He just casually invented cryptocurrency as a plot device.

I had a long flight so I took along Reamde.

I’d read it twice before, but damned if it didn’t hook me up again. I got to the first airport around 10 am and didn’t get home until 3 am. Saved my sanity.

For the uninitiated, Reamde involves the kidnapped niece of a billionaire game maker; the game is really fun and also a money laundering operation. There are terrorists, Right Wing militias, undercover spies, demented science fiction authors, and a bear skin rug.

[off topic]

I’ve been telling people to read ‘Cryptonomicon’ for decades.

It tells two interwoven stories. Back in WW2 the grandfather is involved in proactive missions to keep the Nazis from learning the Allies had broken their codes, and in the late 1990’s the grandson is trying to start an online bank

Upvote for anyone, anywhere who uses ‘bloviate.’

I am a piece of crap, but I’m the greatest crap in the universe!