WALKING THE SILK ROAD

How an online black market and a monetary system called Bit Coin made a student the biggest drugdealer of the world.

Silk Road has been called the “Amazon of Illegal Drugs.” Its alleged founder was a 29 year old multi-millionaire living undercover in San Francisco named Ross Ulbricht known online only as the alleged “Dread Pirate Roberts.” The website’s sole form of currency was the emerging, unregulated, and oft-misunderstood monetary system called Bit Coin. As of October 2013, there were nearly one million registered users. Among other drugs and illegal activities, users allegedly used the site to hire contract killers, acquire firearms, and buy other products that aren’t exactly in the aisles at your local Wal-Mart. To be clear, this is not the plot of the latest techno-thriller in theatres next month; this true story is the basis for a brand new, thrilling non-fiction narrative: WALKING THE SILK ROAD by Brian Eha. The FBI officially shut down Silk Road last month and arrested the alleged “Pirate” behind it. He was taken into custody in thrilling fashion as undercover agent after undercover agent quietly surrounded Ulbricht one at a time as he was working in the sci-fi section of the San Francisco Public Library. By the time he realized he was being arrested it was too late. He was cornered. WALKING THE SILK ROAD endeavors to tell the whole story of Silk Road’s evolution and ultimate demise; along with it the rise of Bit Coin will also play a prominent role. This new currency is what allows sites like Silk Road to exist in the first place and needs to be understood in order to fully grasp the implications and possibilities of this new form of online anarchism. When the news broke that the FBI had arrested Ulbricht and taken down Silk Road, the story was covered by every single publication that matters. From Gawker to Forbes, everyone had a take and an interest in this incredibly unique and captivating story. There will be no shortage of attention from both readers and press outlets for the definitive book on the topic. Nothing has gone into any detail in terms of the evolution of the site, who Ulbricht really is, and what his contributions are, if any, to our new world order and culture. WALKING THE SILK ROAD does just that. Brian Eha has been covering Bit Coin longer than almost anyone. His work on the topic has appeared regularly in The New Yorker, CNNMoney, and Entrepreneur. It has been seen by tens of millions of readers and Eha is quickly emerging as the go-to authority on all things Bit Coin. His work on other topics has appeared in The Atlantic, TRVL, Outside Magazine, The Los Angeles Review of Books, among others