Scam Economy

Latest Episodes:

40: BlockFi BankruptcyFi: A Bizarre FTX "Bailout" Story (w/ Nikhilesh De of CoinDesk) Dec 05, 2022

Show notes

Nikhilesh De of CoinDesk joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to break down the fall of another crypto lending company, BlockFi. This one has a twist though. BlockFi was actually bailed out by Sam Bankman-Friend of FTX this year when it first failed...and then things get interesting. BlockFi failed yet again and filed for bankruptcy after FTX's own bankruptcy. Nik breaks down what BlockFi did, where things went wrong, the dealings it had with FTX, and what's going on now. Plus! Nik and Matt discuss the latest on FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried's odd series of interviews and more! Visit: ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder Discussed in the episode: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/11/28/ftx-fallout-continues-as-crypto-lender-blockfi-declares-bankruptcy/ https://twitter.com/FounderFlori/status/1590030306978848768 https://twitter.com/BlockFi/status/1590875997351866368 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-28/blockfi-says-it-owes-the-sec-30-million-in-bankruptcy-filing

39: FTX Conspiracies About Ukraine & Democrats Don't Add Up (w/ Sergey Vasylchuk) Nov 21, 2022

Show notes

Sergey Vasylchuk of Aid For Ukraine and CEO of Ukrainian crypto company Everstake joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to explain why the conspiracy theories being spread by right wing media outlets and influencers about FTX and its ties to Ukraine aid and the Democratic Party don't make sense. Vasylchuk takes us inside the founding of Aid for Ukraine, the crypto donation program run in tandem with the Ukraine government's Ministry of Digital Transformation, the extent of the partnership with FTX and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried, and more. Matt explains why the conspiracy is spreading and breaks down specific pieces of the conspiracy theory and finds zero evidence to back up the claims. Visit ScamEconomy.com Matt's report: https://mashable.com/article/ftx-ukraine-donations-democrats-conspiracy-explained Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

38: Scam Bankrupt-Fraud: The Death of FTX (w/ Ed Zitron) Nov 14, 2022

Show notes

Ed Zitron joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to discuss one of the craziest weeks in crypto. FTX goes bankrupt, billions gone, hundreds of millions possibly hacked and/or stolen. Matt and Ed discuss all the details, breaking down the timeline of events, how there have long been questions about the liquidity of FTX and Alameda Research, the media fawning over founder Sam Bankman-Fried, how the entire operation was run by 10 roommates with on-again-off-again personal relationships, and much much much more. Ed's newsletter on FTX: https://ez.substack.com/p/sam-bankrun-fraud Article's mention in the episode: FTX Hacked: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/12/ftx-crypto-wallets-see-mysterious-late-night-outflows-totalling-more-than-380m/ SBF and Roomates: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/10/bankman-frieds-cabal-of-roommates-in-the-bahamas-ran-his-crypto-empire-and-dated-other-employees-have-lots-of-questions/ Reuters texts with SBF: https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/exclusive-least-1-billion-client-funds-missing-failed-crypto-firm-ftx-sources-2022-11-12/ CNBC on SBF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGZrZq6z-Ig Mike Burgersberg's Alameda story: https://dirtybubblemedia.substack.com/p/is-alameda-research-insolvent CoinDesk's Alameda story: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/02/divisions-in-sam-bankman-frieds-crypto-empire-blur-on-his-trading-titan-alamedas-balance-sheet/ Visit ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

37: Sam Bankman-Fried is Known as Crypto's Bailout King. Is His Own Empire Broke? (w/ Mike Burgersburg) Nov 07, 2022

Show notes

Mike Burgersburg of Dirty Bubble Media joins Scam Economy to talk Sam Bankman-Fried aka SBF, founder of the crypto exchange FTX and the crypto hedge fund Alameda Research. Burgersburg explains to host Matt Binder his recent investigations into SBF's interesting ties with Celsius Network, the failed crypto lender, how FTX propped up Celsius and its CEL token, how Celsius paid FTX with users' assets even after it supposedly froze all of their funds, FTX's own stablecoin FTT, SBF's prominence as the guy who shows up to bailout failing crypto companies, and his report into Alameda and how SBF's entire empire may vey well be insolvent. Check out Mike Burgersburg's Dirty Bubble Media newsletter to read his reports featured on this episode: - https://dirtybubblemedia.substack.com/p/celsius-liquidated-user-assets-to - https://dirtybubblemedia.substack.com/p/ftxed-the-tangled-ties-of-celsius - https://dirtybubblemedia.substack.com/p/is-alameda-research-insolvent Coindesk's look into Alameda: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/02/divisions-in-sam-bankman-frieds-crypto-empire-blur-on-his-trading-titan-alamedas-balance-sheet/ Visit ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

36: Inside Yuga Labs: Bored Ape Yacht Club Behind-the-Scenes (w/ Yasmin Gagne and Connie Lin) Oct 31, 2022

