I am an independent reporter, focused on cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
My stories have appeared in Foreign Policy, Al Jazeera, Artnet News, MIT Technology Review, Business Insider, CoinDesk, Decrypt, The Block, Bitcoin Magazine, Forbes, and Modern Consensus.
I’m a nocoiner, meaning I don’t hold any crypto assets. Several years ago, I had some bitcoin but to borrow from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak: “Part of my happiness is not to have worries, so I sold it all and just got rid of it.”
I am available for freelance work, and you can reach me by email here. I’m also active on Twitter and Reddit. I generally agree to interviews. I was featured in a BBC radio show talking about failed Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX. I’m in the CBC radio show “A Death in Cryptoland,” and I star in the film “Dead Man’s Switch: a Crypto Mystery,” now streaming on Discovery.
Among the hundreds of stories I’ve written on crypto, I’ve picked a few of my favorites and posted them here. (If you are looking for my QuadrigaCX timeline, it’s here.) I also have a crypto news blog.
If you like my work, consider supporting my writing by subscribing to my Patreon account for as little as $5 a month.
Recent blog posts:
June 2023
Crypto collapse? Get in loser, we’re pivoting to AI
May 2023
April 2023
Crypto collapse: Coinbase rattles sabres at the SEC, Voyager sale collapses, Terra-Luna, Binance
So much for Wyoming blockchain regulatory capture — the Fed blocks Custodia Bank
March 2023
The Block fires a third of staff — Larry Cermak is CEO, Wintermute’s Evgeny Gaevoy joins board
CFTC cracks CZ’s phone, sues Binance — what’s a little terrorist financing between friends
Crypto collapse: The Great Unbanking continues, Bitcoin pumps, FTX, Voyager, Tether
Crypto collapse: Signature Bank blows up, US crypto frantically looks for banking
Crypto collapse: Silicon Valley Bank falls and takes out USDC, New York calls ETH a security
Silvergate, banker to the crypto world, is going down
February 2023
MIT Tech Review: Ethereum moved to proof of stake. Why can’t Bitcoin?
Crypto collapse: Binance USD shut down, Celsius insiders sued, Paxos, Voyager, FTX
Celsius Network: Final report from the examiner — lies, incompetence and Ponzi schemes
January 2023
Crypto collapse: US banks leave crypto, how Genesis kept Gemini hanging on, FTX, Binance, Nexo
Foreign Policy: The Crypto Dominoes Are Still Falling
SEC sues Genesis and Gemini, Genesis owes $3 billion to creditors
FTX Bahamas vs. John Jay Ray, Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty, DoJ seizes FTX assets
December 2022
Your 100%* reliable guide to the future of crypto in 2023!
FTX updates: How Sam Bankman-Fried got bail, and more
FTX: Sam Bankman-Fried out on bail, Ellison and Wang cop pleas
Crypto collapse: Regulatory altruism at FTX — Sam Bankman-Fried arrested
Celsius hearing, December 8: Selling GK8 to Galaxy Digital
Celsius hearing, December 7: Custody and Withhold accounts, and a partial ruling
Crypto collapse: FTX headed for examiner, Bahamas crypto shenanigans
November 2022
Crypto collapse: FTX first-day hearing, Genesis screws DCG, Silvergate Bank
Al Jazeera: FTX meltdown threatens to end ‘Wild West’ era for crypto
Declaration of John Jay Ray — FTX is worse than Enron
Crypto.com’s bad weekend — crypto exchanges are shaky
FTX files for bankruptcy, and the fallout begins. Who’s next?
Crypto collapse: J. Pierpont Moneygone — FTX rekt, bought by Binance
Celsius bankruptcy hearing November 1, 2022: stablecoins, KERPs and Ponzis
October 2022
Crypto collapse: Bitcoin stagnant, selling Celsius and Voyager, how 3AC died
Celsius Network bankruptcy hearing, Thursday 20 October 2022
When Wells notice? Yuga Labs, the SEC is coming for you
Crypto collapse: Celsius reveals its creditor list, 3AC NFTs, Terra-Luna, Voyager
The SEC busts Kim Kardashian over EthereumMax, pour encourager les autres
September 2022
Crypto collapse: Celsius, Voyager, SkyBridge — the liabilities are real, the assets are fake
Reggie Fowler, Bitfinex/Tether’s US money man, seeks 6-month sentencing delay
August 2022
Celsius second bankruptcy hearing — court approves setting more customer funds on fire
Bankrupt Voyager Digital’s search for a buyer — notes from the first committee town hall
Crypto collapse: Coinbase’s billion-dollar bloodbath, Hodlnaut goes down, Celsius, Voyager, 3AC
Bitcoin mining in the crypto crash — the mining companies’ creative accounting
Crypto collapse: 3AC’s Grayscale two-step — and where in the world are Zhu and Davies?
