“What a year,” said a Fortune Crypto team member—at least once a week.
Every month sees a new crisis Hollywood prepares for in the volatile industry, from the $625 million hack of the controversial play-to-ear. Infinite Axie in March to the larger-than-life huckster Do Kwon’s TerraUSD nosedive in May to the stunning collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX in November.
Needless to say, the existential threat has led to some very good journalism (and in some cases, launched by reporting).
Although readers, it should be turned on fortune for all business and crypto, we have long appreciated Bloomberg Businessweek annual Jealousy List and, well, got a bit jealous. So here we go, highlighting some of the best stories we’ve read in 2022 — crypto and non-crypto:
New York Magazine: The Crypto Geniuses Who Vaper Trillion Dollars
By Jen Wieczner
In this long-form article, Jen Wieczner reveals the unraveling of hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, one of the biggest crypto collapses of the year. Through a series of exciting examples that show the arrogance of founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, including the purchase of a $50 million yacht called Wow, that’s a lot, Wieczner explains how one of the most notable crypto hedge funds went belly up. Filled with sources and personal accounts, Wieczner leaves no stone unturned and leaves no journalist without envy.
—Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, journalist
Bloomberg: Bad FTX Balance Sheet
By Matt Levine
It is almost impossible to choose just one Matt Levine column on any topic, let alone FTX, but this one, at over 5,000 words—plus more words about Elon Musk and Twitter and a few other things—may be the single best—and certainly the most complete—takedown of FTX and SBF .
—Justin Doom, editor
Financial Times: A brief history of crypto auditing
By Bryce Elder
This Financial Times story, which is suspected by a large part of the crypto world, checked the CEO of Binance Changpeng Zhao time in 2014 in the Beijing-based exchange OKCoin, which issued one of the first “proof-of-reserve” audits. The piece offers new insights into the careers of the most important figures in crypto today, and also shows how the industry has always struggled to produce financial documents that meet the strictures of traditional accounting.
— Jeff John Roberts, editor
Reuters: How crypto giant Binance became a hub for hackers, fraudsters and drug dealers
By Angus Berwick and Tom Wilson
After a tweet from Changpeng Zhao triggered the collapse of FTT—and the empire of Sam Bankman-Fried—all eyes have been on Binance and CZ, which has taken the crown of undisputed crypto kingpin. As outlets hunt for details about the secretive company, Reuters has produced in-depth reports for months, including details about government investigations and internal affairs. This piece from June provides an overview of the exchange’s shady activities, but I recommend reading the reporter’s next work, especially post-FTX.
—Leo Schwartz, journalist
Rest of the World: He built a Minecraft crypto empire. Then it all fell apart
By Neirin Gray Desai
Neirin Gray Desai goes deep into what happened when, overnight, Microsoft and Mojang banned NFTs from Minecraft. As Desai details, the growing economy of NFT-enabled servers like Critterz and NFT Worlds has emerged in one of the most popular games in the world so that people buy and sell virtual commodities like wool and land, earning some players real income up to the ban. . The clever piece demonstrates how NFTs have given people a way to earn money playing games even though the technology is still not fully accepted in the traditional gaming industry.
—Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, journalist
Bloomberg: 11 Hours With Sam Bankman-Fried: Inside the Bahamian Penthouse After the Fall of FTX
By Zeke Faux
Many great stories have been written about the SBF’s exploits in the Bahamas, but this one really stands out because of an exchange between Bloomberg News reporters. Zeke Faux and SBF:
“You don’t have the $8 billion you think you have.”
“It’s true. yes already.”
“You’re one of the $8 billion?”
“Wrong account.”
—Justin Doom, editor
Today in Tab: Sam Bankman-Held-Awaiting-Extradition
By Rusty Foster
Rusty Foster is a hilarious genius. stop. Subscribe to the newsletter to read beautiful sentences like these that describe SBF as “…just a starry-eyed boy of thirty summers, with dreams as big as the great outdoors and a promising life ahead of him…”
—Justin Doom, editor
WIRED: Meet the Lobbyist Next Door
By Benjamin Wofford
WIRED’s account of the burgeoning world of influencer-lobbyists built by Trump’s former social media director is an open window into a new style that feels like Instagram and Twitter on steroids. We’re learning that today’s political and social media economy requires recruiting everyone from doctors to physical trainers to share subtle partisan messages with dedicated fan communities.
— Jeff John Roberts, editor
New York Times: How McKinsey Owned an Addictive Business
By Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe
Top consulting firm McKinsey has long been a pillar of American capitalism, but its secretive nature means the public rarely gets a peak into elite operations. Investigative journalists Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe secured unprecedented access to the company through documents and interviews with employees, producing reports on McKinsey’s influence on everything from opioids to baseball sabermetrics. This article is a good example of what was compiled in the journalist’s 2022 book “When McKinsey Comes to Town.”
—Leo Schwartz, journalist
New York Times Magazine: This is not the California I Married To
By Elizabeth Weil
Elizabeth Weil New York Times Magazine A piece on the devastating California wildfires—and accompanying photos—will haunt your dreams. Humans have failed miserably to prevent or even manage fires, and it’s time for a new mindset on how to live alongside them. “We must stop thinking that a brave rescuer in a red shirt or a fire-resistant yellow shirt must save us from the fire,” Weil wrote. “We don’t fight hurricanes. We don’t fight tornadoes. No one thinks there will be an armed defense against earthquakes or floods. Instead, we close our houses to our foundations. We raise our houses on stilts. Now we, Californians of the Anthropocene , need to grow up, take responsibility and stop expecting to be saved.
—Justin Doom, editor
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