The Infinite Machine: How an Army of Crypto-hackers Is Building the Next Internet with Ethereum
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- Create Date：2022-02-14 06:54:42
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Camila Russo
- ISBN：0062886142
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Summary
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。
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。
Reviews
Jate Saitthiti
，
This book contains crucial periods of Ethereum， Such as Ethereum Classic Hard Forks， The DAO attack （2016）， The Beginning of ERC-20， and ICOs hype （2017）。 Even MyEtherwallet （MEW） was a side project built by Taylor Monahan。 A film-producer turned web developer！。
Daniel Wei-hsuan
，
Amazing read， huge shout out to Camila for writing this book， as a crypto enthusiast/participant since 17 this book has equipped me with even more knowledge， nuance， stories for me to navigate in the space as well as connect more deeply to the people， projects， and ideas that will continue to impact the upcoming decades。 The narrative and the style of this book is well balanced， and it's because it's coming from someone who's more an objective observer and storyteller rather than a biased suppor Amazing read， huge shout out to Camila for writing this book， as a crypto enthusiast/participant since 17 this book has equipped me with even more knowledge， nuance， stories for me to navigate in the space as well as connect more deeply to the people， projects， and ideas that will continue to impact the upcoming decades。 The narrative and the style of this book is well balanced， and it's because it's coming from someone who's more an objective observer and storyteller rather than a biased supporter of the technology whose sole purpose is to propagate the advancement of the space despite the realities that exist outside of the blockchain world。 This book is definitely the "Social Network" of blockchain and once the movie comes out， it's going to be another huge milestone for the space， hmmmm， I'm going to buy their NFTs now。 。。。more
Rosa Angelone
，
Does a good job of setting up why Ethereum is different from Bitcoin and explaining the culture。 Doesn't spend too much time wallowing in the myth making zeitgeist that can happen with new hot things。 I will have to keep reading but I found the technical explanations easy to follow and really appreciated the discussions on what some of the goals Ethereum might be able to meet outside of making some people rich。 The Bloomberg reporters do a good job overall about talking about stuff like this wit Does a good job of setting up why Ethereum is different from Bitcoin and explaining the culture。 Doesn't spend too much time wallowing in the myth making zeitgeist that can happen with new hot things。 I will have to keep reading but I found the technical explanations easy to follow and really appreciated the discussions on what some of the goals Ethereum might be able to meet outside of making some people rich。 The Bloomberg reporters do a good job overall about talking about stuff like this with out climbing too high up on hype mountain。 。。。more
Lapo Lazzati
，
This books really reads like a Michael Lewis novel。 And makes the story of ethereum incredibly interesting and inspiring。 Recommending it for all those who want to understand what ethereum is about
Sherry
，
The book is in chronological order， which means it is better to be read as a recount of how Ethereum was created， what challenges （hacks and hard forks） it has been faced with and how it evolved over time。 If your goal is to get a better sense of the technical side of Ethereum and its protocl， this book may not be statisfying。 It isn't that there is no technical element， but that they are dispersed and could be confusing if not understood in a braoder context or in a systematic way or if without The book is in chronological order， which means it is better to be read as a recount of how Ethereum was created， what challenges （hacks and hard forks） it has been faced with and how it evolved over time。 If your goal is to get a better sense of the technical side of Ethereum and its protocl， this book may not be statisfying。 It isn't that there is no technical element， but that they are dispersed and could be confusing if not understood in a braoder context or in a systematic way or if without certain level of technical background。 That being said， most of the nuts and bolts were decomposed and presented in a readable way。 And for those who are not trying to get their head around how those codes or protocols work exactly， that is more than enough。 To put the above in a simple way "This is a background introduction not a dummy series。 "The book started from Vitalik and his personal experience with the broader cyptocurrency and blockchain world as the background。 It then dives into who the early contributors and core members are and what are their unique stories that led them to this project。 It also spent a whole chapter recounting how the Ethereum foundation was established in a small town called Zug in Switzerland。 I think this is one of the most "dramatic" and thus "interesting" parts of the book。 Thanks to the author's journalism background， we are able to revisit those events/milestones/hard times through different eyes。 Each party （the lawyer， the early members， those who were ousted， those who made fortunue） has their own narrative and I would say the author is doing a good job being more neutral then judgemental。 