Number Go Up
Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall
Book Edition Details
Summary
In a world where fortunes rise and fall with the click of a mouse, "Number Go Up" by Zeke Faux pulls back the digital curtain on the wild, bewildering circus of cryptocurrency. With a journalist's eye and a storyteller's flair, Faux embarks on a global odyssey, probing the surreal saga of crypto kingpins and charlatans. From the sun-soaked opulence of a Bahamian resort to the turbulent streets of El Salvador, his journey unfolds as a tapestry of greed, illusion, and staggering ambition. At its heart lies the enigmatic Sam Bankman-Fried, a frizzy-haired prodigy whose empire teeters on a precipice. Faux's narrative deftly navigates through high-stakes intrigue, exploring not just a financial spectacle but a profound commentary on the human appetite for risk and reinvention. This is the definitive chronicle of a $3 trillion mirage, both exhilarating and cautionary, where every page turns a mirror on our own digital desires.
Introduction
Have you ever watched a friend make a fortune from a cryptocurrency with a dog logo while you—the supposed financial expert—sat on the sidelines convinced it was all nonsense? This exact scenario unfolded for Bloomberg investigative reporter Zeke Faux when his high school buddy texted their group chat about "doggie coin" investments during the pandemic. What began as personal frustration with missing easy money transformed into a two-year odyssey through the greatest financial mania in human history, taking him from exclusive crypto parties on billionaires' superyachts to shadowy corners where digital promises meet devastating human suffering. This journey reveals how an industry built on revolutionary promises of financial freedom became a playground for elaborate deceptions, where cartoon ape pictures commanded millions and entire nations adopted currencies created by anonymous programmers. You'll learn to recognize the warning signs that separate genuine innovation from sophisticated speculation, understand how seemingly harmless digital gambling can fuel real-world tragedies from human trafficking to retirement savings collapse, and discover why the most dangerous financial bubbles are often those wrapped in the most compelling stories of technological progress.
Tether's House of Cards: The $80 Billion Lie
In the summer of 2021, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen convened an emergency meeting of America's top financial officials. The subject wasn't inflation or international trade, but a digital currency called Tether, created by a former child actor from The Mighty Ducks and controlled by an Italian ex-plastic surgeon with a history of selling counterfeit Microsoft software. This $80 billion cryptocurrency claimed to be backed by real U.S. dollars, one-to-one, yet no one could verify where the money actually existed. Giancarlo Devasini, the mysterious Italian controlling Tether, had once simply walked away from his plastic surgery practice without explanation, abandoning patients and moving to China. His personal blog revealed an obsession with Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, writing admiringly about how one person could orchestrate such massive fraud. When banking troubles forced Tether offshore, Devasini partnered with money launderers and operated through shell companies so complex that even government investigators couldn't trace them. The company's reserves weren't sitting safely in bank accounts as promised, but were invested in risky Chinese commercial paper and loans to crypto companies on the verge of collapse. When New York's attorney general finally cornered Tether executives, they admitted to secretly lending $850 million to cover losses at their affiliated exchange, essentially using customer deposits as a corporate slush fund. Yet despite these revelations, Tether continued growing, becoming the backbone of the entire cryptocurrency economy. Every major crypto exchange relied on Tether for trading, making it the digital equivalent of banking system plumbing. The most terrifying aspect wasn't that Tether might be fraudulent, but that the global financial system had become so dependent on it that regulators felt powerless to intervene. When evaluating any financial infrastructure, especially one claiming to hold billions in reserves, demand independent verification and transparent auditing. If a company can't or won't prove its claims about backing assets with real money, that's not innovation—that's a house of cards waiting to collapse.
