Molly White's Citation Needed
Episodes
No new trial for Sam Bankman-Fried
29 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The former CEO of FTX has essentially no realistic avenues left to avoid his 25-year prison sentence. Originally published on April 28, 2026.
Issue 104 – World Tyranny Financial
20 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As the Trump family’s crypto dealings raise more alarms, crypto enforcement is falling to new lows. Originally published on April 20, 2026.
Issue 103 – The President’s Council of Podcasters
31 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Coinbase is accused of holding the cryptocurrency industry hostage over stablecoin rewards, prediction markets face an onslaught of opposition, and a ...
Sam Bankman-Fried’s helicopter parents crash into federal court
27 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 hi...
Issue 102 – The public will pay
16 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 o...
Issue 101 – Bought and paid for
27 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 d...
Crypto super PACs have hundreds of millions ready to spend on the midterms
21 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Issue 100 – Freedom of all kinds is worth fighting for
30 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As masked agents execute people and terrorize communities, crypto executives who spent years posting about freedom fall conspicuously silent — excep...
Issue 99 – They’ve bought themselves a Congress
19 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 T...
The year of technoligarchy
07 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 2025, Trump brought tech executives into power to dismantle regulators and write their own rules. But the instabilities they’re creating may be t...
Issue 98 – The world’s most corrupt crypto startup operation
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Terra’s Do Kwon gets 15 years, crypto banks get the green light, and the Trump family’s crypto grift expands even as one of their treasury compani...
Digital asset treasury companies are running out of steam
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Convincing traders to pay $2 for $1 of bitcoin worked — for a while. As premiums evaporate, an unwind could be painful. Originally published on Nove...
Issue 97 – This is hardship
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
While slumping prices have some fearing it’s crypto winter again, Trump looks to Saudia Arabia and American retail crypto investors to fund the deve...
Issue 96 – Redefining solvency
08 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Bankman-Fried makes his case for a retrial and aspiring crypto banks hit roadblocks. Originally published on November 7, 2025.
Trump says he has “no idea” who he just pardoned
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump reacts to condemnations of his recent pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao by claiming he doesn’t know who he is. Originally pub...
Issue 95 – The pardon was the payoff
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Binance’s Changpeng Zhao earns a gold-plated pardon as other industry figures fund Trump’s $300 million ballroom. Originally published October 28,...
Anatomy of a crypto collapse
17 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
October 2025 brought the most dramatic crypto flash crash of all time, but it was only a dress rehearsal for the systemic crisis the industry is build...
Issue 94 – Backdoor deals
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Trump is still corrupt, a core developer warns bitcoin won’t survive an upcoming code change, and crypto lenders are ratcheting up leverage like it’...
Issue 93 – Undermining deregulation
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Democratic lawmakers sound corruption alarms while crypto PACs gear up for the midterms. Originally published on September 25, 2025.
Prediction markets are booming. Oversight is barely there.
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Prediction markets once lived on the academic fringe. Now they’re trading billions on politics, sports, and celebrity gossip — under rules never d...
Issue 92 – The scam of all scams
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Trumps “debank” major customers from their “anti-debanking” cryptocurrency venture, and a CFTC nominee says the Winklevosses are blackball...
Trump Jr.-advised prediction markets invite bets on president’s demise
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump’s deregulatory agenda emboldened prediction markets to push boundaries around permitted event contracts. Now sites advised by his so...
Issue 91 – GDP on the blockchain
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The regulator set to take on primary crypto oversight is down to a single Commissioner, and new pro-crypto PACs focus on installing more Republicans i...
As he builds US power, Justin Sun fights to control his story
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A crypto billionaire who once feared arrest in the US is now a Trump business adviser and White House guest. His lawsuit against Bloomberg reveals wha...
Issue 90 – Crime szn bro
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Trump administration cracks down on software to limit surveillance of crypto transactions, while celebrating a “deregulatory blitz” tailored f...
Curate your own newspaper with RSS
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Escape newsletter inbox chaos and algorithmic surveillance by building your own enshittification-proof newspaper from the writers you already read. Or...
The Tornado Cash case: When politics sabotage a prosecution
29 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Trump administration’s regulatory whiplash has left prosecutors scrambling with misattributed chat messages and questionable victim testimony. O...
