Crypto Confidential

The financial world collides with scandal and crime in the dark underbelly of cryptocurrency. Crypto Confidential tells the salacious story of the industry everyone is talking about right now. In doing so, it sheds light on some of the most scandalous financial crimes of the 21st century. From billion-dollar fraud cases to international money laundering cartels, political bribery and even faked deaths, it lifts the lid on the intricate and immense web of malpractice which crypto founders spin to trap ordinary investors. Written by a prominent and well-connected insider, it provides a first-hand account of how the industry truly operates, and how every aspect is engineered for one purpose: to make vast amounts of fast money for those on the inside, by any means necessary.

'Crypto Confidential is the final word on the cryptocurrency industry. Its lively and dramatic account of greed, corruption, and scandal will captivate you from start to finish. It shines an uncompromising light on the dangers and pitfalls of the 21st Century’s most malevolent fad, and I would recommend it as essential reading for anyone considering dabbling in digital assets.' – FRANK W. ABAGNALE, subject of Catch Me If You Can

'An eye-opening insider's look into the crypto industry, which sheds a stark and uncompromising light on its nefarious incentive structures and lays bare the dark side of digital assets.' – STEPHEN DIEHL, author of Popping the Crypto Bubble

'Before investing in crypto, read this tale of "Grifters' Groundhog Day,'' in which investors, even the grifters themselves, fall for age-old scams, again and again. I can't vouch for the accuracy of every performance in this circus of fraud, but they're all more plausible than the rosy outcomes dangled by crypto-evangelists and swallowed by gullible investors.' – PAUL ROMER, 2018 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics and co-author of Looting: The Economic Underworld Of Bankruptcy for Profit

'Crypto Confidential is a unique insider’s view of a legal and regulatory nightmare, and an illustration of why crypto scams remain endemic and pervasive. If Jake could go back in time, and never get in bed with the crypto bros, he would. But then we would have missed his compelling account of that world and its now-familiar lies and shills. Jake is brutally honest, even about his own crypto token that slowly and surely declined to zero, and he sprinkles his lessons about trust and greed with entertaining narratives, ranging from dress-up costumes to lots of beer. But don’t be fooled: this is a serious book. If you weren’t in the crypto industry from 2020-22, this book will take you there.' – FRANK PARTNOY, UC Berkeley professor, International Research Fellow, Oxford University and author of The Match King: Ivar Kreuger, the Financial Genius Behind a Century of Wall Street Scandals

'Just when you were thinking it might be safe to dip a toe into the crypto waters, along comes Jake Donoghue's brilliant and propulsive Crypto Confidential, a cautionary tale if there ever was one about the dangers still lurking in that roiling sea.' – WILLIAM D. COHAN, bestselling author of House of Cards and co-founder of Puck

'Everything you feared was true about crypto and much worse are laid bare in this gripping and infuriating insider account of his time at the forefront of the industry. Funny, illuminating and beautifully written.' – LIAM VAUGHAN, author of Flash Crash: A Trading Savant, a Global Manhunt and the Most Mysterious Market Crash in History

'This book provides a birdseye insider view of the crypto industry’s highs and lows. Other books have recounted the lows, but it is Donoghue’s vivid description of the industry’s heyday that serves as the most searing indictment of crypto’s hollow cynicism. This account makes clear that the crypto industry was never about building anything; instead it was always about making a quick buck for the lucky (or just plain dirty) few. Readers are left with the sobering impression that - even when there was no outright fraud or money laundering - it’s hard to point to a good apple in the crypto industry.' – HILARY J. ALLEN, Professor of Law at the American University Washington College of Law and author of Driverless Finance: Fintech’s Impact on Financial Stability

'Crypto Confidential finally blows the whistle on one of the most fraudulent industries in history. Like Mackay's Extraordinary Popular Delusions, Donoghue's insider take will be the go-to history lesson for understanding the mania in digital asset markets for generations.' – PETER HOWSON, author of Let Them Eat Crypto: The Blockchain Scam That's Ruining the World

'As a crypto insider, Jake writes from a unique vantage point, offering a rare peek behind the curtain of one of the world's most opaque and misunderstood industries. He offers his insights with humour and intelligence, and almost every page comes with a revelation or an explanation to clear some of the muddiest waters in finance.' – GEORGE HARRISON, co-author of Inside Allenwood: The Story of a British Banker inside a US Prison

'A brilliant and fascinating description of crypto, the 21st century high tech version of age-old bubbles. It makes painfully clear that, on the buying side, there is no limit to human credulity, and in the faith in magic returns. And, on the selling side, no limit to hubris, deception and scamming. Read the book, and cry. Message to investors: do not touch the stuff. Message to regulators: kill the beast before it affects all of us.' – OLIVIER BLANCHARD, Former Chief Economist at the IMF, and Robert M. Solow Professor Emeritus of Economics at MIT

'From his insider's seat at the table, Jake Donoghue takes us behind the scenes of the shadowy world of crypto grifters and reveals how so many worthless tokens were promoted with the aid of a legion of anonymous influencers and corrupt crypto media outlets. Crypto Confidential reads like the modern version of the movies Boiler Room and The Big Short. This book is a must read for anybody who has ever invested or is thinking of investing in the cryptocurrency market.' - JOE SALUZZI, co-author Broken Markets: How High Frequency Trading and Predatory Practices on Wall Street Are Destroying Investor Confidence and Your Portfolio

'Jake Donoghue's Crypto Confidential is a roll-call of infamy, providing an unparalleled insight into the nefarious bunch of chancers, charlatans, con men and fraudsters who control or controlled the global crypto space.'– IAN FRASER, author of Shredded: Inside RBS The Bank That Broke Britain

'I didn’t expect a book about cryptocurrency to be racey, funny and gobsmacking all at once... Deliciously gossipy as the book is, you’ll need a strong stomach to digest some of its revelations. At a time when so many face relentless financial pressure, it’s a reminder that others have so much loose cash that they’ll throw it at an environmentally ruinous industry where, even after the jailing of Sam Bankman-Fried, fraudsters are still mistaken for IT whizz-kids who want to save the world. In the lawless world of crypto, Charles Ponzi would recognise what’s going on right now; so would Bernie Madoff. – Andy Verity, BBC Financial Investigations Correspondent and author of Rigged

'A fascinating insider's perspective into what life was like in the fast lane of the crypto shilling mania of 2021 and a must-read for all those still being actively wooed by crypto and blockchain lobbyists, from politicians and regulators to central bankers. Don't be surprised to learn it was even worse than you ever suspected.' – Izabella Kaminska, Former Editor of FT Alphaville, Senior Finance Editor POLITICO Europe and Founder Editor of The Blind Spot

'Pacey and authoritative, this is the sort of thing we need the most at present - an honest book about a thoroughly dishonest industry.'- Dan Davies, author of Lying for Money: How Legendary Frauds Reveal the Workings of Our World

In past lives, JAKE DONOGHUE held numerous positions within finance, politics and PR. He went on to co-found the UK’s foremost crypto marketing agency, working with the biggest names in the business. A frequent key-note speaker on the conference circuit, he has also written extensively for publications such as The Times, The Financial Times, and The Spectator. Crypto Confidential presents his scandalous insider’s account of the world’s fast-growing, most tempestuous asset class.

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