Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall

From the beginning, I thought that crypto was pretty dumb. And it turned out to be even dumber than I imagined. Never before has so much wealth been generated with such flimsy schemes. But what shocked me was not the vapidity of the crypto bros. It was how their heedlessness had devastating consequences for people across the world. By the end, I’d find myself in Cambodia, investigating how crypto fueled a vast human-trafficking scheme run by Chinese gangsters.

I had heard about this book on an episode of Make Me Smart and added it to my list. I have been a skeptic of crypto and this book only cemented my feeling that I made the right call skipping over the whole Crypto and NFT craze.

I realized I had walked in on a presentation for a timeshare that I would pay money not to join.

Zeke did a good job going over some of the many crazes, cons, and schemes so many different companies and people have done over the last decade-plus related to cryptocurrency, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), and NFTs.

Celsius, it turned out, had $18 billion in assets. I couldn’t believe it. Somehow Celsius had accumulated as much money as a large hedge fund with a business plan that wouldn’t even work for a kid’s lemonade stand.

He presented it with clear language, a good sense of humor, and humility especially after dealing with Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX.