55: Sam Bankman-Fried Guilty!: The FTX Fraud Trial (w/ Molly White)

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

31 Okt 20222h 5min

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

21 Okt 20221h 19min

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

14 Okt 20221h 5min

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

7 Okt 202255min

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

29 Sep 20221h 4min

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

24 Sep 20221h 16min

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

15 Sep 20221h 13min

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

9 Sep 202249min