Town Hall Seattle's video: Laura Shin with Steve Scher: The Making of the Cryptocurrency Craze

Cryptocurrency has been making steady waves — no doubt because of its almost too-good-to-pass-up promise of fortune that isn’t consistently regulated or controlled by any single authority. And while Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have gone through booms and busts, they aren’t going anywhere: at the time of this writing, the value of all crypto assets is estimated at $3 trillion. In her new book, The Cryptonians, journalist Laura Shin describes how cryptocurrency experienced a downturn until a brilliant new idea changed its fortunes once again: Ethereum. Shin explores this new form of cryptocurrency network, which has enabled users to launch their own new coins — and launch a new kind of crypto fever. She also reveals a more human side to crypto, introducing readers to the personal quests of the idealists, technologists, and opportunists fighting to bring cryptocurrency to the masses. Laura Shin is a writer, crypto journalist, and podcaster. A former senior editor at Forbes, she left the magazine in 2018 to commit to her podcasts and videos, Unchained and Unconfirmed, which have had over 14 million downloads and views. Shin has spoken about and led discussions on cryptocurrency at places such as TEDx San Francisco, the IMF, Singularity University, and the Oslo Freedom Forum. She lives in New York City. Steve Scher is a podcaster and interviewer and has been a teacher at the University of Washington since 2009. He worked in Seattle public radio for almost 30 years and is Senior Correspondent for Town Hall Seattle’s In The Moment podcast. https://townhallseattle.org/event/laura-shin/ Presented by Town Hall Seattle.