I predict that Number Go Up by Zeke Faux will be considered the most fascinating and entertaining book in narrative non-fiction for 2023. If you know little about FTX and its infamous founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, this readable account of its demise is a perfect starting point. The book’s scope extends well beyond FTX as Zeke chronicles his ventures around the globe, sharing what I call binge-worthy episodes suitable for a Netflix docuseries.
Episode Highlights
- Zeke’s total air miles while covering the larger-than-life story
- “What do you know about stablecoins?”
- A few definitions: Tether, cash is trash, Bitcoin 2008, blockchain, and electricity and mining
- Who is the real SBF, and will we ever know?
- The reason a NASDAQ for cryptocurrencies is not possible
- The reason SBF did not help Celsius
- A deeper dive into Tether and its origin story and why it faired well during the crypto collapse
- The crazy Axie Infinity story where many lost money
- The text message from Vicki Ho and the idea behind pig butchering
- The scam compounds in Cambodia
Mark’s Take –
This book is special. Some of the stories are the kind we’d see in an action thriller, such as the Vicki Ho story, which ultimately took Zeke to Cambodia to learn more about the scam compounds.
Zeke writes this book in the first person, which makes a book on a seemingly complex topic extremely accessible for the casual reader of narrative non-fiction. Additionally, each chapter can stand on its own–the stories are that good.
If you are looking for a Walter Isaacson tome on FTX and its founder, this is not it. Yet, Bankman-Fried plays a prominent role in the larger story presented by Zeke. The subplots and adjacent stories beyond FTX make this book hard to put down.
Hardly anyone knew what cryptocurrencies were for. Even supposed experts couldn’t explain them. It was unclear why many of them should be worth anything at all. I was told again and again that crypto was the future of finance, technology and art, but as I traveled to cryptocurrency hot spots from Manhattan to Miami, the Bahamas, El Salvador and the Philippines, pretty much all I saw was empty hype and scams.
Zeke Faux – Number Go Up
The Unasked Question
After every interview, I reflect on the questions I did not ask. Had we more time, I would have discussed regulation.
For instance, Zeke tells us, “A drug lord could hold millions of Tethers in a digital wallet and send it to a terrorist without anyone knowing.”
He also offers the following on fraud and other improprieties:
Hardly anyone knew what cryptocurrencies were for. Even supposed experts couldn’t explain them. It was unclear why many of them should be worth anything at all. I was told again and again that crypto was the future of finance, technology and art, but as I traveled to cryptocurrency hot spots from Manhattan to Miami, the Bahamas, El Salvador and the Philippines, pretty much all I saw was empty hype and scams.
Zeke Faux – Number Go Up
In short, should cryptocurrencies be regulated? If so, how and by whom?
Books Mentioned On the Show
- The Way We Live Now (more than 12k ratings on Goodreads)
- The Big Con
Important Links
- Zeke’s LinkedIn profile
- Zeke’s Author Website
- Twitter Account
- Bloomberg Bylines
A very special thanks to Messina Dyana of Penguin Random House for making this interview possible.
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