Sam Bankman-Fried: How Good Intentions Became Grand Theft
Sam Bankman-Fried appeared disheveled in blue shorts and a gray FTX t-shirt when first encountered in his Bahamas office, simultaneously playing a fantasy game called Storybook Brawl while giving a virtual presentation to the prestigious Economic Club of New York. This shoeless 29-year-old billionaire, worth at least $20 billion, claimed he'd only gotten rich to give it all away, following the "earning to give" philosophy that suggested he could do more good making billions and donating them than working directly for charity. His origin story seemed perfectly crafted for the crypto era: a utilitarian philosopher turned Wall Street trader who drove a Toyota Corolla, slept on a beanbag chair, and spoke earnestly about using his fortune to prevent pandemics and artificial intelligence disasters. His exchange FTX generated billions facilitating bets on digital tokens, while his hedge fund Alameda Research had supposedly made another billion in profits. When pressed about the ethics of encouraging gambling through Super Bowl advertisements, he deflected with utilitarian calculations about expected value and greater good. Behind this altruistic facade, Bankman-Fried was orchestrating one of history's largest frauds. While publicly claiming his exchange and hedge fund operated independently, he was secretly using billions in customer deposits to cover Alameda's trading losses. The money funded private jets, celebrity endorsements, and political donations that made him one of Washington's biggest campaign contributors. In a chilling podcast confession, he essentially described the entire crypto playbook: create worthless tokens, dress them up as world-changing technology, and watch people pour hundreds of millions into them simply because prices were rising. The most dangerous fraudsters are often those who genuinely believe their own noble intentions justify extreme means. When someone claims to be taking enormous risks for the greater good, always ask whose money they're risking and whether they have the right to make that decision. True ethical behavior requires accountability and transparency, not just philosophical justifications and good intentions wrapped around other people's life savings.
From Digital Apes to Human Trafficking: The Real Cost of Crypto Dreams
Arthur Lapina was chopping pig ears at a Manila bar when a Facebook advertisement promised he could earn money battling cartoon creatures in a mobile game called Axie Infinity. For $2.50, he bought a team of digital pets that looked like "cheerful tube socks" and began earning small amounts of cryptocurrency called Smooth Love Potions. As token prices climbed from one cent to thirty-six cents, Lapina became the toast of Cabanatuan City, hiring over a hundred "scholars" to play for him while townspeople brought gifts of fried chicken and called him "master." The economics were transparently unsustainable—players could invest $91 and earn $7.25 daily, an 8 percent return that would create trillionaires if it continued. Yet venture capitalists poured $152 million into the game while crypto celebrities hailed it as the future of work and solution to global poverty. Entire Filipino families quit jobs to play full-time, borrowing money for better digital creature teams. When the inevitable collapse came, Smooth Love Potions fell to less than a penny. Lapina had to dismiss his scholars and couldn't finish the house he'd started building. Players who'd borrowed money faced financial ruin, with some contemplating suicide after losing life savings. The author encountered Shiela Quigan, a Manila slum resident who'd borrowed $1,500 from her mother for digital creatures, hoping to earn enough to move her family before their settlement burned down again. The Axie collapse revealed how crypto's revolutionary promises often targeted the world's most vulnerable, funneling poor Filipinos' savings to Silicon Valley venture capitalists and, ultimately, North Korean hackers who stole $600 million to fund missile tests. Meanwhile, romance scams using Tether were funding human trafficking operations across Southeast Asia. Young people lured to Cambodia with promises of customer service jobs found themselves imprisoned in compounds, forced to run cryptocurrency scams under threat of torture. When confronted with evidence of these crimes, Tether executives refused to freeze accounts or cooperate with law enforcement, claiming no responsibility for how their currency enabled modern slavery. Before investing in any scheme promising to revolutionize work or solve poverty, examine whether it creates genuine value or simply redistributes money from desperate people to wealthy insiders. True innovation should lift people up, not exploit their desperation while enriching those who need help least.
Summary
The greatest financial mania in history wasn't built on revolutionary technology or innovative business models, but on elaborate stories, celebrity endorsements, and the simple human desire to get rich quick, all held together by a web of lies stretching from Miami Beach to Cambodian prison compounds. Stop chasing get-rich-quick schemes that promise revolutionary returns without revolutionary value creation. When someone claims their investment will change the world but can't explain how it makes money, run in the opposite direction. Demand transparency and independent verification before investing in any cryptocurrency project, and never invest money you can't afford to lose. Remember that behind every financial bubble are real people whose lives are destroyed when the fantasy ends, from Filipino families losing homes betting on digital pets to trafficking victims forced to pose as crypto-savvy romance interests. The next time you see prices rising for no apparent reason, ask yourself who's really paying the price for everyone else's profits.
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By Zeke Faux