July 2022
Crypto collapse: Terra Luna, 3AC’s Singapore liquidation, Celsius, Voyager
Crypto collapse: 3AC, Voyager, Celsius, and other DeFi casualties
Crypto skeptics step up lobbying efforts with their first conference
Who had Voyager Digital next in the DeFi dead pool?
June 2022
Crypto collapse latest: the DeFi dead and dying list
CoinFLEX gets Roger Verified — the mystery of the missing Bitcoin Cash
CBC Radio interview: Could crypto investments become virtually worthless?
How 2020 set the stage for the 2021 bitcoin bubble
‘10 NFTs That Were Sold at a Substantial Loss,’ and two other stories for Artnet
Crypto collapse latest: the contagion spreads
The tale of a whale who took Solend’s money
Bitcoin fell below $20,000 — and why it has further to go
Scam Economy podcast: Crypto Jenga: Celsius and the Latest Crypto Crash
The early history of NFTs, part 4 — Game sprites on the blockchain: CryptoPunks
The Latecomer’s Guide to Crypto Crashing — a quick map of where we are and what’s ahead
Celsius goes Fahrenheit 451, and number goes down
The Week in Art Podcast: ‘Crypto Crash: What Now for NFTs?’
No, a UK judge didn’t actually rule that NFTs are property
Initial Game Offerings: a failed Initial Grifting Opportunity
The early history of NFTs, part 3: Curio Cards
Coinbase freezes hiring, rescinds job offers: ‘Coinbase ghosted me’
Former OpenSea executive Nate Chastain arrested for insider trading of NFTs
May 2022
Early history of NFTs, part 2: Monegraph, Spells of Genesis, Rare Pepes
Kara Swisher promotes crypto for your retirement, compares it to early internet
New QuadrigaCX documentary: ‘The Mysterious Disappearance of the Bitcoin Millionaire’
A16z’s ‘State of Crypto’ report: A rehash of bad crypto market pitches
The NFT market hasn’t crashed — it was never not crashed
Why is bitcoin dropping in price?
NFT news: BAYC breaks Ethereum, OpenSea accepts APE, NFTs are like Papyrus
April 2022
Yuga Lab’s Otherside land sale turns into a giant gas war
GBTC investors are spamming the SEC
Bored Ape Yacht Club: Unanswered Questions
After a guilty plea, Reggie Fowler faces 90 years in prison
Reggie Fowler, Bitfinex/Tether’s US money man, to plead guilty
Would you like fries with your Mutant Ape?
Welcome to Grayscale’s Hotel California
Cash App’s dangerous new feature — bet your paycheck on bitcoin
The Art Angle: ‘The Whole Bored Ape Yacht Club Phenomenon, Explained’
March 2022
Axie-Ronin hackers and the crypto laundromat — will they succeed in cleaning 174,000 ETH?
The Gorilla In the Room: Yuga Labs investors pretend to care about the planet. They don’t.
