Introduction
David Gerard (born 1966/67) is an Australian IT systems administrator, finance author and Wikipedia volunteer, best known as a cryptocurrency sceptic and commentator on cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and related blockchain technologies. He is the author of the cryptocurrency books Attack of the 50-foot Blockchain (2017), and Libra Shrugged (2020).
Criticism of cryptocurrency
Gerard has expressed sceptical views on cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens, and blockchain technologies.
Advocacy
In 2018, Gerard was consulted by the Treasury Select Committee in the Parliament of the United Kingdom during its inquiry into crypto-assets, and his evidence was cited in its final report. His works have been cited in various academic papers and journals on cryptocurrencies and related blockchain technologies.
In 2022, Gerard was interviewed on both 60 Minutes Australia about the dangers of cryptocurrencies and the bursting of the cryptocurrency bubble and on CNN Business about the dangers of the bubble in non-fungible tokens in the United States. Gerard is interviewed in the 2021 Canadian documentary film Dead Man's Switch: A Crypto Mystery, about the collapse of Canadian cryptocurrency firm, QuadrigaCX, in 2018 and 2019.
Gerard's stance against cryptocurrencies has attracted the ire of parts of the cryptocurrency community, where he was labelled "the most intellectually dishonest man in the crypto universe".Gerard has won public support from prominent financial commentators, such as in 2021 when 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."
Books
In 2017, Gerard released his first book, Attack of the 50-foot Blockchain, 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". 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". Regarding the cryptocurrency bubble, the BBC said, "Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain is a very convincing takedown of the whole phenomenon." In the American Book Review, Aaron Jaffe recommended it alongside David Golumbia's Politics of Bitcoin: Software as Right-Wing Extremism.
In 2020, Gerard released his second book, Libra Shrugged. The book explores Facebook's aborted attempt to create Libra, a cryptocurrency, and discussed reactions to it from central banks.
Wikipedia editing
Gerard has been active as a Wikipedia volunteer since the encyclopedia's early days, and is one of the administrators on the project. At various times he has volunteered and acted as a spokesman for Wikipedia for various news media outlets, including appearing on Newsnight, speaking with BBC News, and others.
Personal life
Gerard lives in Greater London with his wife and child.