Summary of Camila Russo's The Infinite Machine

By IRB Media

Get the Summary of Camila Russo's The Infinite Machine in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Dec 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9781669343479

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

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Insights on Camila Russo's The Infinite Machine

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The cryptocurrency market has been experiencing a massive slump, with the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum falling below $10,000.

#2

As the amount of money being thrown at ICOs grew, so did the skepticism towards them. People began to believe that these ICOs were scams designed to steal money from naive investors.

#3

While the original idea behind Bitcoin was to create an independent currency outside of government control, Ethereum was created with a different purpose in mind: building a new decentralized internet.

#4

As of press, the price of Ether is hovering around $200, down from its all-time high of $400 in January 2018. Many investors have sold off their Ether, but the true believers remain undeterred.

#5

In 2008, five years before the idea of Ethereum materialized in a white paper, Bitcoin was created. But even Bitcoin didn’t appear in a vacuum. Cryptographers had been trying to come up with a private, peer-to-peer digital currency since the 1980s.

#6

The World Wide Web was created to be a peer-to-peer network, without the need of a central administrator. However, as the internet grew, so did the size of the web, which made it easier for centralized entities to prey on it.

#7

In developed countries, the idea of decentralized, private money that operates outside of government control may seem ludicrous. But in much of the world, financial stability and security still aren’t the norm.

#8

The financial crisis in Argentina was the main reason for the rise of the Bitcoin. People were losing faith in the government, and the currency was being devalued constantly.

#9

The innovation of blockchain was to create a network of distributed participants that anyone can join, with a system to verify transactions, known as a consensus algorithm, that does not require third parties.

#10

The first application of blockchain was the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, which was created in 2009. It was an open protocol that anyone can join, modify, or even copy to create their own, separate version.

#11

In 2001, Argentina had a