Acknowledgments ix Introduction: My Journey to Freedom 1 1 Drawing Back the Iron Curtain 7 Roots of Resilience 8 The Fall of the Soviet Empire 9 The Birth of Property Rights in the East 14 Childhood Lessons: It’s a Hard-Knock Life 16 Russian Run on the Banks 18 Go West: Starting a New Life in North America 20 College Years: A Philosopher’s Chair 22 MONEY MYTH #1: Your past defines your future 24 2 The Modern Boiler Room 27 Girl on the Trading Floor: The Lows of High Finance 28 David and Goliath: Navigating the Investment Banking World 34 Sweating the Swap Desk: Fixed Income 38 Big, Smart Money: Stocks and Equities 41 Stepping Off the Merry-Go-Round 45 MONEY MYTH #2: Banks exist for our benefit 47 3 The Culture of Money 49 From Linkin Park to The Chainsmokers: Music and the Art of Venture Capital 53 Y Combinator and the Venture Capital Framework 55 Unicorns, Kardashians, and the NFT Revolution 60 MONEY MYTH #3: Making money has to be boring 68 4 The Money Printer 71 The Journey to My Parents’ Basement 71 Key Schools of Economic Thought 75 A Creature Awakes: The Federal Reserve Steps In 78 The Money Printer Goes Brrrrr 84 The K-Shaped Recovery 87 Flight to Safety 89 MONEY MYTH #4: Regular people don’t need to understand economic policy 90 5 Once Upon a Time in El Salvador 93 The Birth of Bitcoin 94 A Love Story: Bitcoin’s First Circular Economy 100 The First Country to Make Bitcoin Legal Tender 106 MONEY MYTH #5: Bitcoin is a scam 110 6 Lebanon on Fire 113 A House of Paper 114 A Brief History of Money 114 WWII: A Financial Systems Overhaul 118 Crisis in Beirut: Hyperinflation Rocks the Boat 121 Hyperinflation: Triggers and Consequences 124 MONEY MYTH #6: All fiat currency is trustworthy 130 7 The Art of a Ponzi Scheme 133 Vegas of the Middle East 134 I’m Rich, B*tch: Lessons from Larry’s Crypto Suite 137 The Genesis of Cryptocurrencies 145 Washed Up in Monaco 151 Cashing In and Cashing Out 154 MONEY MYTH #7: All cryptocurrencies are good investments 154 8 Leapfrogging to a Decentralized Africa 157 The Fourth Industrial Revolution 158 The Camp David of South Africa: A Presidential Visit 162 A Detour to Necker Island 164 Into the Lion’s Den: Blockchain Applications Kenya and Nigeria 168 MONEY MYTH #8: Blockchain technologies do not have real-world impact 174 9 Breaking Point 177 When Your Mind and Body Fail: Retreat to Bali 178 Market Collapse: A (Block)chain Reaction 181 The Contagion 184 Soft Landing in a Pool of Quicksand: Quantitative Tightening 185 Behind the Vault Door: There Is Less than You Think 189 Protect Yourself from Economic Turbulence 192 MONEY MYTH #9: Getting rich quickly is easy 194 10 Waking Up from the American Dream 197 The Beginning of the End 199 The American Debt: A Downward Spiral 203 Global De-Dollarization 205 Behind the Battlefield: The Economics of War 209 Bitcoin Is a Silent Protest 216 MONEY MYTH #10: The US dollar is different 217 A Path Forward 219 About the Author 229 Index 231

PRAISE FOR MYTH OF MONEY “Myth of Money is an adrenaline-filled and insightful journey into how our modern global financial system works (or doesn’t), and how bitcoin could reduce wars and be the ultimate store-of-value for the internet generation. This would have been way more helpful than my economics textbooks.” —CHRIS PAN, Social Entrepreneur and Ohio State University Commencement Speaker “Koffman has written a profound and impactful book that sheds light on the hidden truths of our financial systems. Her work is both intelligent and necessary.” —HON. JERRY S. GRAFSTEIN, KC, Former Senator of Canada “Koffman’s Myth of Money defies an easy description. It is at once a well-researched, and provocative treatise on the past, present and future of money and also a deeply personal memoir of someone who defied the odds to rise to the top of her field. Those who wish to gain a deeper understanding of our next economic and financial frontier should read Myth of Money. An engaging, and highly readable book!” —ALEX TAPSCOTT, Bestselling Author of Blockchain Revolution “A rare blend of storytelling and economic theory, Koffman’s book challenges the status quo and offers new possibilities for the future of money. This book is required reading for anyone interested in the future of the global economy.” —BRETT LEVE, Founder, Summit “Koffman’s exploration of the financial world is both enlightening and deeply personal. Her ability to blend economic analysis with her hard-earned life lessons makes this book a must-read.” —JAY ROSENZWEIG, Investor, CEO of Rosenzweig & Company