Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of CryptocurrencyHardcover (2024)

Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of CryptocurrencyHardcover (1)

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  • Product Details
  • About the Author
  • Table of Contents

Description

From the award-winning author of Sandworm comes the propulsive story of a new breed of investigators who have cracked the Bitcoin blockchain, exposing once-anonymous realms of money, drugs, and violence. "I love the book... It reads like a thriller... These stories are amazing." (Michael Lewis)

Over the last decade, a single innovation has massively fueled digital black markets: cryptocurrency. Crime lords inhabiting lawless corners of the internet have operated more freely--whether in drug dealing, money laundering, or human trafficking--than their analog counterparts could have ever dreamed of. By transacting not in dollars or pounds but in currencies with anonymous ledgers, overseen by no government, beholden to no bankers, these black marketeers have sought to rob law enforcement of their chief method of cracking down on illicit finance: following the money.

But what if the centerpiece of this dark economy held a secret, fatal flaw? What if their currency wasn't so cryptic after all? An investigator using the right mixture of technical wizardry, financial forensics, and old-fashioned persistence could uncover an entire world of wrongdoing.

Tracers in the Dark is a story of crime and pursuit unlike any other. With unprecedented access to the major players in federal law enforcement and private industry, veteran cybersecurity reporter Andy Greenberg tells an astonishing saga of criminal empires built and destroyed. He introduces an IRS agent with a defiant streak, a Bitcoin-tracing Danish entrepreneur, and a colorful ensemble of hardboiled agents and prosecutors as they delve deep into the crypto-underworld. The result is a thrilling, globe-spanning story of dirty cops, drug bazaars, trafficking rings, and the biggest takedown of an online narcotics market in the history of the Internet.

Utterly of our time, Tracers in the Dark is a cat-and-mouse story and a tale of a technological one-upmanship. Filled with canny maneuvering and shocking twists, it answers a provocative question: How would some of the world's most brazen criminals behave if they were sure they could never get caught?

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780385548090

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Publication Date: 11-15-2022

Pages: 384

Product Dimensions: 6.50(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Andy Greenberg is a senior writer for Wired magazine. He's written about hackers, cybersecurity, surveillance and privacy for more than 15 years, and is the author of three books: Tracers in the Dark, Sandworm, and This Machine Kills Secrets. Tracers in the Dark and Sandworm, along with excerpts of the books published in Wired, have won several honors including two Gerald Loeb awards for distinguished business and financial reporting. This Machine Kills Secrets was named by The Verge as one of the top ten greatest tech books of all time. Greenberg lives in Brooklyn with his wife, documentary filmmaker Malika Zouhali-Worrall.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Author's Note xiii

Prologue Proof of Concept 3

Part 1 Men with No Names

Chapter 1 Eladio Guzman Fuentes 9

Chapter 2 Nob 20

Chapter 3 The Auditor 27

Chapter 4 Cryptoanarchy 37

Chapter 5 Silk Road 44

Chapter 6 The Dread Pirate 51

Chapter 7 The Puzzle 61

Chapter 8 Men with No Names 73

Chapter 9 Cyber Narc 87

Chapter 10 Glen Park 97

Chapter 11 The Double Agent 102

Chapter 12 Receipts 112

Chapter 13 FrenchMaid, DeathFromAbove 121

Chapter 14 The Trial 129

Part II Tracer for Hire

Chapter 15 Collapse 139

Chapter 16 Dirty Money 152

Chapter 17 Noise 158

Chapter 18 The Second Agent 169

Chapter 19 A Hole in the Vault 180

Chapter 20 BTC-e 187

Chapter 21 WME 195

Chapter 22 Vinnik 202

Chapter 23 Consolation Prizes 208

Part III Alphabay

Chapter 24 Alpha02 219

Chapter 25 The Tip 230

Chapter 26 Gazes 239

Chapter 27 Thailand 250

Chapter 28 Tunaflsh 260

Chapter 29 Rawmeo 273

Chapter 30 Hansa 287

Chapter 31 Takeover 300

Chapter 32 "Advanced Analysis" 310

Chapter 33 The Athenee 318

Chapter 34 Takedown 324

Chapter 35 Captivity 338

Chapter 36 Postmortem 349

Chapter 37 The Trap 357

Chapter 38 Aftermath 365

Chapter 39 Suvarnabhumi Airport 374

Part IV Welcome to Video

Chapter 40 Five Characters 379

Chapter 41 "Serach Videos" 390

Chapter 42 Octopus 399

Chapter 43 Test Cases 408

Chapter 44 Seoul 420

Chapter 45 The Net 427

Chapter 46 Ripples 435

Part V The Next Round

Chapter 47 Open Season 445

Chapter 48 Limits 459

Chapter 49 Gray Zones 474

Chapter 50 Rumker 489

Epilogue 499

Acknowledgments 513

Source Notes 517

Notes 519

Index 555

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Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of CryptocurrencyHardcover (2024)

