From the frontlines of Web3 fraud

Want to know what happens when fraud is a core component of your business model?

Want to know how a business idea described as an “economic fairytale” could be valued at $300m?

Want to know how an unknown cryptocurrency exchange could end up with a $1bn a year marketing budget, rivalling that of Microsoft?

Want to know how easy it is to corrupt auditors and journalists with crypto tokens?

All this is in Crypto Confidential, a new book by Jake Donoghue that’s coming out in August 2024.

I read a review copy, really enjoyed it and have invited Jake to talk to New Money Review podcast listeners.

Donoghue describes his book as “a record of the sheer extravagance, excess and absurdity I bore witness to on a daily basis”.

In the podcast we discuss:

• How an unviable betting start-up could be worth $300m on its first day of trading
• Why its founders switched focus from gambling to marketing
• Duplicitous tactics, shilling, pumping and dumping in crypto
• The confluence of politics and cryptocurrency
• Why did the cryptocurrency markets recover after the 2022 FTX/Terra/Luna frauds?
• From bitcoin to ICOs, NFTs and memecoins: how crypto has lost touch with its origins
• How influencer crypto marketing hit its peak in 2022
• When Bybit’s reported $1bn a year marketing budget rivalled Microsoft’s
• The innovation of crypto fundraising
• Why crypto journalism is an oxymoron
• Tether and sanctions evasion
• Why crypto projects are jumping onto the AI bandwagon
• What next for cryptocurrency?