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The Infinite Machine: How an Army of Crypto-hackers Is Building the Next Internet with Ethereum Hardcover – July 14, 2020
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Written with the verve of such works as The Big Short, The History of the Future, and The Spider Network, here is the fascinating, true story of the rise of Ethereum, the second-biggest digital asset in the world, the growth of cryptocurrency, and the future of the internet as we know it.
Everyone has heard of Bitcoin, but few know about the second largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, which has been heralded as the "next internet."
The story of Ethereum begins with Vitalik Buterin, a supremely gifted nineteen-year-old autodidact who saw the promise of blockchain when the technology was in its earliest stages. He convinced a crack group of coders to join him in his quest to make a super-charged, global computer.
The Infinite Machine introduces Vitalik’s ingenious idea and unfolds Ethereum’s chaotic beginnings. It then explores the brilliant innovation and reckless greed the platform―an infinitely adaptable foundation for experimentation and new applications―has unleashed and the consequences that resulted as the frenzy surrounding it grew: increased regulatory scrutiny, incipient Wall Street interest, and the founding team’s effort to get the Ethereum platform to scale so it can eventually be accessible to the masses.
Financial journalist and cryptocurrency expert Camila Russo details the wild and often hapless adventures of a team of hippy-anarchists, reluctantly led by an ambivalent visionary, and lays out how this new foundation for the internet will spur both transformation and fraud―turning some into millionaires and others into felons―and revolutionize our ideas about money.
- Print length352 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarper Business
- Publication dateJuly 14, 2020
- Dimensions6 x 1.13 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100062886142
- ISBN-13978-0062886149
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Camila Russo has written the story of Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum—do I need to say more? Read it!" — Tyler Cowen, cofounder of Marginal Revolution
“Bitcoin’s origin story has been widely covered, and thankfully Camila Russo has now narrated the similarly profound genesis of Ethereum. As cryptocurrency and borderless digital finance sweep the world, every tech enthusiast and financial radicalist should dive deep into The Infinite Machine. This is the founding of our swiftly approaching future.” — Erik Voorhees, CEO of ShapeShift
“Camila Russo gives us a fascinating history on the birth and birthing pains of the Ethereum network, which has the potential to transform the way society functions. If Ethereum fulfills its promise, this book will be required reading at colleges, and if it doesn’t, it's still a great read.” — Michael Novogratz, cofounder of Galaxy Digital
The Infinite Machine is the most thorough account of Ethereum's past, present, and likely future that I've encountered. Russo's background as a Bloomberg News reporter combined with her immersion in Ethereum makes her uniquely qualified to tell Ethereum's story. Reminiscent of Nathaniel Popper's work in its storytelling, finesse, and dedication to detail, The Infinite Machine is slated to be Ethereum's Digital Gold. Russo's timing is good, as Ethereum is poised to rise in the mainstream as Bitcoin's younger, more capable sibling. — Chris Burniske, cofounder at Placeholder Ventures and coauthor of Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond
"This real story reads like a colorful, cypherpunk sci-fi. Still visceral for anyone who was there, Russo eloquently captures the origin story of the burgeoning Web 3.0 movement that is driving the next generation of internet platforms. It'll become a canonical text on the history of the space." — Jesse Walden, founder of venture fund Variant and former Andreessen Horowitz investor
"Russo—the ex-Bloomberg tech journalist who describes herself on Twitter as 'Chieftess at the Defiant'—has written a fast-paced, Michael Lewis-style history of crypto-currency which helps us sort out our Bitcoins from our Ethereums." — Literary Hub
"This will appeal to people fascinated with the possibilities of cryptocurrency, as well as those interested in the personalities involved and the business history of the concept." — Library Journal
“The Infinite Machine is well-organized, easy to follow, and serves as the best introduction to the world of Ethereum." — Wall Street Journal
About the Author
Camila Russo is one of the most prolific and dedicated cryptocurrency journalists, speaking frequently at industry events and appearing on major media outlets. She is the founder of crypto content platform The Defiant, and was a Bloomberg News reporter for eight years covering emerging markets, European stocks and digital assets from Buenos Aires, Madrid and New York City. She also worked at Chile’s largest national newspaper, El Mercurio and was awarded first place for online journalism by Brazil’s exchange operator BM&F Bovespa at the start of her career. She has a Master of Science degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and a bachelor’s degree from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. She lives in New York City.
Product details
- Publisher : Harper Business
- Publication date : July 14, 2020
- Language : English
- Print length : 352 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0062886142
- ISBN-13 : 978-0062886149
- Item Weight : 1.1 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.13 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #269,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #153 in E-Commerce (Books)
- #219 in Computers & Technology Industry
- #297 in Internet & Telecommunications
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Camila Russo is a writer and financial journalist with experience across markets and continents. She is the founder of The Defiant, a content platform focusing on decentralized finance. Previously, she was markets reporter at Bloomberg News for eight years, based in Buenos Aires, Madrid and New York.
