding what was going on.

This is a well written, well researched deep dive into the scammy business that is cryptocurrency. It also provides a guide to avoiding future money scams. It is at times funny, but has a real sense of the pathos for the victims, some who lost everything, of crypto. Interesting read.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Cryptocurrency, which was supposedly created as a solution to the myriad failures of our regulated financial system laid bare during the subprime crisis, had effectively reproduced and even amplified the same dynamics, leading to a similar implosion. Thankfully for the broader public, it had all happened on a smaller scale and the real banks were not involved (despite the crypto industry’s efforts to the contrary). But once again, it was regular people who were left holding the bag.”

A great, informative read about the absurdity that is cryptocurrency. Docking a star because the recording had a few issues, even so, Ben McKenzie is a wonderful narrator whose performance kept me engaged at all times.

[No one · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's easy for me to like it when I already agree with the author before even opening it.
I assume the intention behind this is to detract people from gambling their money away on crypto. However, I think they need to look into their demographic a little bit harder. Sure, they convinced me, but I was already convinced before getting the book. That's why I got it, to feed my bubble of crypto-scepticism. Let's say that I have a friend who is telling me about how buying tokens is a great investment, how they are the future, how... your know, all that jazz about the next big thing. Now imagine that I want to convince him that it might be a bad idea, so I hand him this book. This book speaks down to him, calls him an idiot and laughs at him. My friend puts the book down and chalks it all up to FUD. What did we accomplish exactly? Now let's say that my friend doesn't think that Trump was all that bad (cause he might. I don't know, some people do and those people tend to be the prime audience for crypto). This book would have definitely lost him in the first chapter.

Look, I have nothing against a book that tells me something I already know: that crypto sucks. I already knew that, and I loved this book. But then don't tell me that this book is for the people that might be persuaded by it. It is not.

[Simon B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd long ago decided that bitcoin & other cryptocurrencies just had to be another kind of hyped-up Ponzi scheme or an inflated speculative bubble due to burst sooner or later. But I didn't know enough to really justify my cynicism. This narrative non-fiction account of the crypto scam was exactly what I hoped for. Clear, well-researched & compelling. Perhaps there's a broader argument left unsaid about how the increasing financialisation of capitalism is repeatedly throwing up such morbid symptoms of grift at an accelerating rate (the subprime/GFC crisis was only 15 years ago).

[AK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Welp. Crypto remains opaque and also dumb. Audiobook was enjoyably narrated, although the audio editing needed another pass on some of the later chapters. This is a good pick for someone who wants to think about why crypto was always a scam.