Podcast: I was interviewed by Alan Keane for ‘Artist’s Well.’ We talked about NFTs
Bored Ape Yacht Club launches Apecoin. It looks like an unregistered penny stock offering
My first story in MIT Tech Review and added ramblings on Web3 and Ethereum’s Beacon Chain
February 2022
NEWS: Wormhole hit by exploit, BAYC and its tangled celebrity web, HitPiece’s dirty dealings
January 2022
News: Chaos in Wonderland, celebs shilling Bored Apes, how VCs get rich on Web3
QuadrigaCX cofounder Michael Patryn resurfaces — as 0xSifu, treasury manager of Wonderland
News: Signal goes worldwide with payments, IRS sets sights on NFTs, Bukele’s bad bets on BTC
December 2021
Review: ‘Bitcoin Widow,’ by Jennifer Robertson (QuadrigaCX)
News: Craig Wright loses $100M, Kickstarter goes blockchain, Neo-Nazis get rich on Bitcoin
August 2021
Poloniex gets busted by SEC for $10M, and Circle pays — again
Fluffy Pony and the irresistible cookie jar
July 2021
News: EU to make BTC traceable, Circle’s stab at transparency, DoJ probes Tether for bank fraud
Podcast: ‘Target Letter, Tether’ (Amy Castor and David Gerard)
The DoJ’s criminal probe into Tether — What we know
News: Regulators zero in on stablecoins, El Salvador’s colón-dollar, Tether printer remains paused
Binance: Italy, Lithuania, Hong Kong, all issue warnings; Brazil director quits
Binance: Fiat off-ramps keep closing, reports of frozen funds, what happened to Catherine Coley?
What’s backing Circle’s 25B USDC? Why may never know
Reggie Fowler, man at the center of Tether’s missing funds, ready for trial
RSA Conference goes full blockchain, for a moment
Binance: A crypto exchange running out of places to hide
Notes on NFTs, the high-art trade, and money laundering
June 2021
Michael Peterson, El Salvador, and Bitcoin Beach
El Salvador’s bitcoin plan: take your USD and turn them into worthless tethers
May 2021
Rehost: A day in the life of Stuart Hoegner, General Counsel for Tether
Tether’s first breakdown of reserves consists of two silly pie charts
April 2021
News: Tether surpasses 50B, Coinbase lists USDT, reported $2B crypto scam in Turkey
Coinbase lists tether, the world’s dodgiest stablecoin
Signal adopts MobileCoin, a crypto project linked to its own creator Moxie Marlinspike
News: Coinbase set to go public, Tether releases meaningless attestation, are NFT sales slipping?
March 2021
BitClout’s social media experiment is one bad idea on top of another
WTF is an NFT? Here’s a rundown of the basics
Metakovan, the mystery Beeple art buyer, and his NFT/DeFi scheme
NYAG to crypto companies: ‘Play by the rules or we will shut you down’
February 2021
News: NY gives Tether the boot, Tether leaks, Coinbase financials, MoneyGram dumps Ripple
NYAG/Tether, Bitfinex settlement reveals commingling of funds, years of shenanigans
Tether, Bitfinex to pay $18.5M to NYAG, cease trading in NY
Proof of work—the reason behind Bitcoin’s horrendous energy consumption
Nouriel Roubini: ‘Tether is a criminal enterprise,’ SEC should probe Elon Musk’s bitcoin tweets
Tesla spent $1.5B in clean car credits on bitcoin, the filthiest asset imaginable
January 2021
News: Tether surpasses $26B, Elon Musk pumps BTC, Gregory Pepin’s magic trick
Ripple shoots back at SEC claims, takes the Kik route
Larry Cermak and Bennett Tomlin debate Tether’s solvency—transcript with notes
Tether’s Paolo Ardoino and Stuart Hoegner do a podcast—transcript and my comments
Nocoiner predictions: 2021 will be a year of comedy gold
December 2020
Judge gives Reggie Fowler 45 days to find new defense counsel
Reggie Fowler owes lawyers $600,000
November 2020
Reggie Fowler, man linked to missing Bitfinex funds, hoodwinks his own defense team
Are pixie fairies behind Bitcoin’s latest bubble?
Confirmed: Reggie Fowler can’t pay his lawyers
Reginald Fowler’s lawyers want to quit. Did he neglect to pay them?
What’s in Quadriga’s 7th Report of the Trustee? (Hint: mostly admin stuff)
News: Virgil Griffith wants charges tossed, MicroStrategy bets big on BTC, Ledger hacked
October 2020
News: Modern Consensus co-founder arrested, PayPal embraces bitcoin, Peter Schiff in the hot seat
September 2020
Quadriga’s trustee hires blockchain analytics firm
April 2020
Judge to EY: You’re free to hand over Quadriga user data to tax collector
March 2020
Bankruptcy trustee to hand over QuadrigaCX user data to Canada’s tax collector
Judge reschedules Reggie Fowler’s trial for next year
Coronavirus: Will crypto conferences survive? What about crypto media?