Show notes

Fast Company's Yasmin Gagne & Connie Lin join Scam Economy to discuss their latest piece: a sit-down with Yuga Labs to discuss the history of how the Bored Ape Yacht Club came to be. Yaz and Connie share with Matt how they got this inside look, the early history of BAYC and how it came to be, the peculiar way this NFT project took off, the "doxxing" of its founders Wylie Aronow and Greg Solano aka Gordon Goner and Gargamel and the rest of the core team: Zeshan Ali aka No Sass & Kerem Atalay aka Emperor Tomato Ketchup, their CEO Nicole Muniz, and in the unbelievable role that superstar music manager Guy Oseary has played. The three also discuss the token ApeCoin and why the SEC is investigating Yuga Labs over that, their metaverse project "Otherside," the accusations of racism from artist Ryder Ripp, and much, much more. Read the Fast Company piece - The 800 lb. Gorilla of Crypto: Bored Ape Yacht Club tell all: https://www.fastcompany.com/90796009/bored-ape-yacht-club-tell-all-the-untold-story-of-the-4-billion-crypto-startup Articles mentioned in the episode: Max Read's NFT-to-celeb chart: https://maxread.substack.com/p/mapping-the-celebrity-nft-complex Amy Castor's reporting on Beeple's NFT sale: https://amycastor.com/2021/03/14/metakovan-the-mystery-beeple-art-buyer-and-his-nft-defi-scheme/ Visit ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

35: Crypto is the Future...Just Like Google Glass (w/ Quinn Myers) Oct 21, 2022

Show notes

Quinn Myers, freelance writer and author of the new book Remember the Internet: Google Glass joins the show to discuss Google's new partnership with Coinbase to accept crypto payments for Google Cloud services, crypto evangelists basking in acceptance from Big Tech and Old Finance, how the tech industry and venture capitalists hype crypto and the media eats it up, how this same song and dance is very reminiscent of Google Glass, how the same cast of characters that promoted this failed product are now all in on crypto, why Google Glass was rejected by the general public and why crypto has been too, wearable tech, the Metaverse and Web3 versions like Decentraland, and what lessons are to be learned here. Check out Quinn's book, Remember the Internet: Google Glass: http://www.instarbooks.com/books/google-glass.html Visit http://www.ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder Articles mentioned on the show: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/11/google-selects-coinbase-to-take-cloud-payments-with-cryptocurrencies.html https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/2022/10/17/andreessen-horowitz-crypto-lobbying-washington/?sh=4bde5a7946e7 https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304549504579316913982034286 https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-lost-15-billion-building-the-metaverse-reality-labs-money-2022-10 https://kotaku.com/metaverse-billion-daily-users-meta-nft-crypto-1849653112

34: RIP CNN's NFT Vault But Media's Terrible Crypto Coverage Lives On (w/ Parker Molloy) Oct 14, 2022

Show notes

Parker Molloy of The Present Age newsletter joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to discuss the death of CNN's little known NFT project, the CNN Vault. Parker and Matt take a look at how bizarre it was, the NFT collectors who spent thousands of dollars on a now-dead project, the Associated Press has an NFT marketplace too, and how the mainstream media irresponsibly covers emerging technology like the "Metaverse," crypto, NFTs, and more! Check out Parker's newsletter: https://www.readtpa.com Visit http://www.ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

33: Who'll Stop Celebrities From Unlawfully Shilling Shady Crypto & NFTs to Their Fans? (w/ Bonnie Patten) Oct 07, 2022

Show notes

Bonnie Patten, executive director of Truth In Advertising (TINA), joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to discuss the scourge of celebrity crypto and NFT endorsements. We discuss Kim Kardashian getting fined $1.26 million by the SEC for pushing a pump-and-dump token by EthereumMax, the celebrities hawking NFTs without disclosing that they were paid for their endorsement, TINA's recent work sending notices to those celebs, what Justin Bieber's team and Reese Witherspoon's team had to say to TINA regarding promoting NFTs, Jimmy Fallon's obsession with NFTs on the Tonight Show, what government agencies are going to step up and do something about it, why the FTC hasn't taken action, the CAA's role, Anthony Anderson's Candyverse NFT project, and why celeb endorsements of crypto and NFTs are so harmful to their fans. Check out Truth In Advertising's work on celebs promoting NFTs: https://truthinadvertising.org/industries/celebrities-promoting-nfts/ Visit http://www.ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

32: GiveCrypto and the Real Goal of "Crypto Charity" (w/ Leo Schwartz) Sep 29, 2022

Show notes

Leo Schwartz, reporter at Fortune, joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to discuss his report on GiveCrypto, a crypto charity set up by the crypto exchange Coinbase, the broader realm of crypto philanthropy and the ulterior motives behind it, how GiveCrypto took advantage of its "ambassadors" around the world, how little the charity was able to help and why that is, why even some crypto advocates think crypto donations are a bad idea, and much more. Check out Leo's piece in Fortune on GiveCrypto: https://fortune.com/crypto/2022/09/20/coinbases-1b-crypto-philanthropy-disappointment/ Visit: http://www.ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

31: One Year of Bukele's Bitcoin Law: Chaos in El Salvador (w/ Domingo Flores) Sep 24, 2022

Show notes

This month marks the one year anniversary of El Salvador's historic Bitcoin Law, cementing the Central American country the very first country to mark the cryptocurrency as legal tender. So, how's it going? Not good! Salvadoran infosec specialist Domingo Flores joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to discuss the turmoil the country has faced in recent months, thanks to its Bitcoin-loving President Nayib Bukele. We discuss the protests, the mass arrests, Bukele's suspension of the constitution in order to run for re-election, the alleged "troll center" being run to by the Bukele regime to spread disinformation and harass dissidents, plus...Bukele keeps using El Salvador's money to invest in Bitcoin...or is he? Visit http://www.ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

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