Scam Economy

Latest Episodes:

22: Bon Voyager! Your Crypto Loan Cash is Gone (w/ Ed Zitron) Jul 08, 2022

Show notes

Yet another crypto lender, Voyager Digital, has frozen its customers' funds, pausing withdrawals, and just filed for bankruptcy. But this time, it's even more looney than usual. Ed Zitron joins Matt Binder on the show to discuss how Voyager claimed it was an FDIC insured bank an...SURPRISE! Voyager was not a bank and it was not FDIC insured, how the company gave out huge loans to relatively few entities, the people who lost money, Mark Cuban's Dallas Mavericks having a partnership deal with Voyager and promoting its crypto services, FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried constantly coming into the picture to "save the day" (for the crypto company at least), and much, much more! Read Ed's piece: https://ez.substack.com/p/when-vibes-arent-enough Visit ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

21: Coinspiracy: How QAnon Influencers Conned Their Followers with Crypto (w/ Ernie Piper & Nick Backovic of Logically.ai) Jul 01, 2022

Show notes

Logically.ai UK editor Ernie Piper and Senior OSINT Analyst Nick Backovic join Matt Binder on Scam Economy to discuss the tech-based anti-misinformation firm's report on the QAnon influencers scamming their followers with crypto pump-and-dump schemes. We discuss the QAnon conspiracy theory and how its conspiratorial right wing beliefs fit perfectly into the cryptocurrency scams, the Stellar network which makes minting of these tokens extremely easy, who are WhipLash347 and PatriotQakes (aka Emily Tang): the influencers involved in promoting these schemes to their followers, the real financial losses as well as the story of one individual who took their life after losing their money and business, and much more. Read the Logically.ai report: https://www.logically.ai/articles/qanon-crypto-lose-followers-2-million Check out ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

20: Damn, the Torpedoes: The Story of Celsius (w/ Mike Burgersburg/Dirty Bubble Media) Jun 24, 2022

Show notes

Mike Burgersburg of Dirty Bubble Media joins Matt Binder on Scam Economy to breakdown his reporting on the crypto lender Celsius, how they contributed to the crypto crash, why they've frozen all of their customers accounts, its founder Alex Mashinsky and his interesting past, is Celsius a ponzi?, what is CEL token, how his @MikeBurgersburg account was hacked just as he was reporting on Celsius and another troubled cryptocurrency lender called Voyager, and much more!Check out Mike's new Twitter account: @dirtybubblemed and his reporting on Substack: https://dirtybubblemedia.substack.com. Visit: ScamEconomy.com. Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder.

19: Crypto Jenga Tower Collapse: Celsius & the Crypto Time Bombs (w/ David Gerard & Amy Castor) Jun 17, 2022

Show notes

Crypto critics David Gerard & Amy Castor join Matt Binder on Scam Economy to talk about the "Jenga stack of interconnected time bombs" that is this week's cryptocurrency crash. David and Amy breakdown how the entire crypto space is like a Jenga tower and all it takes is for one rug pull to knock down the stack, how Terra/Luna set the stage for the plunge, what Celsius is and why it was the next piece to take down what was left, what the role crypto exchanges like Coinbase play, why crypto hedge funds like Three Arrows Capital are now floundering, and how Tether, Bitcoin miners, and even Mt. Gox will continue to play a role in crypto's nosedive. Read David and Amy's piece, The Latecomer’s Guide to Crypto Crashing: https://amycastor.com/2022/06/14/the-latecomers-guide-to-crypto-crashing-a-quick-map-of-where-we-are-and-whats-ahead/ - Visit: ScamEconomy.com - Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

18: They Lost Everything: How the Terra Crypto Crash Ruined Lives Around the World (w/ Leo Schwartz) Jun 10, 2022

Show notes

Leo Schwartz, reporter at Rest of World, joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to discuss his recent piece interviewing people from around the world who had invested in the stablecoin Terra and lost everything they had in the crash. We also discuss the predatory nature of crypto and DeFi, why people in countries like Argentina, Iran, and Nigeria invest in crypto, how the industry preys on the most economically vulnerable, and more! Check out Leo's pieces that we discuss on the show: 1) https://restofworld.org/2022/argentina-nigeria-terra-crash/ 2) https://restofworld.org/2022/crash-crypto-hodling-bitfinex-ardoino/ 3) https://restofworld.org/2021/insiders-and-experts-are-driving-a-massive-spike-in-crypto-transactions-new-data-shows/ Visit: ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