What I hoped could be addressed or at least mentioned in the book is how the Ethereum Virtual Machine， the Smart Contract idea， and Dapp， Defi and etc relate to each other。 Considering that Ethereum has the second largest market cap and is undergoing the transition to PoS sybil resistance mechanism， there are a lot of imlications to be drawn about its widely adoption and continuous evolution。 What the future looks like and where we are in this crypto-world to be are something that I hope the author could ask to her interviees， especially Vitaliks， who certaintly does have a vision and a near-term plan。It may also be interesting， if more comparison could be made among Ether， Bitcoin， Solana， Luna and other "Mainstream" cyptocs or platforms。 This may be a tall order， but will definitely make this book a more comprehensive and attractive one。 。。。more
Markus Pietilä
，
3，5/5
J。T。
，
Good context on the invention of Ethereum and the early major players
Pamela McDonnell
，
Great book about the history of Ethereum and other crypto。 Makes a complex subject easier to understand。 I listened to this book on Audible at 1。3 speed （I listen to almost all books on this speed） and it kept me wanting to hear more。 I dabble in crypto but definitely not a techie and I found this fascinating and almost more like a novel than nonfiction。 My only complaint would be that it needs an update。 Too much has happened in the crypto world since the writing and it seemed incomplete to rea Great book about the history of Ethereum and other crypto。 Makes a complex subject easier to understand。 I listened to this book on Audible at 1。3 speed （I listen to almost all books on this speed） and it kept me wanting to hear more。 I dabble in crypto but definitely not a techie and I found this fascinating and almost more like a novel than nonfiction。 My only complaint would be that it needs an update。 Too much has happened in the crypto world since the writing and it seemed incomplete to read it in 2022 and not include more about NFT’s and the surge in prices happening in the last 2 years。 。。。more
Andy Shi
，
It shows a good amount of progress that blockchain， specifically ethereum has gone through till today， also how good of a man Vitalik is :）
Chris
，
What a fun read！ I have some prior knowledge， understanding， investment， etc。 in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space， but this peek behind the creation and evolution of Ethereum was great！ The writing style is journalistic in my opinion （unsurprising as Russo is one of the top crypto/blockchain writers）， and I like this because it was efficient and reads fast。 The story itself is quite exciting and all of it reads as if this were a fictional thriller， which I loved。 Not overhyped， but just a What a fun read！ I have some prior knowledge， understanding， investment， etc。 in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space， but this peek behind the creation and evolution of Ethereum was great！ The writing style is journalistic in my opinion （unsurprising as Russo is one of the top crypto/blockchain writers）， and I like this because it was efficient and reads fast。 The story itself is quite exciting and all of it reads as if this were a fictional thriller， which I loved。 Not overhyped， but just amazing what real world episodes there were， and the trials and tribulations of the team and folks involved。 I'd suggest that even if you aren't "into" blockchain/crypto/Ethereum， but you just want to read a great true story， I'd recommend this。 If you're at all involved in this tech or investing， then even more reason to read it。 。。。more
Myrela Bauman
，
This book almost “fictionalises” the inception of Ethereum but does so in a factual way。 It is centred around Vitalik Buterin， his unique vision， and the trials and tribulations leading up to where the platform stands now （as of late 2019）。 Seeing as this is a male-dominated ecosystem， I appreciate to learn about this from a female author for once。
Diego Cerdan Puyol
，
Do not expect great literature but still a great book because of the epic effort to document early recent history of Ethereum。 First row seat on the human effort that took place on its first years。
John McCarthy
，
recommended by Sergio re must-read re birth of ethereum
Ilmari Kumpula
，
Pretty good book。 Did like reading the whole story behind Ethereum。
Rafał
，
It's not everyday when a new asset class/industry is born。 This is a great book telling the story of then 19-year old genius Vitalik Buterin who， thanks to Bitcoin's breakthrough in decentralized systems， came up with an idea of Ethereum - a platform that， through smart contracts， allows users to make complex transactions without a need of a 3rd party like bank or insurance broker。The book is easy to read and clarifies complex topics without technical jargon and unnecessary details。 It focuses o It's not everyday when a new asset class/industry is born。 This is a great book telling the story of then 19-year old genius Vitalik Buterin who， thanks to Bitcoin's breakthrough in decentralized systems， came up with an idea of Ethereum - a platform that， through smart contracts， allows users to make complex transactions without a need of a 3rd party like bank or insurance broker。The book is easy to read and clarifies complex topics without technical jargon and unnecessary details。 It focuses on how Ethereum came to fruition and， with its ups and downs， took the world by storm。 Couple of decades from now this book will serve as a refresher of how the revolution started and I certainly will look at it with a great sentiment。 Personally， I think crypto will have the biggest impact on our lives from all the emerging technologies （AI folks would not agree probably）。 Ethereum is in the center of it， flowering with decentralized finance industry， NFTs craze， new way of governance through DAOs （decentralized autonomous organizations） and who knows what people will come up with next。 Highly recommended read for all。 。。。more
