David Gerard (author)

{{Short description|Australian author and Wikipedian (born 1966/67)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = David Gerard

| image = David-gerard-libra-shrugged-arkady-rose (cropped 3×4).jpg

| caption = Gerard in November 2020

| birth_place = Perth, Western Australia{{cite web | newspaper=The West Australian | quote=Gerard, a London-based journalist from Perth .. | url=https://thewest.com.au/business/insider/insider-magazine-cryptocurrency-has-its-fans-and-its-detractors-c-6234295 | first=James | last=Salmon | date=13 April 2022 | accessdate=10 June 2023 | title=Cryptocurrency has its fans — and its detractors | archive-date=10 June 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610221832/https://thewest.com.au/business/insider/insider-magazine-cryptocurrency-has-its-fans-and-its-detractors-c-6234295 | url-status=live }}

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1967-02-19|df=y}}{{cite web | website=BBC News | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28426674.amp | title=Wiki wars: Do Wikipedia's internal tiffs deter newcomers? | first=Joe | last=Miller | date=6 August 2014 | accessdate=8 June 2023 | archive-date=9 June 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609105048/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28426674.amp | url-status=live }}{{Cite tweet |user=davidgerard|number= 9331051722|date=19 February 2010 |title=Happy Fuckin' Birthday To Me. Mayor of my bed on FourSquare.}}

| spouse = Rose Gerard

| known_for = {{ublist|Cryptocurrency criticism|Wikipedia volunteering}}

| occupation = IT systems administrator

| notable_works = {{ubl|Attack of the 50-foot Blockchain (2017) | Libra Shrugged (2020)}}

| website = {{url|https://davidgerard.co.uk/}}

}}

David Gerard (born 1967) is an Australian IT systems administrator,{{cite web | website=CNET | url=https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/crypto/features/beyond-bitcoin-the-wild-world-of-altcoin-cryptocurrency-trading/ | title=Beyond Bitcoin: Inside the insane world of altcoin cryptocurrencies | date=13 April 2021 | accessdate=8 June 2023 | first=Daniel | last=Van Boom | archive-date=9 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309074456/https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/crypto/features/beyond-bitcoin-the-wild-world-of-altcoin-cryptocurrency-trading/ | url-status=live }} finance author and Wikipedia administrator, best known as a cryptocurrency sceptic and commentator on cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and related blockchain technologies.{{Cite web |date=17 January 2023 |title=Don't be fooled: Crypto is going up because of market manipulation |url=https://mashable.com/article/crypto-prices-up-market-manipulation-bitcoin |access-date=30 May 2023 |website=Mashable |language=en |archive-date=30 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530030829/https://mashable.com/article/crypto-prices-up-market-manipulation-bitcoin |url-status=live }} He is the author of the cryptocurrency books Attack of the 50-foot Blockchain (2017),{{Cite magazine |last=Edelman |first=Gilad |title=Welcome to the Zombie Cryptocalypse |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/story/bitcoin-ethereum-price-cryptocalypse-david-gerard/ |access-date=30 May 2023 |issn=1059-1028 |archive-date=30 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530030827/https://www.wired.com/story/bitcoin-ethereum-price-cryptocalypse-david-gerard/ |url-status=live }} and Libra Shrugged (2020).{{Cite magazine |last1=Silverman |first1=Jacob |last2=Shure |first2=Natalie |last3=Pareene |first3=Alex |date=20 April 2021 |title=Cryptocurrencies Are the Next Frontier for the Surveillance State |magazine=The New Republic |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/161894/bitcoin-digital-wallet-currency-surveillance |access-date=30 May 2023 |issn=0028-6583 |archive-date=30 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530030827/https://newrepublic.com/article/161894/bitcoin-digital-wallet-currency-surveillance |url-status=live }}

Criticism of cryptocurrency

In 2017, Gerard released his first book, Attack of the 50-foot Blockchain,{{Cite web |date=22 April 2017 |title=Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain: The Book |url=https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/book/ |access-date=30 May 2023 |website=Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain |language=en-GB |archive-date=8 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608093815/https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/book/ |url-status=live }} which criticises cryptocurrency for, among other reasons, its energy cost and the high number of exchange hacks. 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.

