In Going Infinite, Michael Lewis’s account of the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX empire published late last year, one of its footnotes seeks to explain the workings of cryptocurrencies to the general reader. There can be few better authors to structure an annotation that illuminates and informs than Lewis, who has turned them into an art form.
Think of the show-stopping digressions that made their way into the film version of his 2010 book The Big Short, including the one featuring Anthony Bourdain decoding collateralised debt obligations via preparing a fish stew or Margot Robbie describing mortgage bonds in a bubble bath while sipping champagne.
But not even Lewis can simplify crypto in Going Infinite – and he ends up doing something akin to giving up.
In the book’s main text, Lewis briefly reviews the 2008 paper published by the enigmatic Satoshi Nakamoto – the person behind the electronic coin known as Bitcoin – before deciding that “how Bitcoin worked was interesting chiefly to technologists; what it might do was interesting to a much broader audience”, and applying an asterisk. But what the reader finds further down the page is an admission rather than an explainer.
Lewis footnotes that so many have tried to unpack crypto in layperson’s terms that there is little point in attempting to crack the same nut in Going Infinite. “What is curious is how elusive Bitcoin is as a thing to understand,” he writes.
He then adds that “Bitcoin often gets explained but somehow never stays explained. You nod along and think you are getting it but then wake up the next morning needing to hear the explanation all over again” – thereby thoroughly skewering the confusing nature of crypto by confessing he has no idea how to make it clear whatsoever.
Many mainstream financial instruments are also difficult to explain and several unusual asset classes – not just crypto – can and do lose money
It’s a memorable moment in an engaging book that has been criticised for being too easy on SBF – who awaits sentencing in the US after being convicted of fraud and conspiracy last year – but which also offers a gripping inside-the-machine account of the implosion of a multi-billion dollar entity.
That footnote also speaks to something else about crypto.
I suspect many people don’t fully understand Bitcoin or even use it (or any other cryptocoin for that matter) to settle transactions in their daily life, despite the obvious appeal that a decentralised payment system theoretically offers. But that doesn’t stop them being crypto curious.
Some do use crypto as currency, of course, including an entrepreneur who told The National recently that he’d paid for his wedding using Bitcoin, but he may be an exception. The majority only seem to consider it as a speculative instrument rather than as a token or coin.
I am one of the many who can’t completely pin down how crypto works, but who has also spent a few dollars over the years on buying tiny fractions of cryptocoins, which have almost all lost money in the time that I’ve held them. It’s up to you whether you see that as me being crypto curious or a fear-of-missing-out fool.
In mitigation, many mainstream investment vehicles and financial instruments are also difficult to explain and several unusual asset classes – not just crypto – can and do lose money. Just ask a sample of people who may have made a speculative play on classic cars or any other unconventional market. Some will have done well, others not so much.
I’ve also taken losses on nominally safe and regular investment funds before, and on the shares of individual companies, so very little is guaranteed, either in the mainstream or at the so-called fringes, where you will find crypto. The opaque nature of many financial instruments has also helped Lewis sell vast quantities of books over the years.
The fervour that surrounds crypto does not seem to have been dimmed by SBF’s conviction last year, nor by the “mistakes and misguided decisions” that Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, admitted to, and the settlement it reached with the US Department of Justice. Respected economist Nouriel Roubini has, for many years, been crypto’s critic-in-chief, labelling it with a variety of unflattering names.
Last week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission gave the go-ahead to spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds – or ETFs – which experts believe will make it “easier, cheaper and safer” to invest in crypto by removing the complexities and obstacles associated with buying and storing the asset safely. Others say the ETFs will bring credibility and legitimacy to crypto and that the decision represents a big-bang moment for the industry.
So, what are you really meant to think when presented with all these strands? In all likelihood, what you thought beforehand. Most people have predetermined views when it comes to risk and personal finance, meaning they are more likely to shape the latest news to match their existing viewpoint.
Returning to Lewis’s point about “what it might do”, that also means many will remain crypto curious, particularly if the entire industry continues to give off strong and exciting frontierland vibes.
But if you do roam around that space – and don’t forget this is an opinion piece rather than representing any form of investment advice – keep your eyes wide open, especially if the explanatory footnotes leave you just as confused as you were before you started reading them.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
%20Ramez%20Gab%20Min%20El%20Akher
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStreaming%20on%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMBC%20Shahid%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More coverage from the Future Forum
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Read more about the coronavirus
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 502hp at 7,600rpm
Torque: 637Nm at 5,150rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh317,671
On sale: now
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
The five pillars of Islam
The five pillars of Islam
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
ARGENTINA SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Franco Armani, Agustin Marchesin, Esteban Andrada
Defenders: Juan Foyth, Nicolas Otamendi, German Pezzella, Nicolas Tagliafico, Ramiro Funes Mori, Renzo Saravia, Marcos Acuna, Milton Casco
Midfielders: Leandro Paredes, Guido Rodriguez, Giovani Lo Celso, Exequiel Palacios, Roberto Pereyra, Rodrigo De Paul, Angel Di Maria
Forwards: Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Lautaro Martinez, Paulo Dybala, Matias Suarez
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
More on animal trafficking
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
More on animal trafficking
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
The biog
Name: Marie Byrne
Nationality: Irish
Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption
Book: Seagull by Jonathan Livingston
Life lesson: A person is not old until regret takes the place of their dreams
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE