If you like books about cryptocurrency crimes (and the people who try to catch the criminals), then you’ll like this book. If you enjoy reading about how cybercriminals are caught (which is similar to the above statement, but still different), you’ll like this book. Why? Because it’s one of those action-paced nonfiction books that are hard to put down.
Tracers in the Dark by Andy Greenberg
My obsession with books about cryptocurrency started with American Kingpin bv Nick Bilton, and that’s fitting, because Tracers in the Dark starts with a brief overview of the case that brought down the illegal-drug purchasing operating, the Silk Road, and sent Ross Ulbricht to prison. This makes sense, because you’ll see some of the same players (on both sides of the law) in Tracers in the Dark.
After summarizing that particular case, Greenberg goes into some detail about the researchers who are trying to prove that Bitcoin isn’t quite as untraceable as previously thought. This is where we meet Sarah Meiklejohn, as well as the creator of Chainalysis, Michael Gronager. Along the way, other players in the takedowns to come, are introduced, including IRS agents, Homeland Security agents, and, fittingly, DEA agents.
Over the course of the book, numerous criminal networks are taken down and brought to justice, including AlphaBay, another market like the Silk Road, and Welcome to Video, which allows users to upload and purchase CSAM (child sexual abuse materials) with cryptocurrency, among others.
What really makes the book interesting is the fact that Greenberg is able to describe how cryptocurrency works and how the experts manage to track it (especially Bitcoin), without delving too deeply into the technical aspects. He provides just enough information to grasp what’s going on, making it easy to follow the action. The book could easily have been too technical for the average reader, but Greenberg, who writes about technology for Wired and formerly Forbes, describes everything in the terms that the average person can understand.
This doesn’t mean that the book is perfect. While it’s well organized for the most part, a few sections toward the end stand out, and not in a good way. These are the sections on the ethics involved in tracing a virtual currency that wasn’t designed to be traced. How far is too far? How many privacy invasions can be overlooked? These parts seem like they should be a book unto themselves, as these are very good questions that don’t have clear answers, yet they don’t quite fit the whole “bringing down major criminals” rest of the book.
Mandy's Book Nook 