Bitcoin
A farewell for now — and some thoughts on the state of cryptocurrencies
Happy Friday. It’s been almost two years since we relaunched the Fortune Crypto newsletter, giving it a new name and switching to a daily format. And two years have passed. Our daily chronicles began with the final cry of a previous crypto bubble, which turned into a recession and then a full-blown catastrophe with the industry’s top names – Celsius, BlockFi, FTXThree Arrows—went into bankruptcy and scandal.
In late 2022, I was tempted to change the name of the newsletter to Fortune Crime, as those who had once been hailed as visionaries were exposed as crooks and con artists and sent to prison. The high (or perhaps low) point of this era was the Sam Bankman-Fried trial, so ably covered by Leo and Ben Weiss. My favorite memory of this period was being criticized by a struggling PR firm who objected to my calling out the Bankman-Fried clan.”negligible” and insisting that they are “really nice people.” At least someone thinks so.
By mid-2023, the industry was in the throes of crypto winter, as even many longtime believers began to quietly ask whether it was time to call it quits on this whole blockchain-for-AI thing. And then, lo and behold, everything changed again. As it has done three times in the past, the crypto industry boomed again and became richer than ever, fueled by an influx of capital from Wall Street and the launch of Bitcoin ETFs. Somewhere along the way, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and other crypto OGs who long shunned the ways of Washington, D.C., learned to play their game and are now a fearsome political force.
It was quite a trip. Through it all, I’ve maintained the same love for crypto as when I first encountered it in Manhattan’s Union Square Park in 2013, when the best way to get Bitcoin was to buy it at open-air markets. I’m grateful as ever for the technological ingenuity, over-the-top meme culture, and most of all, the wild cast of characters the industry continues to spawn. Whatever you think about crypto, it’s a lot more fun to cover than conventional sectors like pharmaceuticals or insurance.
It was also a pleasure for Leo and I to have such an intelligent collection of readers, many of whom took the time to write to us with praise, suggestions and, yes, the odd torrent of profane abuse. We wouldn’t do it any other way. The thing about daily newsletters, though, is that they’re a heavy commitment—requiring someone to come up with a new angle every day and spend many nights scrambling for ideas. To that end, we’re closing the newsletter for now to recharge and do more original reporting on the biggest stories in crypto. Thanks everyone for reading. Get in touch anytime with tips and ideas from mid-July — after I get back from a much-needed vacation.
The story continues
Jeff John Roberts
jeff.roberts@fortune.com
@jeffjohnroberts
This story was originally featured in Fortune.com