The Devil Takes Bitcoin: Uncovering the Intersection of Japan, Crime, and Cryptocurrency

Join us in welcoming Jake Adelstein, bestselling author of Tokyo Vice, for an inside look at his thrilling newest book, The Devil Takes Bitcoin: Cryptocurrency Crimes and the Japanese Connection. In conversation with Boston University’s Professor William Grimes, Jake will dive into the mysterious cryptocurrency heist and his experience as an investigative journalist in Tokyo, including opportunities for audience Q&A. There will be a book signing after the talk – guests can purchase copies of The Devil Takes Bitcoin at the event or bring copies of Jake’s books from home.

3:00pm – Author talk / 4:00pm – Book signing

$18 General Admission / $8 for JSB members / Free for BU students*

*BU students must show valid BU student ID at the door

About Jake Adelstein

Jake Adelstein has been an investigative journalist in Japan since 1993, writing in Japanese and English. He authored Tokyo Vice (now an HBO series), The Last Yakuza (2023), and Tokyo Noir (2024). He co-hosted the award-winning podcast The Evaporated: Gone with the Gods. A recognized expert on Japan’s organized crime, he’s reported for The Daily Beast, Los Angeles Times, Tempura, and VICE. He is also a low-ranking Zen Buddhist priest, trying hard to be kinder and occasionally exorcising hungry ghosts. Adelstein frequently appears as a commentator on Japanese crime and culture, working as a writer and consultant.

About William W. Grimes

William W. Grimes is Professor of International Relations & Political Science at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. He is the author of Unmaking the Japanese Miracle (Cornell University Press, 2001) and Currency and Contest in East Asia (Cornell University Press, 2009), which was awarded the 2010 Masayoshi Ohira Prize for outstanding book on the Pacific Basin and Honorable Mention for the Asia Society’s Bernard Schwartz Book Award in 2009. He has published articles, book chapters, monographs, and commentary on East Asian financial regionalism, the impacts of financial globalization in Japan, Japanese monetary policy making, US-Japan relations, and related topics.

About The Devil Takes Bitcoin

From the author of Tokyo Vice comes the wild, true story of cyber-era commerce, crime, cold-hard cash, and one of the greatest heists in history.

Even in hell, Bitcoin talks. This modern take on an old Japanese saying still holds true. Cryptocurrency was supposed to do for money what the internet did for information, but it didn’t work out that way. Its virtual existence unleashed real-world chaos—especially in the homeland of its mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Tokyo was the center of the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, until that company collapsed with nearly half a billion dollars’ worth of Bitcoin gone missing. It might be the greatest heist in history. If it was a heist.

So what really happened? The Devil Takes Bitcoin tells the true story of the humble-to-hot commodity, from the former geek website that launched the boom to an inside world of absent-minded CEOs, hucksters, hackers, cybercrooks, drug dealers, corrupt federal agents, evangelical libertarians, and clueless techies. You’ll discover Bitcoin’s connection to the infamous Silk Road, learn why hell has nothing on Japan’s criminal justice system, and get the lowdown on the high cost of betting with the Devil’s dollars. All of this for less than the price of a single Bitcoin.

“The Devil Takes Bitcoin is a wild ride through the glitchy, glorious mess that is crypto history. Jake Adelstein connects the dots like a conspiracy theorist with actual receipts. Read it. Laugh. Cringe. Maybe even HODL (Hold on for dear life).”

—Tigran Gambaryan, former IRS Special Agent also known as The Crypto Wizard

“It is, of course, brilliant. A twisting, complex, international true-crime thriller involving Bitcoin, The Silk Road, and the cutting edge of Cryptocurrency malfeasance.”

—David Hayter, award-winning screenwriter

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