From the senior cybersecurity writer for WIRED and award-winning author of SANDWORM, the propulsive story of a new breed of investigators who have cracked the Bitcoin blockchain, taking once-anonymous realms of money, drugs, and violence and holding them up to the light.
“A gripping, stranger-than-fiction tale of how a small team of geeks and federal agents cracked what was once thought to be untraceable cryptocurrency. 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 New York Times Editor’s Choice
An Audible #1 True Crime Bestseller
“[An] absorbing narrative [that] deftly assembles a rogues’ gallery of characters… … Each key section of the book—the Silk Road story; the dismantling of its successor, AlphaBay; the massive theft of Bitcoin from the Mt. Gox exchange; and, finally, the bust of the Welcome to Video child porn emporium—unfolds like a compact mystery.”
—New York Times Book Review
“Immensely readable... Greenberg is known for his ability to explain complicated technology in a way anyone can understand, and he doesn’t disappoint when he tackles crypto…. The whole smoky world of crypto starts to open up... [He] takes readers on a romp through some of the most infamous dark web takedowns in recent memory.”
—Washington Post
“A pivotal story of the internet, the dark web and policing in the Digital Age. The book demonstrates in gripping, and sometimes thrilling detail, how law enforcement agencies such as the IRS Criminal Investigations unit have harnessed powerful emerging technology to trace cryptocurrency, which once seemed anonymous, right to the doorsteps of some of the world’s most wanted criminals… Tracers in The Dark raises essential questions about the future of cryptocurrency.”
—CyberScoop
"Greenberg sketches the evolution of a wholly new discipline in the surprisingly lively real-life police procedural [that] deftly teases out technical detail without slowing the narrative."
—Associated Press
“I love the book… It reads like a thriller… These stories are amazing.”
—Michael Lewis, #1 New York Times bestselling author, The Big Short and Moneyball
"Andy Greenberg has turned a prescient lens on the investigators, technology, and budding industry that may just be the most powerful weapon we wield in the fight against cybercriminals and illicit nation states who mistakenly believed the blockchain and cryptocurrency offered them cover. Greenberg tells the tale of this new weapon with his usual eye for technical accuracy and gift for storytelling. This is how the good guys win."
—Nicole Perlroth, New York Times bestselling author, This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends
“A riveting non-fiction thriller from an exceptional reporter and storyteller. TRACERS IN THE DARK shines a light on how cryptocurrency has been used to hide human rights abuses and trafficking by global crime syndicates—and how a team of crypto tracers learned to expose those schemes by finding a new way to follow the money.”
—Alex Gibney, Academy Award-winning director of Going Clear, Zero Days, and The Looming Tower
"A master-class in the tactics and countertactics of financial cyberwarfare, laid out in a tense, exciting technothriller."
—Cory Doctorow, New York Times bestselling author of Attack Surface, Little Brother and Red Team Blues
"Greenberg examines in fascinating detail how criminals have employed technology for their nefarious ends...He brings to vivid life the assorted players, including the agents who cracked the crimes, those in law enforcement who succumbed to the allure of fast money on the dark web, and the private citizens who ushered in the golden age of cryptocurrency tracing. This is a must-have for the true crime shelf."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Spellbinding.... Written with great enthusiasm and with an ear for the dramatic turn of phrase...this is the kind of book that yanks the reader’s eyes wide open.... Lively, highly relevant, and more than a little scary.”
—Booklist
“A sinuous, eminently readable story of the darker corners of cyberspace... Reminiscent in all the best ways of Clifford Stoll’s Cuckoo’s Egg, smoothly blending crime writing with matters of the deepest techno-geekery. An absorbing work of true crime.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Fascinating and so enthralling...[A] highly recommended book."
—Library Journal (starred review)