Molly White - Citation Needed

A photograph of the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse in New York, taken from below and looking up

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

A photo of Tiffany Muller on a blue background, with the title “The fight to get big money out of politics with Tiffany Muller, President, End Citizens United”

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.

Crypto lobby

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.

Trump, photographed from behind, steps towards a man reaching out to shake his hand from behind a cordon. A crowd of other attendees are mostly taking photos with their cell phones.

Crypto recaps

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.

Bankman-Fried’s motion for a new trial, overlaid with a red “denied” stamp

The FTX Files

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

Zak Folkman, Eric Trump, and Zachary Witkoff speak onstage at a conference. Superimposed is the price chart for WLFI, which has dramatically gone down.

Crypto recaps

Issue 104 – World Tyranny Financial

As the Trump family’s crypto dealings raise more alarms, crypto enforcement is falling to new lows

Crypto lobby

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.

A podcasting microphone with a pop filter and shock mount, mounted on a microphone arm

Crypto recaps

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

Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman exit the courtroom during Sam Bankman-Fried’s 2023 trial

The FTX Files

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.

Justin Sun displays his Trump Watch at the first memecoin dinner, where he stands in front of two American flags

Crypto recaps

Issue 102 – The public will pay

Justin Sun buys his way out of an SEC fraud case, Iranian transactions on Binance draw DOJ scrutiny as the exchange sues the newspaper that reported on them, and crypto super PACs dump millions into Tuesday’s primaries in Illinois.

President Trump walks with Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the White House in March 2025

Crypto recaps

Issue 101 – Bought and paid for

Bitcoin is down 50%, several prominent industry figures have been uncovered in the Epstein files, Trump’s facing a probe into his family’s $500M deal with the UAE, and crypto super PACs spend their first $6 million in the midterms.

Chloropleth map of expenditures by state. Most spending is in Massachusetts, Minnesota, Kentucky, Virginia, and Florida

Crypto lobby

Crypto super PACs have hundreds of millions ready to spend on the midterms

With Trump faltering and their policy agenda incomplete, the crypto industry has moved at least $288 million toward the midterms in a desperate bid to keep Republicans in control of Congress

ICE agents shoot projectiles at protesters in Minneapolis on January 24. The photo has been overlaid with an upside down American flag.

Crypto recaps

Issue 100 – Freedom of all kinds is worth fighting for

As masked agents execute people and terrorize communities, crypto executives who spent years posting about freedom fall conspicuously silent — except when writing checks for the politicians enabling it

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong gestures with his hands in front of him

Crypto recaps

Issue 99 – They’ve bought themselves a Congress

Coinbase calls the shots in the Senate, former New York City Mayor Eric Adams faces rug pull allegations, and a crypto executive is breaking up with Trump

A collage of Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and David Sacks, all wearing gold crowns

The year of technoligarchy

In 2025, Trump brought tech executives into power to dismantle regulators and write their own rules. But the instabilities they’re creating may be their downfall.