Molly White - Citation Needed

A spoon lifting a spoonful of applesauce from a glass bowl

Crypto recaps

Issue 108 – In a word, applesauce

Firms close up shop amid a continued crypto winter, a Trump venture ditches its crypto plans, and the Clarity Act fails to reach a vote before August recess

John Oliver speaking on Last Week Tonight, gesturing to an overlay of my web of the Trump family’s crypto businesses.

Mapping Trump’s crypto empire on Last Week Tonight

A new Citation Needed data project maps the Trump family’s web of cryptocurrency ventures, which have been generating billions in income for the president.

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) speaks at a podium labeled with “Stop Trump’s Crypto Corruption”. Behind him stands Senator Van Hollen (D-MD) and a group of other people.

Crypto recaps

Issue 107 – An unserious offer

The crypto industry has spent $200 million to get a bill too corrupt for Democrats to pass and a president too corrupt to sign anything that might meaningfully limit his grift.

An image of Trump dancing with both fists in the air, overlaid over the first page of Trump’s 2025 disclosure.

Trump’s $1.4 billion crypto disclosure

The White House insists there’s no conflict of interest as Trump reports $1.4 billion in income from an industry he’s deregulated.

The White House UFC octagon pictured from the top down, showing the logos on the floor of the ring from companies including Crypto.com, Polymarket, and Exodus Wallet.

Crypto recaps

Issue 106 – A tremendous birthday present

The crypto industry spent the spring buying primaries, an octagon at the White House, and — they hope — a market-structure bill by the Fourth of July.

A photograph of the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse in New York, taken from below and looking up

Second Circuit rejects Sam Bankman-Fried’s appeal

The Second Circuit upholds Bankman-Fried’s conviction and 25-year sentence, leaving few remaining options for the disgraced crypto executive

A photo of Tiffany Muller on a blue background, with the title “The fight to get big money out of politics with Tiffany Muller, President, End Citizens United”

End Citizens United’s Tiffany Muller on fighting big money in politics

Tiffany Muller talks to me about what Citizens United enabled, how crypto and AI fit into the bigger picture of money in politics, and what it would actually take to fix this broken system.

Crypto lobby

I’m launching Tech Influence Watch as AI follows crypto into politics

Most voters don’t know that crypto and AI companies have spent more than $400 million this cycle to buy Congress. Let’s make that spending visible.

Trump, photographed from behind, steps towards a man reaching out to shake his hand from behind a cordon. A crowd of other attendees are mostly taking photos with their cell phones.

Crypto recaps

Issue 105 – The new boogeyman

A crypto billionaire who escaped fraud allegations after investing hundreds of millions of dollars into the Trump family’s crypto projects is now accusing them of fraud

President Trump’s $TRUMP memecoin is preparing to launch a “Coin Club” membership scheme

The website promises "elite and extraordinary experiences" as part of the newest scheme to revive a token that’s down 97% from its peak and still falling.

Bankman-Fried’s motion for a new trial, overlaid with a red “denied” stamp

The FTX Files

No new trial for Sam Bankman-Fried

The former CEO of FTX has essentially no realistic avenues left to avoid his 25-year prison sentence

Zak Folkman, Eric Trump, and Zachary Witkoff speak onstage at a conference. Superimposed is the price chart for WLFI, which has dramatically gone down.

Crypto recaps

Issue 104 – World Tyranny Financial

As the Trump family’s crypto dealings raise more alarms, crypto enforcement is falling to new lows

Crypto lobby

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s old firm pumps $10 million into super PAC led by Tether executive

Cantor Fitzgerald, the Lutnick-tied financial services firm that owns a stake in and custodies reserves for the stablecoin issuer, is bankrolling a super PAC led by a Tether executive.

A podcasting microphone with a pop filter and shock mount, mounted on a microphone arm

Crypto recaps

Issue 103 – The President’s Council of Podcasters

Coinbase is accused of holding the cryptocurrency industry hostage over stablecoin rewards, prediction markets face an onslaught of opposition, and a Stand With Crypto poll can’t even get enthusiasm from its own activists

Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman exit the courtroom during Sam Bankman-Fried’s 2023 trial

The FTX Files

Sam Bankman-Fried’s helicopter parents crash into federal court

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 him — prompting a judge to demand he swear under oath who wrote them.

Justin Sun displays his Trump Watch at the first memecoin dinner, where he stands in front of two American flags

Crypto recaps

Issue 102 – The public will pay

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 on them, and crypto super PACs dump millions into Tuesday’s primaries in Illinois.