Issue 89 – Crypto wins in Washington with midnight calls, chocolate bars, and a $141 million threat
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Trump stands to profit from a $2 billion bitcoin bet as the crypto industry pushes through bills aimed at bolstering the sector. Originally published ...
Issue 88 – The stockchain
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Crypto firms hope putting a blockchain veneer on traditional equities will allow them to sidestep lessons learned in the 1929 Wall Street crash, crypt...
Issue 87 – SO ORDERED
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Trump’s crypto empire attracts more foreign millions, the FHFA pushes crypto on mortgage lenders, and Mamdani’s mayoral primary win makes billiona...
Issue 86 – State power sponsored by Coinbase
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The GENIUS Act passes the Senate after explicit threats to Democrats from the crypto lobby, and shady crypto billionaire Justin Sun cozies up even clo...
It matters. I care.
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Originally published on June 11, 2025.
Issue 85 – All the President’s tokens
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As Trump’s web of crypto projects gets tangled up in itself, a regulator warns of “regulatory Jenga” in the crypto sector that echoes the 2008 f...
Trump to launch branded crypto trading application
03 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
New crypto trading and wallet application, created in partnership with Magic Eden, invites fans of President Trump to buy his memecoin. Originally pub...
OpenAI featured chatbot is pushing extreme surgeries to “subhuman” men
31 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
OpenAI's featured chatbot recommends $200,000 in surgeries while promoting incel ideology. Originally published on May 31, 2025.
Issue 84 – Rogue overseas support agents
20 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Coinbase’s substantial data breach coincides with a convenient terms of service update, while the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill regains momentum in the...
Issue 83 – Trump’s crypto-backed plan to auction off access to the White House
12 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Trump’s crypto conflicts continue to multiply as Democratic legislators demand ethics inquiries and block industry-backed bills. Originally publishe...
Meet Trump’s memecoin dinner guests
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Trump's crypto-for-access dinner triggers broad ethics alarms, and 73% non-US attendance raises fresh concerns over foreign influence. Originally publ...
Issue 82 – E-moluments
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As Celsius victims detail their devastation even under the weak crypto regulations of the past, the Trump administration continues to dismantle those ...
Trump’s newest grift: Building a cryptocurrency empire while destroying its regulators
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Inside the Trump family’s sprawling crypto empire — from memecoins to mining — and how Trump is using presidential power to dismantle the regula...
Issue 81 – Crypto crime is legal
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Trump continues to dismantle crypto enforcement while expanding his personal crypto empire. Originally published on April 8, 2025.
Issue 80 – Aimed at benefiting the digital assets industry
28 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As the US government lays a very favorable groundwork for the crypto industry, Trump positions himself for maximum personal profit. Originally publish...
Issue 79 – Mundus sine Caesaribus
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The crypto industry frees itself from the last remnants of SEC oversight, and Solana tries to appeal to its target demographic by bashing trans people...
“Wait, not like that”: Free and open access in the age of generative AI
14 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The real threat isn’t AI using open knowledge — it’s AI companies killing the projects that make knowledge free. Originally published on March 1...
Crypto reserves: no public good, no principles
11 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The formerly anti-government bitcoin movement abandons its principles in favor of number-go-up, applauds federal plan to stockpile seized crypto with ...
Issue 78 – President on brink of bailout for bitcoin
03 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Trump tries to breathe life back into the “Trump pump” while federal regulatory agencies wash their hands of any crypto industry oversight. Origin...
Issue 77 – Whenever presidents get involved, if they become angry, you don't want to be there
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A major crypto scandal tarnishes the reputation of Solana bigwigs, crypto influencers, and Argentine President Javier Milei. “This is FTX type of sh...
The crypto industry’s debanking smokescreen
14 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cryptocurrency companies have co-opted legitimate concerns about banking discrimination to fight regulation — and Congress is buying it. Originally ...
Issue 76 – Tripartisan legislation
06 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Crypto exchanges face legal troubles, and Trump’s crypto empire grows as regulations are slashed and enforcement is sidelined. Originally published ...
Trump's Project 2025 ghostwriters
28 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Exposed PDF metadata from the Office of Personnel Management reveals that Heritage Foundation-linked Trump devotees are writing policies at federal ag...
Issue 75 – Absolutely preposterous
25 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Trump horrifies even some of his crypto-steeped fans by launching a memecoin before his inauguration, and a flurry of activity from the new administra...
