Issue 108 – In a word, applesauce
Firms close up shop amid a continued crypto winter, a Trump venture ditches its crypto plans, and the Clarity Act fails to reach a vote before August recess
Citation Needed
A critical look at the cryptocurrency industry and the broader technology world.
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Mapping Trump’s crypto empire on Last Week Tonight
A new Citation Needed data project maps the Trump family’s web of cryptocurrency ventures, which have been generating billions in income for the president.
Issue 107 – An unserious offer
The crypto industry has spent $200 million to get a bill too corrupt for Democrats to pass and a president too corrupt to sign anything that might meaningfully limit his grift.
Trump’s $1.4 billion crypto disclosure
The White House insists there’s no conflict of interest as Trump reports $1.4 billion in income from an industry he’s deregulated.
Issue 106 – A tremendous birthday present
The crypto industry spent the spring buying primaries, an octagon at the White House, and — they hope — a market-structure bill by the Fourth of July.
Second Circuit rejects Sam Bankman-Fried’s appeal
The Second Circuit upholds Bankman-Fried’s conviction and 25-year sentence, leaving few remaining options for the disgraced crypto executive
End Citizens United’s Tiffany Muller on fighting big money in politics
Tiffany Muller talks to me about what Citizens United enabled, how crypto and AI fit into the bigger picture of money in politics, and what it would actually take to fix this broken system.
I’m launching Tech Influence Watch as AI follows crypto into politics
Most voters don’t know that crypto and AI companies have spent more than $400 million this cycle to buy Congress. Let’s make that spending visible.
Issue 105 – The new boogeyman
A crypto billionaire who escaped fraud allegations after investing hundreds of millions of dollars into the Trump family’s crypto projects is now accusing them of fraud
President Trump’s $TRUMP memecoin is preparing to launch a “Coin Club” membership scheme
The website promises "elite and extraordinary experiences" as part of the newest scheme to revive a token that’s down 97% from its peak and still falling.
No new trial for Sam Bankman-Fried
The former CEO of FTX has essentially no realistic avenues left to avoid his 25-year prison sentence
Issue 104 – World Tyranny Financial
As the Trump family’s crypto dealings raise more alarms, crypto enforcement is falling to new lows
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s old firm pumps $10 million into super PAC led by Tether executive
Cantor Fitzgerald, the Lutnick-tied financial services firm that owns a stake in and custodies reserves for the stablecoin issuer, is bankrolling a super PAC led by a Tether executive.
Issue 103 – The President’s Council of Podcasters
Coinbase is accused of holding the cryptocurrency industry hostage over stablecoin rewards, prediction markets face an onslaught of opposition, and a Stand With Crypto poll can’t even get enthusiasm from its own activists
Sam Bankman-Fried’s helicopter parents crash into federal court
SBF praises Trump from prison, his parents beg for a pardon on CNN, and his legal ethics professor mother files court documents claiming to be from him — prompting a judge to demand he swear under oath who wrote them.