I got lucky with my latest random book purchase:- “American Kingpin” by Nick Bilton. It tells the story of Ross Ulbricht from Austin, Texas who set up Silk Road. Whilst an engineering student, Ross was one of the first people to notice the possibilities of combining the secrecy of TOR with the anonymity of Bitcoin. He got Silk Road up and running just in time to sell a crop of magic mushrooms that he had been cultivating. From this small beginning Silk Road expanded rapidly and became the supermarket of choice for dealers and users all over the world.
Within 2 years Silk Road had grown into the Amazon of drugs, including other offerings such as assault rifles and all kinds of dodgy software. Despite the millions in income Ross (aka Dread Pirate Roberts) did not change his lifestyle and continued to live in cheap lodging and wore the poorest clothes. This book does exactly what it says on the cover:- “Unbelievably riveting”.
