Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption by Ben Mezrich

ACT ONE
Moral wounds have this peculiarity— they may be
hidden, but they never close; always painful,
always ready to bleed when touched, they remain
fresh and open in the heart.
—ALEXANDRE DUMAS,
The Count of Monte Cristo

1
INTO THE TIGER’S CAGE
February 22, 2008.
The twenty-third floor of a nondescript office tower on
the outskirts of San Francisco’s Financial District.
The usual glass, steel, and concrete sliced and diced into
overly air-conditioned, brightly lit cubes. Eggshell-colored
walls and industrial-beige carpets. Fluorescent strips
bisecting tic-tac-toe tiled dropped ceilings. Bug-eyed
watercoolers, chrome-edged conference tables, faux-leather
adjustable chairs.
It was a little past three on a Friday afternoon, and Tyler
Winklevoss stood by a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking a
pincushion of similar office buildings piercing the midday
fog. He was trying his best to sip filtered water from a
tissue-thin disposable cup, without spilling too much onto
his tie. After so many days, months, hell, years, the tie was
hardly necessary. The longer this ordeal dragged on, the
more likely it was that sooner or later he’d show up to the
next endless session wearing his Olympic rowing jacket.
He managed to get the barest taste of water before the
cup folded inward beneath his fingers, rivulets missing his
tie but drenching the sleeve of his dress shirt. He tossed the

Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption by Ben Mezrich