Month: June 2024

Nathaniel Popper, author of The Trolls of Wall Street, talks about how Wall Street Bets and memecoins reflect broader societal changes, including the shifting status of men.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Nathaniel Popper just published his latest book, "The Trolls of Wall Street," covering the Wall Street Bets phenomenon. Funnily enough, his book comes at a time when there are striking similarities with the current memecoin mania in crypto. 

In this episode, Popper explores the rise of online investing communities like Wall Street Bets and their reflection of broader societal changes, particularly among young men. 

He also touches on the parallels between the trolling culture of these communities and the rise of figures like Donald Trump, and delves into the hidden dangers and psychological influences of memes in modern investing.

Show highlights:

• The rise of online money communities and the shift towards investing based on ideas rather than traditional financial fundamentals
• How the changing roles of young men in society have influenced the growth of crypto and online financial communities
• How Robinhood's design choices changed retail investing, sparking FOMO and controversy by making trading as easy as a swipe
• The hidden dangers of memes in modern investing, and how they balance fostering community with driving speculation
• Why Trump's ties to the crypto community highlight the mix of serious intent and trolling

Visit Unchained for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

Thank you to our sponsors!

• iTrustCapital
• Polkadot

Guest

• Nathaniel Popper, author of The Trolls of Wall Street

Links

Previous coverage of Unchained on memecoins:

• Unchained: Why Memecoins Have Been 2024's Most Profitable Crypto Trade: Ansem and Kelxyz - Ep. 641
• BRETT Becomes First Memecoin on Base to Reach $1 Billion in Market Cap
• DWF Labs to Invest in Memecoins, Onchain Data Reveals LADYS Transactions
• Celebrity Tokens Continue to Bleed With Some Memecoin Traders Losing Six-Figures

The book:

• Blockworks: What do memecoins and meme stocks have in common?: A review of ‘The Trolls of Wall Street’
• Fortune: Q&A with the author of ‘The Trolls of Wall Street’: Gambling, conspiracies, and the return of Roaring Kitty, 

Meme culture

• WSJ: 
• Meme Stocks Are Back, but Fund Investors Moved On
• Meet the ‘Degen’ Traders Fueling the Latest Meme-Stock Mania
• CoinDesk: In Defense of Meme Coins
• What else could memecoins be? By Vitalik Buterin

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Unchained Podcast is Produced by Laura Shin Media, LLC.  Distributed by CoinDesk. Senior Producer is Michele Musso and Executive Producer is Jared Schwartz. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Messari’s Ryan Selkis from Bitcoin to crypto policy.

Now Available | 

Michael Casey’s New Book with Frank H. McCourt, their forthcoming book:  Our Biggest Fight: Reclaiming Liberty, Humanity, and Dignity in the Digital Age

In this episode of  "Money Reimagined," host  Michael Casey and  Sheila Warren

interview Ryan Selkis, CEO of Messari, about his journey in the crypto industry and his views on crypto policy and politics. They discuss Ryan's early days in Bitcoin, his role in breaking the Mt. Gox story, and his decision to focus on crypto policy. Selkis explains his belief that a pro-crypto US government would benefit the industry and argues that voting for Trump is the way to achieve this. At the same time, Warren emphasizes the importance of bipartisan engagement and working with Congress. 

The conversation covers various topics related to politics, policy, and the role of cryptocurrency.

Chapters | 

00:00 Introduction and Background

01:24 Early Days in Crypto

08:44 Ryan Selkis: A Crypto Personality

09:13 Crypto Policy and Politics

30:46 The Role of Political Pressure in Cryptocurrency Legislation

36:04 Crypto as a Defense Against AI and Protection of Individual Rights

38:31 The Importance of Small Government Principles in Crypto

40:47 The Impact of Social Media Polarization on Politics

Links | 

Messari 

Crypto Council for Innovation 

CoinDesk.com

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Money Reimagined has been produced and edited by senior producer Michele Musso and our executive producer is Jared Schwartz. Our theme song is “The News Tonight ” by Shimmer. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nigeria, a nation once notorious for military rule, is marking 25 years of democracy, at a time when several of its West African neighbours have had coups in recent years. But as many Nigerians struggle to earn enough to live on, amid an economic crisis and dramatically rising prices, some appear to be very unhappy with how they are being governed. So, is democracy working in Nigeria?

Also, why are young people being targeted to smoke e-cigarettes?

And we'll learn more about the social media influencer from Kenya, spreading disinformation about climate change.

Presenter:Charles Gitonga Technical Producer:Nick Randell Producers: Joseph Keen, Rob Wilson, Bella Hassan and Patricia Whitehorne Senior Producer: Paul Bakibinga Editors: Alice Muthengi and Andre Lombard

We brought on an energy lawyer and Bitcoin mining founder Justin Ballard to get to the bottom of the flare gas questions with Bitcoin mining.

Follow along on your favorite podcast player of choice by clicking here.

Ever wonder if this flare gas thing with Bitcoin mining is real? Can it scale to solve real-world climate issues? And how would someone go about making a project like that in the first place?

Justin Ballard, General Counsel at Adakon Energy & Founding Partner at Firm 21, shares insights on Bitcoin mining's legal landscape, energy deals, flare gas mining, and the industry's future. He discusses the challenges and opportunities in navigating this space, drawing parallels to the oil and gas industry.

Chapter Markers:

00:00 Start

04:37 Justin's background

08:37 Mining legal structures

15:41 Energy deal examples

18:55 Flare gas reality check

23:30 Legal gas mining deals

30:00 Learnings big/small operations

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Published twice weekly, "The Mining Pod" interviews the best builders and operators in the Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining landscape. Subscribe to get notifications when we publish interviews on Tuesday and a news show on Friday! 

👉 Check out Bitcoin Season 2 and The Gwart Show.

👉 Watch our newest documentary, The Big Empty!

Follow our host on Twitter, @wsfoxley.

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Thank you to our sponsor, CleanSpark, America’s Bitcoin miner! And thank you to Foreman Mining, Master Your Mining!

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"The Mining Pod" is produced by Sunnyside Honey LLC with Senior Producer, Damien Somerset.  Distributed by CoinDesk with Senior Producer Michele Musso and Executive Producer Jared Schwartz.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.