Kings of Crypto

4

Bust

The sun rose over the hills dotted with oak trees east of San Francisco on a clear and chilly morning. It was New Year’s Day 2014, a year that would bring the disgrace of comedian Bill Cosby and the appointment of Janet Yellen as the first woman to head the Federal Reserve. Overseas, the US was confronting the rise of a terrorist group called ISIS, while at home, gay couples filed court appeals for the right to marry. In Silicon Valley, tech investors made their first investments in a mattress-in-a-box company called Casper and a quirky work tool call Slack, while Forbesmagazine would hail a ride-hailing service called Uber as one of the hottest startups of the year. And as Brian and the Coinbase crew shook off their New Year’s hangovers, ...