February 2020
We’re in Vancouver for a Quadriga documentary
Reggie Fowler allegedly funded sports league with ill-gotten gains
Personal update: I left my job at Modern Consensus
Documents point to QuadrigaCX using payment processor Crypto Capital
News: Crypto Mom wants to give criminals a head start, IOTA’s meltdown, Lubin’s organism divides
January 2020
The high cost of fulfilling law enforcement requests: Quadriga’s 5th trustee report
Law firm for Quadriga creditors puts pressure on RCMP to dig up Cotten
Personal update: My new gig at Modern Consensus
News: CBDCs are hot, Vodafone pulls out of Libra, more WB21 stuff, Quadriga update
December 2019
Sweet home Alabama — Virgil Griffith free on $1M bail to live with parents
November 2019
DOJ arrests Ethereum Foundation coder for teaching North Korea how to launder money, evade sanctions
July 2019
News: Bitmarket CEO turns up dead, Bitfinex to NYAG: ‘Yeah but no but,’ more weirdness from Tron
News: Former Wex CEO arrested, CFTC probes BitMEX, Facebook’s Libra grilled in Washington
News: NYAG calls Bitfinex out, Bitfunder founder off to jail, Roubini pissed at Bitmex
June 2019
I wrote “Bitcoin ATMs — Why Vancouver doesn’t want them”
CLAM flash crash forces Poloniex to socialize $14 million worth of BTC in losses—what happened
The HODLcast: “QuadrigaCX with Amy Castor and David Gerard”
May 2019
“QuadrigaCX traders lost money on Cryptopia on the same day in January” —my first story for Decrypt
Turns out, you can make money on horse manure, and tethers are worth just that
QuadrigaCX Trustee’s Preliminary Report: ‘Yup, looks like your money’s all gone’
NY Supreme Court Judge: Bitfinex may not touch Tether’s reserves for 90 days
Reginald Fowler, man tied to missing Bitfinex funds, out on $5 million bail
Binance hacked to the tune of $41 million, but no worries, funds are SAFU
Bitfinex to NYAG: You have no authority! We did nothing wrong!
The HODLcast: A deep dive into Bitfinex with Amy Castor
NYAG: Bitfinex needs to submit docs and stop dipping into Tether’s reserves
News: More Bitfinex drama, Crypto Capital, a dodgy football businessman and a relationship coach
US Government wants man at center of massive “cryptocurrency scheme” held without bail
April 2019
New York Attorney General: Bitfinex is hiding $850 million in losses
TalkGold — the ponzi forum where Quadriga’s Patryn and Cotten first met
News: Craig Wright files more libel suits, exchanges respond by delisting BSV, and Arwen launches
Judge extends Quadriga’s creditor protection, and EY squabbles with third-party payment processor
Quadriga: Patryn, Cotten, and Midas Gold—a Liberty Reserve exchanger
I’m in a podcast—“Why Won’t Amy Castor Just Shut Up About QuadrigaCX!”
March 2019
News: WB21 rebrands, Patryn is without a doubt Dhanani, and Quadriga creditors now have a committee
CipherBlade CSO and founder Richard Sanders responds
Blockchain analytics firm CipherBlade steps in to launder ShapeShift’s image
Quadriga’s representative withdraws from CCAA hearings over potential conflict of interest
On and (literally) off the road to Quadriga—our perilous drive to Halifax
Diving into WB21, the company holding $9 million of Quadriga money
February 2019
‘Platform error’ blamed for BTC being sent to Quadriga’s dead CEO’s cold wallet
Two law firms appointed to represent QuadrigaCX creditors
News: Quadriga, Quadriga, Quadriga
How the hell did we get here? A timeline of Quadriga events
News: Quadriga has gone bust, Kik is fighting back, and tether rose to fourth place, briefly
Social media startup Kik is kicking back—at the SEC
January 2019
News: ETC hacker returns money, Constantinople can wait, and a new twist in the QuadrigaCX saga
The curious case of Tether: a complete timeline of events
After impressive claims, image rights platform KodakOne still has a lot to explain
Amy Castor 