LT
，
A reboot book
João Coelho
，
Wow。 Technical language is understandable and the content is very well structured。Who knew the Ethereum creation story was so exhilarating。 Amazing writing。 I compare this read to the best of Michael Lewis。。。 Clap clap
Pinar
，
2012 de IT işinden ayrıldıktan sonra elimi eteğimi feci çekmişim bu konulardan。 Dinlerken kendimi web2de kalmış dinazor gibi hissettim。 Kripto teknolojisi bit-coin ve saire öğrenmiş bulundum bi miktar。Teknolojik açıdan biraz boş， tarihsel olarak takip etmek karışık （biraz geri dönüşlü） daha çok kişilerin hayat hikayeleri şeklinde yine de faydalı bir kitap。 Tabi hikayeler çok hızlı gelişirken bir miktar eskimiş olabilir。
Dan Zwirn
，
An entertaining overview of Ethereum from the admirable libertarian ideas that brought it about to its struggles with rivals and continued search for use cases。。
Sandiip
，
History of the gang behind Ethereum - felt a bit like hero worship throughout， lacked balance。。 too many unknown characters doesn't make the book engaging History of the gang behind Ethereum - felt a bit like hero worship throughout， lacked balance。。 too many unknown characters doesn't make the book engaging 。。。more
Heidi C
，
Studying crypto-currency is like learning a whole new world。 This book contains a lot of historical info on how ethereum was set up and some quite interesting stories。 However， with all things happening so fast I just don’t see the book relevant enough for today， as the last log dated back to 2019。
Cristóbal Daly
，
Es un buen libro， sobre todo siendo un tema bastante complejo。 Siempre tiene un buen ritmo y a modo de historia， evitando demasiados tecnisismos。Da una entretenida mirada a la historia de blockchain y monedas digitales
TheAustrian
，
Perfect piece of crypto history
Ed
，
Engaging。 Well researched， well told。
JJ
，
A global community of Ethereum developers continued to flourish despite internal tensions， disastrous hacks， speculative bubbles， and government scrutiny。 The story is told in a gripping， colorful way。 Some of the writing could have been more clear。 Also， at parts I found it difficult to keep track of different characters。 Maybe that's just a product of Ethereum being a sprawling project with lots of contributors。 A global community of Ethereum developers continued to flourish despite internal tensions， disastrous hacks， speculative bubbles， and government scrutiny。 The story is told in a gripping， colorful way。 Some of the writing could have been more clear。 Also， at parts I found it difficult to keep track of different characters。 Maybe that's just a product of Ethereum being a sprawling project with lots of contributors。 。。。more
Joshua
，
Once there was a time when Bitcoin and Ethereum didn't exist， and then they were created and now they do exist。 This book does the service of explaining the basic facts of how that happened。 The price for that is a stunning credulity about the ideas behind cryptocurrencies and their potential to do either good or bad in the world。 Russo starts the book by offering a compelling reason for why someone would want an unregulated way to hedge against inflation: Argentina's financial crisis， when the Once there was a time when Bitcoin and Ethereum didn't exist， and then they were created and now they do exist。 This book does the service of explaining the basic facts of how that happened。 The price for that is a stunning credulity about the ideas behind cryptocurrencies and their potential to do either good or bad in the world。 Russo starts the book by offering a compelling reason for why someone would want an unregulated way to hedge against inflation: Argentina's financial crisis， when the value of its currency was ruined by inflation and its government implemented currency controls that forced citizens to keep their money in rapidly devaluing pesos。 There's real human suffering involved in that story， and it's easy to sympathize with any Argentinian's enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies。 Any Argentine who did buy and hodl bitcoin at that time made an immense amount of money that she would otherwise have lost。 From the， Russo seamlessly expands to the broadest possible case for cryptocurrencies with only the most cursory of examinations of their underlying assumptions。 The word "corrupt" and "greedy" are automatically appended to anyone involved in existing banking or governmental systems， and she pivots blockchain-y jargon like "uncensorable" money without even bothering to consider whether they're coherent concepts。 （So far as I can tell， "censoring" money means regulating any financial system。） This book's core focus is on Ethereum， a separate blockchain technology based on its own cryptocurrency， whose main distinction is that it can be used to make applications from new social networking to weird new organizations where digital tokens are used to vote。 It's a fascinating idea， more fascinating than Bitcoin， to me， because it purports to offer benefits beyond cryptocurrencies。 