A brief collection of the stories and words I’m most proud of.
I’ve recently launched a Telegram channel about books with a dear friend, Kristina Lucrezia Corner. You can find us — The Book Swarm — right here. We’re just two girls trying to read every book in the world — and then tell you about each and every one of them.
Dear Crypto: Read a Book Already
There are very few people in the world who, on their deathbeds, confess in a rattling last gasp that they wish that they had read less and worked more (with the exception of Jack Donaghy in 30 Rock, a satire). To even frame the idea of reading for pleasure — or as it has been put, a Book Club major — as something bad or good for your work life is entirely wrong. The framework itself is wrong.
Don’t let the world convince you that reading is out of style.
I’m a Crypto Journalist, Just Please Don’t Tell Anyone
Biking home from my yoga studio in Brooklyn, I pass by the same billboard for a dating app every week: “If he invests in crypto, invest in yourself.”
In my (current) favorite song of the summer, Lana Del Rey also manages to poke fun at me though my headphones: “You name your babe Lilac Heaven/After your iPhone 11/”Crypto forever,” screams your stupid boyfriend/ Fuck you, Kevin.”
Liking crypto right now makes you a bit of a joke to the Real World.
So what are you…if you actually work in crypto?
Worldcoin Hackable by Cutting Off Someone’s Face, Draping It Over Your Own
What if a criminal mastermind decided to cut out someone’s eyes, and use them to steal their identity?
The Orb engineer told me that it wouldn’t work. This Orb needs to see alive, blinking eyes, and a human face that is real attached to them. A picture of someone’s eyes won’t scan, robot eyes won’t scan, canine eyes won’t scan.
But then I got him.
If you cut off someone’s face, including gouging out their eyes, and then you draped it all over your own face, could you register as them with a Worldcoin scanner and steal their identity?
Yes.
How Tyler Winklevoss Converted His Biographer Into a Bitcoin Believer
I don’t normally write the stories here at Cointelegraph — I edit them. But when I got an email from a publicist asking if I was interested in speaking with Ben Mezrich, author of “Bitcoin Billionaires,” and oh, did I want the Winklevoss twins to jump in on the interview? I couldn’t say no.
Confessions of a World Cup Jailbird
As we approached the security check at the stadium, my friend slipped “my” FAN ID around my neck and handed me “my” ticket. “I’m going to be ‘Nastya’ now?” I asked, looking down at a picture of a blue-eyed, brown-haired girl. (I do actually have blue eyes, but unfortunately not brown hair.) “Sure, sure,” my distracted friend said. “I can’t wait to get inside and paint my face.”
Why Russian Crypto Companies Hide Their Identity
I looked at her nametag but neither her name, which was decidedly Slavic, nor the small crypto company where she worked, sounded even remotely familiar. “I’m sorry, but...” I said.“Oh, you knew me before by my Western name,” she said, giving me a name that was indeed familiar. I had worked with her online, on a big piece I had done over a period of months. I had always believed, however, that her crypto startup was Israeli.
‘Don’t Vote McAfee’: A Presidential ‘Un-Hopeful’ Talks Privacy and Why the President Is Powerless
John McAfee is not as hard to find as you might think, after self-reportedly having been in hiding for the past seven months. Granted, he is in hiding from various governments for a variety of reasons (ranging from tax evasion to an alleged desire by the U.S. government to “shut me up,” in his words), and not from the media. In fact, according to his presidential campaign website, “contact media outlets and personalities” is in the 10 suggestions for McAfee supporters.
‘Crypto Dad’ J. Christopher Giancarlo on the Future of the Digital Dollar
J. Christopher Giancarlo was an unlikely candidate to become the “dad” of the crypto revolution. Having worked in traditional finance for around 30 years — including as the Commissioner for Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) — it was a chance conversation about Bitcoin between his children, nieces and nephews that brought Giancarlo into the crypto spotlight.
Rex Stout Does Not Believe in Russia: Exporting the Detective Novel
Rex Stout was a titan of twentieth-century American detective fiction. His genius hero Nero Wolfe, weighing in at one-seventh of a ton, was featured in more than 70 novels and novellas with his wise-cracking hard-boiled assistant and amanuensis Archie Goodwin. Besides being a great story teller, however, Stout was a staunch left-wing anti-Communist, a political position that found its way into Stout's plots (and Nero Wolfe's dialogue). So it is surprising that the Wolfe novels were published—and popular—in the Soviet Union.