It’s spooky season 🎃🦇
The best crypto and blockchain journalism and research this fall
Hello crypto journalists, researchers and friends!
It’s been quite a while, but that’s only because I’ve been hanging out with my very own Bitcoin baby, featured below, no big deal.
But while I’ve been away, the crypto world definitely hasn’t — and neither has the ACJR. Since this summer, we’ve run meet-ups at Consensus (thanks Hemi!) and will run another at Devcon on Nov. 12 (thanks Tron!). We’ve hosted several webinars, including the always contentious topic of “how to pitch,” or in other words, “how to write an email that won’t be ignored.”
If you missed that one, check out what Coindesk’s Marc Hochstein prepared for you in all his wisdom — Do’s and Don’ts for Pitching Crypto Media.
We’ve also launched (and completed) our very first ACJR mentorship program. If you’re interested in joining the next round, as either a mentor or a mentee, look out for more information in the coming weeks. As you may or may not know, the ACJR is more than just a giant Telegram group (although we are quite proud of our 1,400 members), and creating a space for crypto journalists to help each other grow is a main part of our mission statement.
If all of the above interested you and you’re not a member yet, you can apply right here.
And if all of the above really interested you and you want to join the ACJR board next year, elections are coming up this winter — reach out to our community manager Joyce on TG for more information, or await a mass announcement.
Join our Devcon ACJR meet-up on Nov. 12 — sign up here
Now let’s get started with the newsletter!
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Top crypto journalism and research in…however long I’ve been away from this newsletter
This great public research project data visualization that covers crypto’s entire history by Igor Stepahin
Decrypt interviewing that crypto dev who purposefully set himself on fire trying to pump a meme coin
Coindesk’s Sam Kessler’s investigation in how North Korea just keeps worming its way into the crypto space
Kessler (again) and Danny Nelson’s breakdown of Eigen Lab’s odd allocation practices
Nelson (again) exploring how RWA project Tangible misled investors
The Information’s Yueqi Yang tackling the question on everyone’s mind — how important this US election really is to the crypto industry
Andrew Chow going deep into a health crisis in a Bitcoin mining town in Time
The HBO Bitcoin documentary that was kind of a flop — reviewed by Blockworks’ David Canellis (and further researched by Hemi)
DLNews’s Ben Weiss on why the CFTC attended Consensus (truly, why?)
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Bitcoin (kind of) takes Broadway
I’m going to toot my own horn here and include a snippet of my review of Ben Schiller’s off-off-Broadway Bitcoin play — Happenstance.
Schiller’s play is commentary on crypto, effective altruism, wealth, finance, free speech and yoga. There were lines like: Decentralize your wallet, decentralize your soul. And: Well, you’re my satoshi/And you’re my goddess. And don’t get me started on the lyrics to “Bitcoin Bad Boy.” It’s so satirical at times to be nonsensical — there’s no chance in hell that a real life Bitcoin spirituality dog yoga center would be a real thing, let alone a thing needing $200 million (I dare you to prove me wrong, crypto builders!).
But what sticks in my mind the most was the camaraderie at the Bitcoin play. Just as waiting in line on freezing fall NYC mornings brought a group of crypto journalists together in a faux-polycule way, it was genuinely heartwarming to see the crypto journos and builders all come together in one tiny theater on the lower East Side to support cryptocurrency’s first theatrical debut. There was networking, there was drinking, there was someone checking the price charts in the row in front of me.
What more could you expect at a Bitcoin play?
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Join the ACJR
It’s easy to join the ACJR — journalist memberships are only $25 a year. If you want access to our members’ only chat, discounts for conferences and invites to meetups, sign up here.
Reach out to Joyce Pavia Hanson: @JPHanson on Telegram for any more questions.
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