THE DERIVATIVES / CONSENSUS PROTOCOL

They saw the crash coming. They profited anyway.

Five Wall Street quants form a math rock band in 1994. Their music critiques the financial systems they help build by day. Their lyrics warn about derivatives, leverage, systemic risk-everything that will cause the 2008 collapse.

The collapse happens exactly as predicted. They were right about everything. It changes nothing.

After the crash, they scatter. Then crypto arrives. Same people, new technology, identical contradictions. They reunite as Consensus Protocol, making music about blockchain while consulting for the industry. Luna/Terra collapses. FTX collapses. They see it coming every time.

Can you critique a system from inside the system? Can awareness of complicity prevent complicity? What happens when understanding the trap doesn't help you escape it?

The Derivatives / Consensus Protocol follows thirty years of sophisticated failure-from mortgage-backed securities to NFTs, from Greenwich Village practice spaces to Miami crypto conferences, from 2008's financial crisis to 2022's crypto winter. It's a novel about five people who know exactly what they're doing wrong and do it anyway. About Mr. Chang, who accidentally joins their group text and becomes their most honest observer. About the gap between knowing and doing, between critique and participation, between saying "fuck you" and saying "same time tomorrow."

The ending? There are four of them. Choose the one that satisfies you. Or reject them all. Or accept that maybe the trap is permanent and the only honest response is to keep showing up anyway.

For readers who loved:

• Infinite Jest (but faster)
• The Big Short (but weirder)
• The Pale King (also unfinished but with drums)