The Defiant

Laura Shin on Solving Ethereum's Greatest Mystery with Her New Book, Cryptopians

Section 1:  The former senior editor at forbes, and one of the first mainstream journalist to report full-time on crypto, Laura Shin has seen it, been there and written about it all. She has been reporting on the space as long as I have. She is the creator and host of the popular podcast –…

By: Camila Russo Loading...

Section 1:

The former senior editor at forbes, and one of the first mainstream journalist to report full-time on crypto, Laura Shin has seen it, been there and written about it all. She has been reporting on the space as long as I have. She is the creator and host of the popular podcast – Unchained, and recently she launched her new book ‘The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze.’ to much acclaim. But where did it all start for Laura and when did she first start reporting on this space? And where did her inspiration for the book stem from?

  • Former Senior Editor of Forbes
  • Creator and host of “The Unchained” Podcast
  • Recently launched book titled ‘The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze.’

Section 2: 12:55

In 2016, the DAO, a decentralized venture capital fund on ethereum, had raised $139 million in eth by the time its crowd sale ended, making it the most successful crowdfunding effort to that date. Weeks later, a hacker siphoned 31% of the ETH in The DAO—3.64 million total or about 5% of all ETH then outstanding. In her new book, Laura Shin investigates “The DAO Hacker”. Who was this hacker and how did Laura find a credible suspect to one of the greatest mysteries in crypto?

  • 2016, Ethereum community poured $139 million in ETH into The DAO
  • 31% of the total ETH was taken from the DAO
  • Ethereum hard forked to erase the hack but hacker was able to keep funds in ETC
  • Laura investigates, who is “The DAO Hacker”?

Section 3: 32:02

The DAO hack was a story to behold, but was by no means the only theme of “The Cryptopians”. While my book on Ethereum, The Infiinite Machine included more of the context leading up to Ethereum, and spent more time on its impact, with ICOs and DeFi, Laura’s Cryptopians delved deeper into the Ethereum story itself and those at the core of the project, making new revelations and delivering an extremely detailed account. What were some of Laura’s biggest discoveries during this time? What surprised her the most?

  • “The Infinite Machine” details the lead up to Ethereum.
  • Focuses on impact, ICO’s, DeFi and the changing face of the space.
  • The Cryptopians details the story of Ethereum itself.
  • The people behind the project, the revelations and the roadblocks they came into.

Section 4: 48:55

The Unchained podcast has been running since 2016. It is one of the first non tech based podcasts centring on cryptocurrency, opening the space to a wider audience. How has this show developed since 2016 as the general interest in crypto soars? And what is next for Laura?

  • Unchained Podcast was founded in 2016
  • One of the first non-technical crypto podcasts
  • Paved access of the space to a much wider audience
  • One of the most popular crypto podcasts today.

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