Feldman's Faves: June 9, 2025

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE

First and foremost, I want to acknowledge and celebrate Pride Month, which always brings lots of life and fun to Toronto.

It is a very good time to be alive if you are a sports fan – Stanley Cup, NBA Finals, French Open (done), Wimbledon and the Tour on the way, etc. etc. There was also a new 90 Minute Power Zone Ride on Saturday, which is a fun one. 

I want to take this opportunity to wish Megan and Jay belated birthday wishes from last week.

A friendly reminder to remember to continue involving our summer students on your files. They are eager to learn and are very, very smart.

Just a heads up that I will be away on vacation and will be back with my reviews in full force in two weeks. Meanwhile, enjoy the break….

This week’s theme is areas of the business world that I do not even pretend to understand (but I am trying my best to learn).

The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto - By Benjamin Wallace -  As I mentioned to some of you last week, I didn’t really like this book. I generally have an aversion to the crypto space for a whole host of reasons but that is not relevant here and I really wanted to learn more so I could try to change my perspective. In The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto, Ben Wallace, describes in painstaking detail his 15 year question to figure out they mystery of who is Satoshi Nakamoto. The candidates and characters were quite eclectic and eccentric and not your usual cast of characters. For those of you who don’t know, Satoshi Nakamoto is apparently the pseudonym of the author of Bitcoin whitepaper published on on October 31, 2008 that established the basic structure of the Bitcoin network. The paper is titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System and ever since it was made public people have been trying to figure out who the author really.  SPOILER ALERT – nobody knows…..and I could have save myself a week of pain reading this book had I simply skipped to the end. Oh well – they can’t all be great.  As one reviewer notes, “A shadowy genius, a global search, and a confusion of possibilities. Everyone loves a mystery, and mysteries involving secret riches and tantalizing clues are even better. Wallace, author of The Billionaire’s Vinegar (2008), tries to unravel the strange case of Satoshi Nakamoto, the reclusive and pseudonymous inventor of Bitcoin and the holder of a huge amount of it. It started with a research paper published under that name in 2008, and many people in the technology community have become obsessed with the search for its author. There was a vague trail of notes and comments, and then, as Bitcoin was becoming viable as a new form of currency, only silence. The army of Nakamotologists—yes, that is what they are called—generated plenty of theories about Nakamoto’s identity, based on coding methods, writing style, and even initials. There was speculation that Elon Musk was Nakamoto (which Musk denies) and that the Bitcoin idea came from a government intelligence agency. Some Nakamotologists thought that the underlying code was brilliant; others saw it as old-fashioned and clumsy. Wallace carefully examines the popular candidates, but none of them completely matches the known information. Various people came forward saying that they were Nakamoto, but their claims were debunked. Wallace has a good time chasing all this around and meeting a host of eccentric characters, and along the way he explains how Bitcoin actually works. His own thesis is that Nakamoto was really a team of specialists, each making contributions. There is sense in the approach, yet all the people mentioned denied it. One way or another, Bitcoin is here to stay, and Nakamoto just might remain unknown. An enjoyable romp through the tech sector in search of Bitcoin’s founder.’ Where in the world is Carmen Santiago? Who is John Gault? And who the heck is Satoshi are all questions for which I do not think we will ever find an easy answer and frankly, I’m not sure that I really care. Here’s a good review from the NYT - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/29/books/review/benjamin-wallace-the-mysterious-mr-nakamoto.html

Freakonomics Radio -The Most Powerful People You’ve Never Heard Of – Along the lines of a different perspective on business, this PODCAST goes into detail in describing the world of commodity trading. Like with crypto, there is a world out there that is invisible to most of us but that is extremely developed, powerful and sophisticated, with Glencore being one of the top dogs (if not the top dog) in the space. The world of commodity trading involves business and politics at the highest level and certainly includes some unsavory characters to say the least. That said, they are fascinating. Here’s an excerpt from the PODCAST itself, “Just beneath the surface of the global economy, there is a hidden layer of dealmakers for whom war, chaos, and sanctions can be a great business opportunity. Javier Blas and Jack Farchy, the authors of The World for Sale, help us shine a light on the shadowy realm of commodity traders.   SOURCES: Javier Blas, opinion columnist at Bloomberg News. Jack Farchy, energy and commodities senior reporter at Bloomberg News.  RESOURCES: The World For Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources, by Javier Blas and Jack Farchy (2021)The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich, by Daniel Ammann (2010).  EXTRAS: "How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War (Update)" by Freakonomics Radio (2024)."The First Great American Industry," by Freakonomics Radio (2023).Listen on Apple Podcasts:” https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519?i=1000709488377

Thank you for your ongoing engagement and participation.

And remember to stay safe, stay healthy and to docket daily.

Jon