FAQs

What is Tracers in the Dark The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency about? ›

Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency is Andy Greenwood's exploration of how law enforcement in the US and around the world have adjusted to the technology changes that have been brought about by the rise of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

What is the hardest crypto to trace? ›

Unlike traditional cryptocurrencies, Monero uses ring signatures, stealth addresses, and confidential transactions to obfuscate the sender, recipient, and transaction amount. This means that transactions made with Monero are virtually untraceable, making it difficult for anyone to uncover your financial activities.

Is Tracers in the Dark a true story? ›

It's a true crime novel about how these crypto-crimes are solved through tracing crypto payments and unveils exactly how Bitcoin is quite the opposite of what it was thought to be.

Is Tracers in the Dark Fiction? ›

Page after page, Tracers in the Dark proves beyond a reasonable doubt that there is no better reporter covering the wild west of the internet than Andy Greenberg.” “A riveting non-fiction thriller from an exceptional reporter and storyteller.

What is the book about cryptocurrency crime? ›

Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency.

What is cryptocurrency tracing? ›

What is cryptocurrency tracing? Cryptocurrency tracing is the technique used to track down transactions for goods and services on the blockchain, to ultimately determine who has cashed the money out and how.

Which coin will boom in 2024? ›

In 2024, BONK is anticipated to maintain its upward trajectory, with analysts predicting an average price of $0.000074 for the token. This bullish outlook is supported by continued interest in meme coins, the growing adoption of Solana-based projects, and broader market dynamics.

Which crypto will explode in 2024? ›

Here's our list of cryptos that will explode in 2024: Dogeverse (DOGEVERSE) – A multi-chain Doge token expected to boom in 2024. WienerAI (WAI) – A prime meme coin contender for explosive growth in 2024.

Which crypto was never hacked? ›

While no exchange can guarantee absolute security, Bitget has maintained a strong track record of security and has never been hacked. With over 20 million users, Bitget has established itself as a trusted and reliable platform in the cryptocurrency industry.

Who is Tracer in love with? ›

Tracer is depicted in a romantic relationship with a woman named Emily, who is not on the Overwatch team. This confirmed Tracer as the first of several characters that Blizzard noted have diverse sexuality.

Who is the guy in the movie tracers? ›

Taylor Lautner may always be remembered as Jacob, the annoying werewolf boy from the Twilight Series. People have a hard time seeing him as anything else, but Tracers is the second action film I've seen him star in, and this kid has the perfect make up to be a huge action star.

What type of fiction is Jodi Picoult? ›

Her fiction nods to many genres, including literary fiction, legal thrillers, psychological portraits, romances, and ghost stories, giving her readers a fresh experience with each book. Picoult has an estimated 40 million books in print.

Does Jodi Picoult write fiction? ›

Picoult writes popular fiction which can be characterised as family saga. She frequently centers storylines on a moral dilemma or a procedural drama which pits family members against one another. She is often characterised as an author of chick-lit.

Is The Secret History a fantasy book? ›

The Secret History is an exploration of what happens when primal magic irrupts into the modern world—a fantasy trope if there is one. Nowhere in the book, nowhere at all, does the story hint that magic might be a delusion.

What was included in the secret message of Bitcoin's Genesis block? ›

Bitcoin's Genesis Block Message

Another puzzling aspect of the Genesis Block is the message that Nakamoto instilled within the Block's raw data: "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks."

How does the FBI track crypto? ›

If they find a Bitcoin transaction related to a crime, they can work with the FBI to track some crypto funds internationally. Besides analyzing available data, authorities can also request information from centralized exchanges. As a rule, exchanges are obligated to share that information.

What is mysterious about the creator of Bitcoin? ›

Bitcoin was created by an anonymous person or group using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto published a whitepaper titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," outlining the concept of a decentralized digital currency. 1 The true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains unknown to this day.

Who investigates crimes involving cryptocurrency? ›

The FBI's Cyber Division and Criminal Investigative Division work together to investigate crimes involving cryptocurrency, such as fraud, money laundering, and cybercrime. The FBI also has the authority to seize and forfeit assets that are the proceeds of, or used to facilitate, crimes related to cryptocurrency.

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