No, Trump didn’t make $50 billion from his memecoin
20 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Journalists’ flawed math and ignorance of crypto markets turn tokens into fake fortunes. Originally published on January 20, 2025.
Issue 74 – Stop asking me questions like “where does the yield come from”
18 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Regulators and lawmakers eagerly prepare to abdicate any last traces of interest in the wellbeing of everyday Americans as they suck up to the powerfu...
Issue 73 – Degen volunteer fire brigade
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Terra founder Do Kwon is finally extradited, the CFPB proposes crypto consumer protections, and Polymarket reaches new lows. Originally published on J...
Elon Musk and the right’s war on Wikipedia
02 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The world's richest man has joined a growing chorus of right-wing voices attacking Wikipedia as part of an intensifying campaign against free and open...
Not just one bad apple: FTX's practices were business as usual in crypto
31 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Adversary cases from the FTX collapse further expose how crypto companies do business: with secret acquisitions of “grey area” businesses, buying ...
Issue 72 – A seat at the table
24 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The SEC is still busy even though it may soon be undermined, crypto industry capture of government continues to worsen, and several media outlets botc...
Issue 71 – (Crypto) banks are not your friends
05 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Celsius’ Alex Mashinsky pleads guilty to fraud, some Tornado Cash sanctions are overturned, and billionaires complain about “debanking”. Origina...
The Cryptocurrency Industry's Unprecedented Election Spending
22 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The cryptocurrency industry spent almost $200 million to influence the outcomes of the 2024 United States elections. This unprecedented degree of corp...
Issue 70 – The Cryptocurrency States of America
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Crypto’s efforts to buy the 2024 elections paid off, and we’re in for a bumpy ride. Originally posted on November 15, 2024.
Wind the clock
08 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A message to those asking “what do I do now?” Originally published on November 8, 2024.
Issue 69 – Nice
02 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Coinbase threatens me that continuing to report on their activities would be “.... unwise”. Also, election spending hits a fever pitch, with sever...
I am my own legal department: the promise and peril of “just go independent”
26 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Independent publishing is one important facet of the media ecosystem, and while I love it, I know it is not the path for everyone. Originally publishe...
Guilty or coerced? Ryan Salame’s last interviews before prison
21 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Unpacking my conversation with FTX executive Ryan Salame, where we discussed his claims that he’s innocent of the charges for which he’s now servi...
Issue 68 – Opportunity agenda
17 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Harris shouts out crypto in her “Opportunity Agenda for Black Men”, one crypto exec leaves prison as another enters, and Stand With Crypto bets on...
Fighting for our web
07 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this year, I gave a talk at the XOXO festival in Portland, Oregon about the very important fight for our web, and how we can all play a part i...
Caroline Ellison: A woman with agency or a helpless pawn?
02 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why did the former Alameda Research CEO receive only two years imprisonment for her role in the FTX collapse? Originally published on October 2, 2024.
POSSE: Reclaiming social media in a fragmented world
27 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A simple technique offers the best of both worlds: total control over your own work, while still maintaining a presence on third-party platforms. Orig...
Issue 67 – Bug out bitcoin
24 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Crypto resurfaces on the campaign trail and the FTX fallout continues to unfold. Also, merch! Originally published on September 23, 2024.
Issue 66 – Pretensions to relevance
17 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
FTX fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried says he wants a do-over, and some more ill-received blockchain games suggest “GameFi” has an uncertain future. Or...
Big publishers think libraries are the enemy
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The recent Second Circuit decision in Hachette v. Internet Archive is only the latest battle in the war on libraries and the freedom to read. Original...
Issue 65 – World Liberty Fiasco
06 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Even the most pro-Trump crypto faithful think Trump’s new crypto scheme is a terrible idea. Also, an FTX crypto executive earns some benefit of the ...
Polling: Are Democratic voters really “increasingly gravitating towards crypto”?
30 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Paradigm has polled some Democratic voters about crypto and released a summary of their results. How does it stack up to other industry polls, which a...
Issue 64 – Pointing its arsenal at our friends
17 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As parts of the crypto industry scramble to court the Harris administration with events like “Crypto4Harris”, others insist it is Harris who must ...
Sexism in Bitcoin: an interview with Lyn Alden
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I'm joined by investment strategist and bitcoiner Lyn Alden to continue an earlier conversation about sexism in the bitcoin world.Links we discuss in ...
