Scam Economy

Latest Episodes:

30: The Ethereum Merge is Here. What It Means, Who's Getting Rich & Why It Won't Be You (w/ Bennett Tomlin) Sep 15, 2022

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It's finally here...Ethereum Merge Day. Bennett Tomlin of Crypto Critics Corner and Protos.com joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to break down exactly what the Ethereum Merge is, why the crypto world is celebrating its arrival, the difference between the old proof-of-work system and the new proof-of-stake system, how miners are taking the change, the fork, what is staking, sharding?!, the environmental impacts, how crypto advocates are missing the big picture, Lido and its role, and why the system is still set up for the rich to just keep get richer. Check out Protos and their Ethereum Merge coverage: https://protos.com/the-evolution-of-ethereum-2-0-your-questions-answered/ https://protos.com/heres-how-insiders-are-getting-rich-off-the-ethereum-merge Listen to Crypto Critics Corner: https://cryptocriticscorner.com Visit http://www.scameconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

29: Binance and the Mystery of Who is Guangying Chen? (w/ Jacob Silverman) Sep 09, 2022

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Journalist Jacob Silverman joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to discuss one of the biggest mysteries surrounding the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange...who is Guangying Chen? Silverman breaks down Binance's huge role in the crypto space and its founder Changpeng Zhao aka "CZ," the history of the company's opaqueness on many issues surrounding the business, the leaked "Tai Chi" document, the relevance of whether Binance is a "Chinese company," and the mystery surrounding Guangying Chen, a supposed low-level staffer who has long been listed on official documents and company paperwork as Binance's founder. Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder Visit http://www.ScamEconomy.com Jacob Silverman's tweet asking Binance about Guanying Chen: https://twitter.com/SilvermanJacob/status/1562603139001266178 Binance's statement on Guangying Chen after Jacob Silverman's tweet: https://www.binance.com/en/blog/from-cz/who-is-guangying-chen-and-is-binance-a-chinese-company-2386330931319516973 Forbes piece on the Tai Chi document: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/10/29/leaked-tai-chi-document-reveals-binances-elaborate-scheme-to-evade-bitcoin-regulators/?sh=746e9c662a92 Scam Binance website's blog on Guangying Chen: https://scambinance.com/investigations/131-who-owns-binance-casino-guangying-chen-heina-chen-or-changpeng-zhao.html

28: Crypto's Summer From Hell (w/ Molly White) Sep 02, 2022

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Web3 Is Going Just Great creator Molly White returns to Scam Economy to break down crypto winter aka crypto's summer from hell with host Matt Binder. Matt and Molly discuss some of the crypto and Web3 failures, controversies, and scandals from July & August like Tornado Cash winding up sanctions, Michael Saylor being sued by the DC AG for tax fraud, Martin Shkreli's odd pharma Web3 project hack, Binance's claim it doesn't own a troubled Indian crypto exchange after claiming it acquired the company, and much more! Check out Molly's Web3 is Going Just Great: https://web3isgoinggreat.com/ Links to Molly's newsletter, Patreon, & more: https://www.mollywhite.net/linktree Visit http://www.ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

Immutable and the Push to Force NFTs on Gamers (Scam Economy Live Post Show BONUS Clip) Aug 26, 2022

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Another BONUS teaser of the Scam Economy Livestream Call-In Post Show! Jon from Australia calls BACK into the Scam Economy Livestream Post Show in early August to talk to host Matt Binder about crypto in the video game space, TikTok creator NFTs, and the Australian based Web3 company, Immutable, which is involved in Gamestop's NFT marketplace.

27: All Your Coinbase Are Belong To Us (w/ Ed Zitron) Aug 18, 2022

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Coinbase is America's #1 crypto exchange. Coinbase has also had a very, very bad couple of weeks. Ed Zitron joins Matt Binder on Scam Economy to discuss the Coinbase insider trading case, how a former Coinbase product manager was able to slip insider knowledge to his brother and a friend, how the scheme fell apart, just how much insider trading is going on over at Coinbase?, the SEC investigation that found Coinbase was listing unregistered securities, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong's anti-politics at Coinbase stance...until Coinbase of course needs to start lobbying politicians for pro-crypto legislation, what's coming down the pike for Coinbase next?, and much more! Visit: http://www.ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder Check out Ed's newsletter: http://ez.substack.com Coinbase Insider Trading Case/SEC investigation: https://mashable.com/article/crypto-insider-trading-case-doj-coinbase Coinbase Insider Trading Study: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-17/coinbase-insider-trading-may-be-wider-than-us-case-study-says Coinbase: No Politics: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/10/01/coinbase-wont-allow-discussions-of-politics-and-social-causes-at-work-if-employees-dont-like-it-theyre-free-to-leave/?sh=5b4b208f7459 Coinbase Lobbying: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbrett/2022/07/28/new-bill-could-allow-americans-to-buy-coffee-with-crypto-tax-exempt/?sh=68bad27a2c60 https://cryptopotato.com/coinbase-establishes-think-tank-for-increasing-lobbying-efforts-with-regulators/

