Once a Bitcoin Miner

"For readers of Bitcoin Billionaires comes a true tale of Bitcoin boom to bust: the inside story of fortune and new beginnings in the cryptocurrency Wild West Fresh out of university, Ethan Lou moves to Western Canada to write for Reuters, landing in an oil boomtown with deep roots in the past. But before that, he had another life, in the cryptocurrency world, crossing paths with the likes of the late Gerald Cotten of QuadrigaCX and Anthony Di Iorio, co-founder of Ethereum. When his early Bitcoin investments pay off spectacularly, the newly risen Lou builds a blockchain start-up, riding into a some-trillion-dollar frontier of open-bar pool parties, wealth-flaunting money giveaways, psychedelics, scams, scandals, and turmoil. Lou meets the wildcatters and the fast-talkers, the ambitious and the adventurous, and the exiles seeking fresh starts--all chasing hope, fortune, and the smell of gold. Yet nothing lasts. Calamity comes in waves. Overhead, vultures circle, and in the tall grass, lawmen lurk. This new world is harsh and unpredictable. A true story, Once a Bitcoin Miner is investigative journalism at its best: painstakingly researched through court and government records, extensive interviews, and confidential files and sources. It is also an accessible literary account: a richly told first-person narrative that delves deep into this prominent yet shadowy domain."--