Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain
Bitcoin, Blockchain, Ethereum & Smart Contracts
by David Gerard
Reading Profile
Should I read this?
Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain delivers a brisk, snarky counterpoint to celebratory crypto writing, translating jargon and headline promises into readable cautions and anecdotes. Its useful part is a plain-English, skeptical voice that highlights common business and technological pitfalls. Its main limitation is tone: the writing can feel polemical and repetitive, lingering on debunking rather than offering deep technical primers or practical how-to guidance. Best used as a critical companion to other, more neutral technical sources.
Read this if...
- •a product manager at a fintech startup who needs sharp talking points to explain crypto risks to cautious leadership — because the book surfaces common hype pitfalls in plain language
- •a technology reporter drafting a feature on crypto culture who wants colourful skeptical anecdotes and a contrarian source of questions to probe interviewees
- •an individual investor weighing whether to allocate to cryptocurrencies who wants readable warnings and red flags before making a commitment
Skip this if...
- •you'll likely put it down when the tone becomes a sustained polemic or when the author repeats debunking at length — readers who prefer calm, balanced exposition tend to lose interest at that point
- •annoying if you prefer a neutral, technical primer or a step-by-step guide — this is not a how-to and lacks hands-on exercises or tutorials
- •not for readers looking for upbeat, pro-crypto explanations; you'll lose interest if you want bullish case-building or practical instructions for buying and using crypto
?Ross Ulbricht had been doing all his Silk Road work from his main daily laptop. One afternoon in September 2013, he was sitting in a library, using their wifi to administer the site, and talking to a friend in the site?s online chat. Two apparentlyhomeless people started arguing loudly behind him; he turned to look, and the slight young woman usi...
Before You Buy
Reading Specifications
Difficulty:hard
Audience Fit
- a product manager at a fintech startup who needs sharp talking points to explain crypto risks to cautious leadership — because the book surfaces common hype pitfalls in plain language
- a technology reporter drafting a feature on crypto culture who wants colourful skeptical anecdotes and a contrarian source of questions to probe interviewees
- an individual investor weighing whether to allocate to cryptocurrencies who wants readable warnings and red flags before making a commitment
- you'll likely put it down when the tone becomes a sustained polemic or when the author repeats debunking at length — readers who prefer calm, balanced exposition tend to lose interest at that point
- annoying if you prefer a neutral, technical primer or a step-by-step guide — this is not a how-to and lacks hands-on exercises or tutorials
- not for readers looking for upbeat, pro-crypto explanations; you'll lose interest if you want bullish case-building or practical instructions for buying and using crypto
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View available editions on AmazonKey themes
Why recommended
appears in Cryptocurrency, Technology, and Business.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
No verified recommendation proof available yet.
Appears In
Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider American Kingpin by Nick Bilton. Recommended by 12 sources.
“Nick Bilton writes a page-turning, reportorial account of Silk Road’s rise and fall, mixing newsroom detail with thriller pacing. Its useful part is the step-by-step reconstruction: setup, marketplace mechanics, the role of cryptocurrency, and the cat-and-mouse between operators and investigators. The limitation is episodic repetition—periods of breathless narrative alternate with long procedural or technical detours that pad runtime and undercut momentum. If you want scene-level reporting and dramatic chronology rather than deep legal or policy analysis, it delivers.”
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Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.