She studied journalism in Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, after which she worked in El Mercurio, the most widely read Chilean newspaper, as a contractor. After a year in the global news section, she started dreaming of working at a big US media company.
To do that, she decided to apply to a journalism school in the US, and was accepted at Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism for a Master's degree. During the Master's she was surprised to discover she enjoyed business journalism and successfully applied to an internship at Bloomberg News, in New York.
She was hired after the internship, and went on to cover Argentine markets in Bloomberg's Buenos Aires bureau for almost five years, where she covered a debt default, the nationalization of a foreign oil company, currency controls, and (briefly) the rise of bitcoin. European stocks in Madrid for two years was her next stop. She then went back to New York, where she wrote about macro markets for Bloomberg Markets Live blog, a feed of live market analysis.
When she got back to NYC, in 2017, a cryptocurrency bubble started blowing up. She had remained interested in the space ever since she first wrote about it in Argentina, in 2013, and started covering this crazy market, until it gradually became her second job, together with blogger for Markets Live.
In 2018, she started writing the first book on the history of Ethereum, the second biggest cryptocurrency, with HarperCollins. In 2019 she left Bloomberg News to finish The Infinite Machine and move on to pursue her own endeavors. On June 6th, she filed the first draft of the book. Five days later, she founded The Defiant, a content platform focusing on the open economy.
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Customers find the book excellent for understanding cryptocurrency history, particularly the history of Ethereum. Moreover, the writing style receives positive feedback for being well-written, easy to read, and understandable.
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Customers appreciate the book's historical content, describing it as a phenomenal and well-written account of Ethereum's development, with one customer noting how it presents the origin story without bias.
"This book tells more of the history of ethereum in 'easy to understand' explanations on what ethereum is/ works...." Read more
"Great recap of Ethereums history. Really appreciate the details while making it an easy read and engaging...." Read more
"...Very good read if you want a good understanding of the history, the players and the decisions they had to make. It's really an incredible story!" Read more
"Love it. Spot on on the technical side but not too geeky or boring...." Read more
Customers find the book engaging and fun to read, with one customer comparing it to a movie.
"...I am glad to see more well written books coming out with crypto related topics, and not some "traders handbook" crap...." Read more
"...Really appreciate the details while making it an easy read and engaging. Good sharing of contextabs names to make research after the fact easy." Read more
"...Very good read if you want a good understanding of the history, the players and the decisions they had to make. It's really an incredible story!" Read more
"Love it. Spot on on the technical side but not too geeky or boring...." Read more
Customers find the book well written and easy to read, appreciating its clear and understandable manner.
"This book tells more of the history of ethereum in 'easy to understand' explanations on what ethereum is/ works...." Read more
"...Really appreciate the details while making it an easy read and engaging. Good sharing of contextabs names to make research after the fact easy." Read more
"Camilla Russo does an incredible job guiding the reader through the journey that led an idea to become reality...." Read more
"The book is probably a 3 star read but the authors writing style is really good." Read more
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The Story Of How Ethereum Came To Be!
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2020This book tells more of the history of ethereum in 'easy to understand' explanations on what ethereum is/ works. The book is written in 'historical story format' and helps you grasp why ethereum is important, vs say bitcoin. I could see it becoming a film one day. The last half did get into icos however it is an important part of our/ ethereums history from 2017 considering erc20 tokens run on ethereums blockchain.
I reccomend this book to anyone curious about crypto and have done a very brisk research on ethereum- how it works, what is it, how it differs from bitcoin, what is bitcoin ect. (youtube videos, ethereum. Org).
You can read this with no prior knowledge of bitcoin or ethereum and understand it.
I am glad to see more well written books coming out with crypto related topics, and not some "traders handbook" crap.
This book does ethereum justice and its long overdue. Hopefully we will continue to see well written books about cryptos and why they are important. This book does an excellent job of that and in many ways makes you excited for the future.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2022Great recap of Ethereums history. Really appreciate the details while making it an easy read and engaging. Good sharing of contextabs names to make research after the fact easy.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2022I read this from Amazon Unlimited.
I've read a few books on the history of the blockchain/cryptocurrencies and LOVE the stories! Most books are focused on bitcoin though. A search came up on, "The Infinite Machine", so I thought it'd be a good read on the history of Ethereum.
