Reviews

Pay the Devil in Bitcoin by Nathalie Stucky, Jake Adelstein

jblmk's review against another edition

4.0

Great explanation of what Bitcoin is in laymen’s terms in the first part, but digresses into the Japanese judicial system in the second half!

anadv11's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

3.0

pentalith5's review against another edition

2.0

For all the drama in this story, this could have been a gripping read, but it felt awkward instead. I learned a bit about the personality of Mark Karpeles, whom the book wants us to sympathize with. And I do, now. The argument for his innocence was compelling. That said, I just was not interested in him as a person. I did not need to know how he spent his money, and what that was supposed to say about him. Tabloid details, as far as I'm concerned.

Then the last section of the book seemed to focus on the abysmal state of the criminal justice system in Japan. This section begins with a lengthy detour into this random other case involving another man who happens to like cats (seriously, that was the thread) in order to illustrate the problems with the "guilty until proven guilty" system in Japan.

I get that this is all relevant to the story of Mt. Gox. I'm not sure why I should care so much about the details of how this all went down. In 100 pages, I would have wanted much more detail about how bitcoin actually works, algorithmically, and more of the history and economic theory behind it, OR a completely separate book about Japan's justice system.

grimamethyst's review

informative fast-paced

2.0

charliess's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Really interesting and well written. I could understand without any knowledge in the area.