The descriptions of how such ideas might work are confusing and a bit breathless， although to be fair it's hard to describe many of the applications because they don't really exist。 The closest the book gets to dealing with some of the unresolved tensions of Ethereum is a in the description of a major attack in which hackers exploit a flaw in the code of a popular Ethereum project to drain it of millions of dollars。 The core Ethereum developers exploit the flaw themselves in an attempt to save the users' cryptocurrency， revealing that it is possible for a centralized authority to exert power over the system， after all。 In the pre-blockchain world， such a decision would have been a no-brainer for any business， government， or other organization。 But underuts the core Ethereum principle that all institutions should be everyone for themselves。Many projects fail to live up to their core values， but if Ethereum works better when it's less decentralized， it's worth asking whether there's something else that is driving people's interest in it。 I am convinced that Vitalik Buderin， Ethereum's main creator and a core saint of the blockchain world， is genuinely convinced by the maximalist philosophies -- he is a compelling advocate for them because he is willing to grapple in much greater depth with the obvious shortcomings of the system he's trying to make。 But Russo passes lightly over how much other motivations explain the fervor around this idea。 As she introduces each character in her narrative， Russo dutifully describes why they got into cryptocurrencies， explaining how they first became fascinated with the idea of a kind of money outside the control of central banks。 These are， for the most part， males in their late teens。 But I've been a male in his late teens， and I find it had to believe that hostility towards inflationary monetary policy was the defining revelation of these guys's lives。 I do know what lots of guys that age are really into: getting rich！ Ethereum is a new stock market， where you could buy in at basically nothing， and， if you push the vision hard enough， become fantastically wealthy。 This motivation isn't absent from this book， but it is underplayed as an embarrassing side narrative， when in fact it's the driving factor。 The end of book illustrates this -- inadvertently， I think -- through two anecdotes。 The first is a return to the Argentinian guy who bought Bitcoin to save himself from hyperinflation。 He discovers a new Ethereum app that allows him to borrow money online from someone he doesn't know， and without revealing anything about himself。 He then uses the borrowed money to invest in Bitcoin。 A financial system where lenders give loans without being able to assess the chances they'll be repaid， and the borrowers then use that money to inflate the value of the main asset underlying the system seems， I don't know， really bad？ But in Russo's telling， its pure liberty。 After describing that as Ethereum's killer app， Russo ends with Buderin presiding over a conference。 Someone asks him whether Ethereum will continue to go up。 Buderin demurs， but the takeaway is pretty clear -- that's the main thing is followers care about。 。。。more
Pedro JG
，
Fast-paced book about the history of Ethereum and the world of cryptocurrency。 From NFTs to DeFi， really recommended。
Mico Go
，
Concise breakdown of ETH through the brains behind the wheel。 I liked the style of writing， with Camille taking us through the stories of the different individuals who were key in building up Ethereum into what it is today。 Honestly learnt a lot about the other projects now taking the headlines （that apparently came from the minds of former ETH devs - like Cardano and Polka Dot to name a few）; gave a lot of background as well to the rise of ETH， and why a PoS model is definitely the future。 Grea Concise breakdown of ETH through the brains behind the wheel。 I liked the style of writing， with Camille taking us through the stories of the different individuals who were key in building up Ethereum into what it is today。 Honestly learnt a lot about the other projects now taking the headlines （that apparently came from the minds of former ETH devs - like Cardano and Polka Dot to name a few）; gave a lot of background as well to the rise of ETH， and why a PoS model is definitely the future。 Great read to get bullish on the future of DeFi， especially with the heightened progress of so much tech that can be potential game changers; LRC with their L2 scaling and DEX looking to be a lot more groundbreaking。Would definitely recommend this to people not into the crypto space but curious as to how blockchain tech will likely change the world。 。。。more
John Dane
，
This 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/ Ethereum history from 2017 considering erc20 tokens run on Ethereum's blockchain。 I recommend this book to anyone curious about Cryptocurreny and have done a very This 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/ Ethereum history from 2017 considering erc20 tokens run on Ethereum's blockchain。 I recommend this book to anyone curious about Cryptocurreny and have done a very brisk research on Ethereum- how it works， what is it， how it differs from bitcoin， what is bitcoin etc。 （YouTube videos， Ethereum）。 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 crypto and why they are important。 This book does an excellent job of that and in many ways makes you excited for the future。 。。。more
Matt Brown
，