The author has a very good way of telling the stories in a manner that holds the reader's interest. Her research is very good, although I have to believe there's a ton more that hasn't been told...which I'd love to read about. That said, "The Infinite Machine", should leave the readers with more of an appreciation for what's gone into the creating, implementation and maintenance of Ethereum.
As a cryptocurrecy hodl'er, I get tired of hearing all these "I want to get rich quick" investors hammering on Vitalek and crew to get the PoS up and running. READ THIS BOOK so you can appreciate how tough on themselves they are to make sure everything is perfect!
I do believe that Buterin/Wood/et. al. are the pioneers of the future and have (and will continue to) change the world for the better.
Very good read if you want a good understanding of the history, the players and the decisions they had to make. It's really an incredible story!
- Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2024Love it.
Spot on on the technical side but not too geeky or boring.
it shines more light on the background, lifestory and character of the crypto OGs.
Really like it
- Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2022Camilla Russo does an incredible job guiding the reader through the journey that led an idea to become reality. The history of Ethereum’s development, the stories of those who contributed to its creation is captivating, and I felt like I was watching an intense documentary, glued to my seat eager to read through the next chapter. Anyone interested in Ethereum’s history will not regret purchasing this book. (Chapter 20 is intense).
- Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2021The book is probably a 3 star read but the authors writing style is really good.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2021Jumping to the bandwagon of cryptos is no easy task. Full of new terms, stories, references that you are expected to know before you fully understand what people talk about today.
Just like Saifadean’s book “Bitcoin Standard” is a good way to familiarize with fundamentals behind history of money and Bitcoin, Infinite Machine brings you up to speed how Ethereum has developed to this day.
This book covers all main events such as personal history of Vitalik Buterin, Bitcoin Magazine, early crypto projects such as Mastercoin, genesis of Ethereum yellow paper, key people involved and relationship issues inside the core team, Zug adventures and conversations with lawyers, creation of the “utility token” idea that later also boosted the ICO market, MakerDAO hack and hard fork episode, Shanghai attacks, and so on. This book is must-read to anyone professionally involved in the crypto field
- Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2020This book starts off strong but devolves, getting stuck in the ICO weeds. The last half reads more like an encyclopedia, lacking analysis or voice. Russo misses the opportunity to convince us of her “expertise” especially in the last chapter which doesn’t so much end as stops. This will be a good reference for those in the industry but makes the compelling story of ethereum kind of boring.
Top reviews from other countries
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Jose Alfredo Sanchez PortilloReviewed in Mexico on March 25, 2022
3.0 out of 5 stars Llego roto
El libro llego un día antes de lo esperado pero llego con una hoja dañada.
Jose Alfredo Sanchez PortilloLlego roto
Reviewed in Mexico on March 25, 2022
Images in this review
- MR S A BURKEReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, Brilliant piece of literature, I highly recomend. Worth every Penny!!!!
Having been a programmer back in the 80’s (using Turbo Pascal), and now being an investor in Cryptocurrencies, and more importantly. Having read “Bitcoin Billionaires”. I thought this book would be of interest to me as an Investor and provide me with some further knowledge.
I was shocked and super pleasantly surprised to find that it is an amazing book, super fluid and easy to read, full off all the pertinent information, and in many ways a literary master piece. It made “Bitcoin Billionaires” look like it was written by a child in comparison.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Cryptocurrencies, Finance in general, Blockchain Tech, or/and the Modern World!
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R SharrattReviewed in France on August 18, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars Un aperçu très lisible de la motivation pour créer Ethereum.
Un aperçu très lisible de la motivation pour créer Ethereum. L'auteur raconte l'histoire d'une manière qui se lit comme un bon roman, mais parvient à capturer des détails techniques. Une lecture incontournable pour tous ceux qui souhaitent comprendre l'espace crypto. Ce n'est pas seulement un livre d'histoire ; il donne une vision de l'architecture financière de l'avenir.
English
A highly-readable insight into the motivation for creating Ethereum. The author tells the story in a way that reads like a good novel, yet manages to capture technical details. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand the crypto space. It isn't just a history book; it gives a vision into what the financial architecture of the future will look like.
- Ian MurdochReviewed in Canada on December 25, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for anyone interested in web3
Such a great read, couldn’t put it down. Camila Russo paints a vivid picture of Ethereum’s early days and it’s various crypto characters to 2019. Looking forward to a follow up to this!
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Papi RobReviewed in Germany on September 24, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Tolles Buch über die Entstehungsgeschichte von Ethereum
Das Buch ist sehr verständlich geschrieben (Fachwörter werden erklärt - Leute mit wenig technischem Hintergrund können das Buch verstehen) und folgt einem chronologischem Ablauf. Ich kann dieses Buch jedem empfehlen, den die Gründungsgeschichte von Ethereum interessiert.