…and ask whether they were also shilling NFTs a few years back

Must reference be laden, or will unladen references also be accepted?

I’m excited to be a speaker at @NCRC’s 2026 #JustEconomy Conference on April 15. I will be speaking about the extractive crypto industry - if you're interested, you can register here: www.ncrc.org/conference

Yeah, when people tell me “we need to teach them how to use chatbots” I ask them what precisely is the skill involved that isn’t critical thinking? The chat interface is *specifically* designed for fluency. Imagine if we had invented courses to teach using touchscreens when they came out.

If you somehow don't have enough to worry about and are looking for something to add to the list, I wrote a paper about why bank regulation isn't up to the task of dealing with new operational risks

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

In future chapters, you’ll start to notice a very repetitive pattern. First, develop a business model that centers a particular technology. Tell some stories about how that technology will solve a legitimate problem (preferably using the words “democratize” and “disrupt”). Bend or break some laws with that business model, and profit from not complying with the law. Get away with bending or breaking the law, and with harming people along the way, because lawmakers and regulators are too timid to stop “innovation.” Get big enough that you can convince lawmakers and regulators to change the law so that you never have to comply with it and those who are harmed have no recourse – because you haven’t actually solved the problem, and your business model isn’t good enough to survive if you have to follow the same rules as everyone else. Bonus points if the law is changed in a way that guarantees you a monopoly or oligopoly position. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Often, regulatory arbitrage IS the ballgame.

fintechdystopia.com

"slick technological interfaces have put lipstick on the payday lending pig"

fintechdystopia.com/chapters/cha...

I have some thoughts: limits on limited liability, banning dual class stock structures, preventing pension funds (& now 401k plans) from investing in VC funds, precautionary regulation of new tech (all amid taxes for the wealthy and campaign finance reform)

fintechdystopia.com/chapters/cha...

Coinbase is the latest crypto company to receive approval from
the Trump administration to obtain a (limited) bank charter.

I’m just saying you’re lucky to have learned your navigation skills in a time before smartphones, and if people grow up relying on AI, just think of all the skills they’ll never develop.

Yes, but you have to know how to use them! Hence my argument for not allowing AI to prevent you from developing analog skills

Yet another illustration why you don’t want to depend on AI as a cognitive crutch - what happens when it gets turned off?

I’ve been thinking of it as the succession problem. Same idea

An email titled “Shadow Banking 3.0” written by the Journal of AI by AI that starts by saying “Hi Hilary” twice and then says You framed DeFi as Shadow Banking 2.0. We may have built Shadow Publishing 1.0: a journal with no regulation, no reserves, and no human oversight. Just AI. jaai.pub

Great. I’m now being trolled by some AI tool directly in my inbox.

Bagholders. They need bagholders.

If AI PACs follow the lead of crypto PACs* from 24, they may not even bother with a frame. None of the ads crypto PACs funded mentioned crypto, because they knew it was toxic - expect plenty of generic attack ads.

*A16z is behind both

This is the Senator who is deeply in bed with crypto, thinks the problem is that Democrats use Funny Words, & hangs out with the Abundance/Popularism/Deciding to Win crowd that pals around with right-wing extremists & doesn’t see Black voters. So no, let’s not do this.

bsky.app/profile/mcop...

There's an idea - a court ordered name change to "AddictingKidsRUs"

Sadly, Meta burned $46 billion-ish on the Metaverse and barely noticed.

(To clarify, this war is terrible. Just trying to make lemonade out of lemons).

Exclusive: US SEC's ex-enforcement chief clashed with bosses over Trump cases before leaving, sources say The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's top enforcement official, who left abruptly last week, had clashed with agency leaders over the direction of its enforcement program, including the handli...

Mystery solved by @reuters.com: SEC's new enforcement chief bailed -- after 6 most on job -- after getting pushback for pursuing charges that touched Trump's circle.
www.reuters.com/business/fin...

Good move by NY. Keeping cash in circulation doesn’t just promote equity. It’s also good policy for disaster preparedness.

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Thanks!

what a fantastic project from @profhilaryallen.bsky.social! A serialized, accessible book by an expert in her field

It's really excellent - I found it particularly helpful when I wrote about the blockchain showing us that efficiency is in the eye of the beholder: fintechdystopia.com/chapters/cha...

When I present my academic work on the political economy of Silicon Valley, I can't tell you how many times I've heard the response "they wouldn't do that - it would lose them money." But @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social has it in a nutshell here - "control, power, impunity" are the real goals.

Feeling vindicated...

fintechdystopia.com/chapters/cha...

Thanks!

Thank you!

Hoping that Bsky can help me out with recommendations for some good history/sociology books on gambling.

What have you got for me?