Zeke Faux's Crypto Adventures and His Relationship With Former FTX CEO SBF

Should Sam Bankman Fried have just performed a rug pull? Why is it so hard to get details into USDT issuer Tether?

Sep 20, 2023

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ABOUT

Zeke Faux, author of 'Number Go Up,' shares his findings after making a deep dive into the world of crypto. From skepticism to a full-blown investigation, Faux recounts his journey that led him to the heart of crypto, meeting some of the most eccentric characters in the industry. As a Bloomberg investigative reporter, Faux brings a critical eye to the crypto sphere, unearthing the bizarre, the risky, and the downright astonishing facets of what the crypto community calls a financial revolution.

Show highlights |

What the book 'Number Go Up' is about?
Zeke's background as an investigative reporter for Bloomberg.
Whether Zeke is skeptical about crypto.
Why Zeke thought it was a big deal to investigate Tether, the issuer of USDT.
Whether he had a conclusion on the fact that he couldn't find anything big about Tether.
Why Zeke says that Sam Bankman-Fried had a sloppy approach to risk management
Why does Zeke believe that SBF did not give so much money to charity even though he's an effective altruist?
Wow projects like STEPN and Axie Infinity are 'clearly not the future of finance,' according to Zeke
How SBF had such an open relationship with the media that helped him when the FTX collapse happened
What Zeke found out investigating pig butchering scams in Cambodia
How Zeke’s attempt to buy a Mutant Ape to get into an Ape Fest in New York City taught him about crypto’s bad user experience

Thank you to our sponsors!

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Guest |

Zeke Faux, author of ‘Number Go Up’

Bloomberg: 11 Hours With Sam Bankman-Fried: Inside the Bahamian Penthouse After FTX’s Fall

Links |

Tether - Unchained:

Is Tether a Fraud? Its Bank Says It's Not

Tether, the Multibillion-Dollar Stablecoin at the Heart of the Crypto Ecosystem

Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX - Unchained:

Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

SBF Behind Bars: Why Revoked Bail Is a Big Deal for Crypto’s Biggest Trial

Pig butchering scams - Unchained:

How This Prosecutor Is Spearheading the Fight Against Crypto ‘Pig Butchering’ Scams

Crypto in developing countries

Bitcoin in El Salvador: Why Would Cypherpunks Support Government-Mandated Bitcoin Adoption?

Anita Posch on Why ‘Bitcoin Is a Tool for Freedom’ – Especially in Africa

Unchained Podcast is Produced by Laura Shin Media, LLC. Distributed by CoinDesk. Senior Producer is Michele Musso and Executive Producer is Jared Schwartz.

HOST

Laura Shin

Laura Shin is a crypto journalist, host of the Unchained podcast, and author of “The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze” (Public Affairs, 2022). Formerly a senior editor at Forbes, she was the first mainstream journalist to cover crypto full-time, and her podcasts and videos have had more than 15 million downloads and views. Shin has spoken about cryptocurrency at places such as TEDx San Francisco, the International Monetary Fund, Singularity University and the Oslo Freedom Forum.

She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Honors from Stanford University and has a master of arts from Columbia University’s School of Journalism. She lives in New York City.