Unchained

Not Just FTX: One Skeptic’s Take on Why Crypto Is a Scam - Ep. 446

Jan 24, 2023

James Block, a crypto skeptic and author of Dirty Bubble Media, shares his critical views on the cryptocurrency landscape. He discusses his early interest in Tether and why he thinks many crypto projects resemble Ponzi schemes. Block delves into the questionable legitimacy of platforms like Coinbase and highlights the dubious connections between FTX and Celsius. He also argues that the intrinsic value of Bitcoin is subjective and warns about the regulatory challenges facing stablecoins. His insights draw parallels between financial fraud throughout history, emphasizing the need for accountability in the crypto space.

01:06:28

Creator website

Episode guests

James Block

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

2min

Navigating the Crypto Landscape

8min

Skepticism in the Crypto Landscape

17min

The Dark Side of Blockchain: Privacy Concerns and Financial Fraud

6min

Unraveling Financial Entanglements in Crypto

20min

Examining Risk Management Failures and Token Ethics in Crypto

3min

Binance vs. OneCoin: A Cautionary Tale

7min

James Block, crypto skeptic and author of the Dirty Bubble Media newsletter, rose to prominence with a timely post predicting FTX’s insolvency. The blogger, a doctor by day, explains why he sees crypto as an unregulated morass of would-be securities and outright “Ponzi schemes.” From an early interest in Tether to connecting the dots on Celsius, Block explains why he does what he does and why almost all of crypto is just “regulatory arbitrage.”

Show highlights:

how James got into crypto and why he started writing about the space
why James chose "Dirty Bubble Media" for the name of his publication
the problems with the legitimacy of crypto projects
the reasons to be bearish on Coinbase
why the question of whether Bitcoin has intrinsic value is highly subjective
whether every token in crypto is a scam and whether regulations will hit stablecoin issuers hard
how FTX used tokens to create fictitious value worth billions of dollars
why Celsius and FTX were closely linked, and the difference between both cases
ties James found between FTX's European subsidiary and a company doing binary options, an industry characterized by fraud
how he believes financial fraud is similar throughout history — it doesn't repeat, but it rhymes
James’s concerns around Signature Bank and its "questionable tactics"
why Genesis and DCG got into trouble and how James thinks the situation will likely play out
whether exchange tokens are securities and why he believes they have very little value
why he says BNB resembles OneCoin's pyramid scheme
James's contrarian take on the Avi Eisenberg case