David Gerard (author)

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David Gerard
David-gerard-libra-shrugged-arkady-rose (cropped 3x4).jpg
Gerard in November 2020
Born (1967-02-19) February 19, 1967 (age 58) [1] [2]
Perth, Western Australia [3]
OccupationIT systems administrator [4]
Known for
  • Cryptocurrency criticism
  • Wikipedia volunteering
Notable work
  • Attack of the 50-foot Blockchain (2017)
  • Libra Shrugged (2020)
SpouseRose Gerard
Website davidgerard.co.uk

David Gerard (born 1967) is an Australian IT systems administrator, [4] [5] finance author and Wikipedia administrator, best known as a cryptocurrency sceptic and commentator on cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and related blockchain technologies. [6] He is the author of the cryptocurrency books Attack of the 50-foot Blockchain (2017), [7] and Libra Shrugged (2020). [8]

Contents

Criticism of cryptocurrency

Advocacy

Gerard was labelled as "the most intellectually dishonest man in the crypto universe" by Mike Dudas, editor of The Block. [9] [10]

Books

In 2017, Gerard released his first book, Attack of the 50-foot Blockchain, [11] which criticises cryptocurrency for, among other reasons, its energy cost and the high number of exchange hacks. [12] Gerard details technological issues with the infrastructure of blockchain applications, including smart contracts, which he describes as neither smart nor legal contracts. Parts of the book are dedicated to debunking claims made by cryptocurrency advocates; for example, he provides evidence that bitcoin has not dispensed with the malfeasance present in traditional banks and markets or helped people rise out of poverty. [13]

Sue Halpern described the book in The New York Review of Books as "a sober riposte to all the upbeat forecasts about cryptocurrency". [12] Martin Walker of the London School of Economics Business Review called the book "the first real, 'no holds barred', attack on the whole bitcoin/cryptocurrency/blockchain movement". [13] Regarding the cryptocurrency bubble, the BBC said, "Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain is a very convincing takedown of the whole phenomenon." [14] In the American Book Review , Aaron Jaffe recommended it alongside David Golumbia's Politics of Bitcoin: Software as Right-Wing Extremism. [15] In 2021, US investor Mike Burry changed his Twitter image to a quote from Attack of the 50-foot Blockchain: "NFTs exist so that the crypto grifters can have a new kind of magic bean to sell for actual money, and pretend they're not selling magic beans." [16] [17]

In 2020, [8] Gerard released his second book, Libra Shrugged. [18] The book explores Facebook's aborted attempt to create Libra, a cryptocurrency, and discussed reactions to it from central banks. [19]

Wikipedia editing

Gerard has been active as a Wikipedia volunteer since the encyclopedia's early days, [20] and is one of the administrators on the project. [21]

Personal life

Gerard lives in Greater London with his wife and child. [22] [5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Miller, Joe (6 August 2014). "Wiki wars: Do Wikipedia's internal tiffs deter newcomers?". BBC News . Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  2. ↑ @davidgerard (19 February 2010). "Happy Fuckin' Birthday To Me. Mayor of my bed on FourSquare" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ↑ Salmon, James (13 April 2022). "Cryptocurrency has its fans — and its detractors". The West Australian . Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023. Gerard, a London-based journalist from Perth ..
  4. 1 2 Van Boom, Daniel (13 April 2021). "Beyond Bitcoin: Inside the insane world of altcoin cryptocurrencies". CNET . Archived from the original on 9 March 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  5. 1 2 Brown, Abram. "Inside The Reddit Forum That Wants To See Bitcoin Die". Forbes. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  6. ↑ "Don't be fooled: Crypto is going up because of market manipulation". Mashable. 17 January 2023. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  7. ↑ Edelman, Gilad. "Welcome to the Zombie Cryptocalypse". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  8. 1 2 Silverman, Jacob; Shure, Natalie; Pareene, Alex (20 April 2021). "Cryptocurrencies Are the Next Frontier for the Surveillance State". The New Republic. ISSN   0028-6583. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  9. ↑ Munster, Ben (8 April 2019). ""Bitcoin is an apocalyptic death cult" — Curry with David Gerard". Decrypt. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  10. ↑ Munster, Ben (22 January 2020). "Do "no-coiners" gate-keep Crypto Wikipedia?". Decrypt. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  11. ↑ "Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain: The Book". Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain. 22 April 2017. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  12. 1 2 Halpern, Sue. "Bitcoin Mania". ISSN   0028-7504. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  13. 1 2 Walker, Martin (30 October 2017). "Blockchain and bitcoin: In search of a critique". LSE Business Review. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  14. ↑ "Tech Tent: What a year for Bitcoin". BBC News. 22 December 2017. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  15. ↑ Jaffe, Aaron (2019). "Reboot Everything". American Book Review. 40 (6): 15–16. doi:10.1353/abr.2019.0094. ISSN   2153-4578. S2CID   208620206.
  16. ↑ Graziosi, Graig (16 March 2021). "'Big Short' investor Michael Burry shares quote slamming NFTs as 'magic beans' sold by 'crypto grifters'". The Independent . Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  17. ↑ Mohamed, Theron (16 March 2021). "'Big Short' investor Michael Burry slams NFTs with a quote warning 'crypto grifters' are selling them as 'magic beans'". Business Insider . Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  18. ↑ "Sam Bankman-Fried was hailed as a crypto wonder child. What happened?". The Guardian. 15 November 2022. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  19. ↑ "Central bank digital currency – nine key questions answered". LSE Business Review. 15 December 2020. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  20. ↑ "Wikipedia at 20: The encyclopedia in five articles". BBC News. 15 January 2021. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  21. ↑ Kelly, Jemima (24 August 2020). "Who's been editing the Ripple CEO's Wikipedia page?". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  22. ↑ "About the author". Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain. 8 July 2017. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
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