Crypto Yield Rates Were Always a Red Flag (Scam Economy Live Post Show BONUS Clip) Aug 12, 2022

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A BONUS teaser of the Scam Economy Livestream Call-In Post Show! Listener of the show, Jon from Australia, called into the Scam Economy Livestream Post Show back in June to talk to host Matt Binder, right after an episode on Celsius and the crypto crash, to discuss a listener who had called into the post show back in February who talked about staking his crypto in Celsius. First, listen to the call between Matt and Jon, then listen to the call from back in February. It's a good reminder that those who were always skeptical about crypto...had good reason to be. Visit: http://ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

26: Dune and Done: The Spice DAO Saga (w/ Adi Robertson) Aug 05, 2022

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Adi Robertson, senior reporter at The Verge, joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to bring us on the epic journey that is Spice DAO, the decentralized autonomous organization that raised around $12 million in cryptocurrency in order to bid on a rare copy of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s "legendary never-made adaptation" of the classic sci-fi novel, Dune (also known as the Dune Bible). We discuss the $3 million winning bid and how it was well over expected sale price, the infamous confusion over copyright between members of the DAO, all the controversies surrounding votes on animated film production and a certain problematic member of the leadership team, and the most recent news where the creator of this whole project, crypto millionaire Soban "Soby" Saqib has decided to dissolve the DAO and...maybe just sell the book. Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder Read Adi's reporting in The Verge on Spice DAO: 1) https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/17/22887948/jodorowsky-dune-bible-spice-dao-derivative-script 2) https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/28/22950868/spice-dao-crypto-jodorowsky-dune-bible-collective-writing-contest 3) https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/27/23141188/dune-crypto-collective-spice-dao-nft-tv-series-charlotte-fang-remilia-controversy 4) https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/27/23280490/spice-dao-jodorowsky-dune-bible-crypto-sale-planned-liquidation Check out the BuzzFeed article mentioned in this episode: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/amansethi/spicedao-dunedao-soby Visit http://www.scameconomy.com

25: Helium is Touted as the Web3 Gold Standard. Is It All Just a Bunch of Hot Air? (w/ Liron Shapira) Jul 30, 2022

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Angel investor Liron Shapira joins Scam Economy host Matt Binder to discuss his viral Twitter thread about the decentralized wireless network Helium, often viewed as the gold standard of Web3 uses cases. We discuss what Helium is and how does it work, how budding entrepreneurs buy expensive hotspots in hopes of earning Helium's cryptocurrency token, who is actually using Helium's wireless network, and much more. Plus: BONUS! As a result of Matt's research into this episode, there is an added commentary about how Helium boasted for years about one of its largest clients being the global scooter rideshare company Lime. Matt discovered...that's not true. Check out Matt' scoop in Mashable on Helium and Lime: https://mashable.com/article/helium-lime-web3-crypto Read Liron's viral Twitter thread on Helium here: https://twitter.com/liron/status/1551738599254773765 The profile of Helium in The Generalist: https://www.readthegeneralist.com/briefing/helium Visit: http://www.ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

24: PayWrecked: The People Who Took Their Paychecks in Crypto Regret It Now (w/ Quinn Myers) Jul 23, 2022

Show notes

Quinn Myers, author of the upcoming book Remember the Internet Vol. 3: Google Glass, joins Scam Economy to discuss his piece for MEL Magazine about the workers who decided to take their paychecks in crypto. Quinn and host Matt Binder discuss the different types of people who took part in this program, how Coinbase made it extremely easy for people to convert their hard-earned pay from this jobs into cryptocurrency automatically, just how much these people have lost since the crypto crash, the professional athletes who promoted the idea of taking a paycheck or getting paid directly in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and other tokens, and more! We also touch on the breaking news about the DOJ charging three individuals in a Coinbase insider trading scheme and briefly discuss venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who was a major Google Glass proponent and is now all aboard the Web3 train. Read Quinn's piece here: https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/crypto-direct-deposit Check out Scam Economy: http://www.ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

23: Elon Musk Loves Cryptocurrency (But Elon and Crypto Don't Love You) Jul 15, 2022

Show notes

Just like crypto, Elon Musk is all hype. So, they're a match made in heaven. Scam Economy host Matt Binder takes a look at Elon Musk's history of promoting cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and, his favorite, Dogecoin, whether or not he's telling the truth when he claimed he "never told people to invest in cryptocurrency," how Elon's love for crypto helped create the current crypto bot problem...and how Elon's tweets about the crypto bot problem will likely come back to bite him when fighting Twitter's lawsuit against the Tesla CEO for backing out of his agreement to buy out the company. Visit http://ScamEconomy.com Support the Show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

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