This book review on "The Infinite Machine: : How an Army of Crypto-hackers Is Building the Next Internet with Ethereum" first appeared on my IG handle (@diaperfinancingfund).
I only became interested in crypto after Hodlnaut - a Singapore crypto lending platform - approached me to publicise its affiliate program. Hodlnaut has a blog at Publish0x, by the way. Anyway, suffice it to say that prior to reading this book, I wasn’t even sure about how to pronounce ‘Ethereum’. But Camila Russo must have anticipated that some prospective readers are picking up her book with very little background knowledge about crypto, so her book is as much a Basic 101 guide to cryptocurrencies as it is a fascinating read on how Ethereum was created through the joint efforts of 8 co-founders.
As someone who loves writing, I loved reading how Vitalik Buterin (the mastermind behind ETH) started out by writing articles about Bitcoin. Camila Russo also left no stone unturned as she meticulously detailed the life stories of the other co-founders to shed light on WHY they were motivated to develop ETH.
It’s a story about a band of brothers who got together, united in their vision and determined in their efforts to bring it to fruition, including registering their company in Switzerland to best navigate regulatory laws.
It’s a story of self-improvement as Vitalik recognised the need to upgrade ETH and come up with a proof-of-stake protocol for Ethereum 2.0 (which is slated for release later this year!)
It is also a story about divergence and difference as two of the co-founders - Charles Hoskinson and Gavin Wood - left Ethereum to work on their projects - Cardano and Polkadot - respectively.
It’s even a story of frivolous fun coupled with serious business as the founding of CryptoKitties (one of the most popular NFTs around) was explained, which wasn't something I didn't expect.
Yes, my knowledge of crypto exponentially increased after reading this book. If you wanna keep up with Gen Z’s way of living and investing, this book is not to be missed!