17: Bitcoin Nazis, Ethereum Grifters: A Tale of Two Communities (Scam Economy LIVE in Brooklyn w/ Michael E. Hayden) Jun 03, 2022

Show notes

Michael Edison Hayden of the Southern Poverty Law Center joined Matt Binder for a LIVE episode of Scam Economy as part of the Digital Void Festival: Brooklyn on May 26 at Littlefield's. Matt takes a look at the two biggest crypto communities: the "artists"/hucksters of Ethereum (Gary Vee, Jimmy Fallon) and the cryptonazis of Bitcoin, how the real split in cryptocurrency is the 99.99% vs. the 0.01%, and Michael Hayden breaks down his recent reporting on the millions of dollars in crypto being sent to Alex Jones and how white supremacists have become rich with crypto cash. Check out Michael on Alex Jones and his Bitcoin donations: https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2022/05/26/alex-jones-bitcoin-8-million-infowars. Michael on white supremacists and crypto: https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/12/09/how-cryptocurrency-revolutionized-white-supremacist-movement. Visit http://www.ScamEconomy.com. Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

16: How Wikipedia Cancelled Crypto (w/ Molly White) May 20, 2022

Show notes

Longtime Wikipedia editor and Web3 is Going Great creator Molly White joins Matt Binder on Scam Economy to discuss why Wikipedia stopped taking cryptocurrency donations, how the Wiki community came together to make it happen, what happened when crypto advocates tried to stop the decision, the history of Wiki and cryptocurrency, and much more! Check out Web3 Is Going Great @ https://web3isgoinggreat.com. Visit ScamEconomy.com. Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

15: Terra, Luna, & The Crypto Crash: Everything You Need to Know (w/ Bennett Tomlin of Crypto Critics' Corner) May 12, 2022

Show notes

EMERGENCY POD! The crypto market is in a free fall. What is happening?! Bennett Tomlin of Crypto Critics' Corner joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to break down what stablecoin Terra (UST) is, why it lost its peg and what that means, how its sister coin Luna factors in to all this, and how this all led to one of the biggest crashes across the entire cryptocurrency market – one that has Bitcoin at its lowest value in nearly a year and a half. Bennett and Matt also discuss the coins' parent company, Terraform and its eclectic founder Do Kwon, what an "algorithmic stablecoin" is, and how the whole thing is a ponzi. If that wasn't enough, the two also take a look at some of the conspiracies such as Blackrock and Citadel "attacking" Terra and how a Major League Baseball team was sharing Terra marketing videos as the whole thing came tumbling down. Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

14: Crypto Bad Ideas: Abortions on the Blockchain!? + Bored Apes Break Ethereum (w/ Molly White) May 06, 2022

Show notes

Creator of Web3 is Going Great, developer Molly White joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to discuss the insanely high Ethereum gas fees from over the weekend where people were being charged thousands in fees for transactions as low as $5, how this was caused by Bored Ape Yacht Club owners Yuga Labs, and shows everything wrong with the Ethereum network (and crypto more broadly.) Also, after the SCOTUS leak showing Roe v. Wade may very well be overturned and abortions could become illegal in certain U.S. states, some crypto users had a brilliant idea: the blockchain can solve this. Molly and Matt discuss why this is in fact not a good idea at all. Check out Molly's website: https://web3isgoinggreat.com. Visit: ScamEconomy.com. Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

13: Arrested for Protesting Bitcoin (w/ Mario Gomez) Apr 29, 2022

Show notes

Salvadorian developer Mario Gomez joins Matt Binder on Scam Economy to discuss his arrest over his activism against El Salvador's Bitcoin laws, why El Salvador is going all in on Bitcoin and making it an official currency, how it all started with an American project in the the Central American country called Bitcoin Beach, what shady dealings El Salvador's authoritarian president Nayib Bukele could possibly have with the crypto industry, what are Volcano Bonds and the Chivo wallet, how the Bitcoin laws are negatively affecting the people of El Salvador, and more! Follow Mario and his updates on El Salvador and Bitcoin on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/mxgxw_gamma. Visit ScamEconomy.com. Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder

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