Infinite Machine cover

Infinite Machine

by Camila Russo

"Everyone has heard of Bitcoin, but few know about the second-largest blockchain, Ethereum, which has been heralded as the "next internet." The story of Ethereum begins with Vitalik Buterin, a supremely gift 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 supercharged global computer. The Infinite Machine introduces Buterin'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 Ethereum grew: increased regulatory scrutiny, incipient Wall Street interest, and the founding team's effort to get the 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 hippie anarchists reluctantly led by the 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." --inside cover

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?