Issue 63 – RobConf 2024
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Coinbase responds to campaign finance violation allegations, Trump panders to bitcoiners, and I talk about my chat with Lyn Alden about sexism in bitc...
Coinbase appears to have violated campaign finance laws with a $25 million super PAC donation
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Actively involved in contract negotiations with a federal government agency, Coinbase was likely prohibited from making its $25 million contribution t...
When did cryptocurrency policy become a voter issue?
29 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I don’t believe that it has. In addition to all the spending, the cryptocurrency industry has been working overtime to sell a story: that there is a...
Issue 62 – Grassroots
24 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Coinbase’s Stand With Crypto Alliance fudges the numbers, a (former) crypto industry CEO has a meltdown, and another exchange suffers a nine-figure ...
Follow the Crypto
12 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
FollowTheCrypto.org: A new project to track cryptocurrency industry spending to influence 2024 elections in the United States. Originally published on...
Issue 61 – Soft war by the enemy
05 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How will recent Supreme Court decisions affect the crypto world? Also, more absurdity from the crypto lobby, and some new regulatory actions. Original...
Issue 60 – Raging in favor of the machine
24 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The crypto industry jumps on the Trump train. Originally published on June 24, 2024.
Issue 59 – Hot damn, this is going to get interesting quickly
07 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Are US legislators warming to crypto? The SEC approves Ethereum ETPs, and a crypto bill gets through the House. Originally published on June 7, 2024.
Cryptocurrency companies have raised over $115 million to influence US elections this cycle, and they’re just getting started
30 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As election season kicks into high gear, we need to watch how cryptocurrency companies are influencing US politics. Originally published on May 30, 20...
Privacy, human rights, and Tornado Cash
23 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I am more worried about privacy than crypto crime. Originally published on May 23, 2024.
Issue 58 – Threats to the stability and integrity of Ethereum
19 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Justice Department worries about the stability of Ethereum, DCG tries to bilk their subsidiary's creditors, and Biden threatens a crypto veto. Ori...
Issue 57 - I take deep breath and I get real high
08 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Changpeng Zhao's sentencing, FOIA requests reveal past FBI investigations into Coinbase, and the SEC is on a Wells notice bender. Originally published...
We can have a different web
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Many yearn for the "good old days" of the web. We could have those good old days back — or something even better — and if anything, it would be ea...
Issue 56 – What are you gonna do, arrest me?
25 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Binance CEO's sentencing draws near, and prosecutors have been busy chasing down other crypto criminals. Also, lawmakers take another stab at stab...
AI isnt useless. But is it worth it?
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
AI can be kind of useful, but I'm not sure that a "kind of useful" tool justifies the harm. Originally published on April 17, 2024.
Issue 55 – Halving a bad time
13 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The bitcoin "halving" looms, and that may not be as good news as coiners hope. Also, Terra committed fraud and Uniswap got a Wells notice. Originally ...
Issue 54 – Cases continue
02 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Crypto-related litigation is in full swing, as the Terra civil fraud trial has kicked off and two other cases against crypto companies have survived m...
25 years for Sam Bankman-Fried
29 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"The judgment has to adequately reflect the seriousness of the crime, and this was a very serious crime." Originally published on March 28, 2024.
Sam Bankman-Fried wants only six years for his "victimless" crime
26 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Bankman-Fried maintains that his crimes were victimless and resulted in zero losses, and therefore warrant only six years of imprisonment. Prosecu...
Issue 53 – Choose rich
13 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Euphoria has risen along with crypto prices, but nothing has changed from the last bubble. Originally published on March 13, 2024.
Issue 52 – I am Sam's low-level culpability
29 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bitcoin prices are spiking. Are we in for another round of crypto mania? Also, Sam Bankman-Fried doesn't want to go to jail for 100 years. Originally ...
Issue 51 – It's quiet... too quiet
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's been a quiet few weeks in the world of crypto disasters... too quiet. Originally published on February 14, 2024.
We need to talk about digital ownership
11 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"Ownership" means ten different things to ten different people. Let's talk about what we actually want. Originally published on February 11, 2024.
Review: Chris Dixon's Read Write Own
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Prominent crypto venture capitalist Chris Dixon provides an unconvincing bible for blockchain solutionists. Originally published on February 7, 2024.
Issue 50 – Bitcoin busts
02 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Governments seize huge quantities of bitcoin, and a few people seem to be yearning for the days of peak crypto mania. Originally published on February...