Sue Halpern described the book in The New York Review of Books as "a sober riposte to all the upbeat forecasts about cryptocurrency".{{Cite news |last=Halpern |first=Sue |title=Bitcoin Mania |language=en |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/01/18/bitcoin-mania/ |access-date=30 May 2023 |issn=0028-7504 |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307163824/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/01/18/bitcoin-mania/ |url-status=live }} 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".{{Cite web |last=Walker |first=Martin |date=30 October 2017 |title=Blockchain and bitcoin: In search of a critique |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2017/10/30/blockchain-and-bitcoin-in-search-of-a-critique/ |access-date=30 May 2023 |website=LSE Business Review |archive-date=9 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609190517/https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2017/10/30/blockchain-and-bitcoin-in-search-of-a-critique/ |url-status=live }} Regarding the cryptocurrency bubble, the BBC said, "Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain is a very convincing takedown of the whole phenomenon."{{Cite news |date=22 December 2017 |title=Tech Tent: What a year for Bitcoin |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42454876 |access-date=30 May 2023 |archive-date=30 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530030827/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42454876 |url-status=live }} In the American Book Review, Aaron Jaffe recommended it alongside David Golumbia's Politics of Bitcoin: Software as Right-Wing Extremism.{{Cite journal |last=Jaffe |first=Aaron |date=2019 |title=Reboot Everything |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/733157 |journal=American Book Review |language=en |volume=40 |issue=6 |pages=15–16 |doi=10.1353/abr.2019.0094 |s2cid=208620206 |issn=2153-4578|url-access=subscription }} 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."{{cite web | newspaper=The Independent | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/big-short-michael-burry-nfts-b1818132.html | title='Big Short' investor Michael Burry shares quote slamming NFTs as 'magic beans' sold by 'crypto grifters' | first=Graig | last=Graziosi | date=16 March 2021 | accessdate=10 June 2023 | archive-date=9 June 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609190511/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/big-short-michael-burry-nfts-b1818132.html | url-status=live }}{{cite web | website=Business Insider | url=https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/big-short-michael-burry-slams-nft-crypto-grifters-magic-beans-2021-3-1030214014 | title='Big Short' investor Michael Burry slams NFTs with a quote warning 'crypto grifters' are selling them as 'magic beans' | date=16 March 2021 | accessdate=10 June 2023 | first=Theron | last=Mohamed | archive-date=9 June 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609094141/https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/big-short-michael-burry-slams-nft-crypto-grifters-magic-beans-2021-3-1030214014 | url-status=live }}

In 2020, Gerard released his second book, Libra Shrugged.{{Cite news |date=15 November 2022 |title=Sam Bankman-Fried was hailed as a crypto wonder child. What happened? |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/15/ftx-cryptocurrency-sam-bankman-fried |access-date=30 May 2023 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=4 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604223321/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/15/ftx-cryptocurrency-sam-bankman-fried |url-status=live }} The book explores Facebook's aborted attempt to create Libra, a cryptocurrency, and discussed reactions to it from central banks.{{Cite web |date=15 December 2020 |title=Central bank digital currency – nine key questions answered |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2020/12/15/central-bank-digital-currency-nine-key-questions-answered/ |access-date=30 May 2023 |website=LSE Business Review |archive-date=30 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530030832/https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2020/12/15/central-bank-digital-currency-nine-key-questions-answered/ |url-status=live }}

Wikipedia editing

Gerard has been active as a Wikipedia volunteer since the encyclopedia's early days,{{Cite news |date=15 January 2021 |title=Wikipedia at 20: The encyclopedia in five articles |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55667711 |access-date=30 May 2023 |archive-date=18 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118140330/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55667711 |url-status=live }} and is one of the administrators on the project.{{Cite news |last=Kelly |first=Jemima |date=24 August 2020 |title=Who's been editing the Ripple CEO's Wikipedia page? |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/ed4e3544-22e1-4657-8c71-52055b592a03 |access-date=30 May 2023 |archive-date=30 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530030827/https://www.ft.com/content/ed4e3544-22e1-4657-8c71-52055b592a03 |url-status=live }}

Personal life

Gerard lives in Greater London with his wife and child.{{Cite web |date=8 July 2017 |title=About the author |url=https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/about/ |access-date=30 May 2023 |website=Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain |language=en-GB |archive-date=30 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530030829/https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/about/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Abram |title=Inside The Reddit Forum That Wants To See Bitcoin Die |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2021/06/26/reddit-cryptocurrency-bitcoin-social-media/ |access-date=30 May 2023 |website=Forbes |language=en |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325034553/https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2021/06/26/reddit-cryptocurrency-bitcoin-social-media/ |url-status=live }}