David Gerard

Book excerpt: Libra Shrugged—How Facebook Tried to Take Over the Money

[Editor's note: Our old friend, blockchain hater David Gerard, has a new book out, Libra Shrugged: How Facebook tried to take over the money. You can buy it on Amazon, or "other ebook stores for people who hate Amazon," per Gerard. Here's an excerpt from the introduction.] A user's guide to Libra Facebook wants to do its own payment system, called Libra—with its own currency! What does this mean for you? What’s the fabulous future that Facebook has planned for you? 'Bitcoin is an apocalyptic dea

Kurt Russell (briefly) in Crypto (2019). Image: Lionsgate

Crypto (2019) Movie Review: Kurt Russell Joins The Bitcoin Bros

Crypto is an indie film starring KURT RUSSELL. It's about money laundering, and mentions Bitcoin a bunch. Also, it features KURT RUSSELL. The poster wants to be very clear you get that. The crypto bubble peaked in 2017, but movies take time to fight their way out of development hell. Crypto's original script was written in 2017 and sent to the director, John Stalberg Jr., in early 2018. Stalberg sorted out the production deals by mid-2018, and the film was finally released to video-on-demand, an

The fictional trading reserve

Tether—or, to give it its full title, the Tetheral Reserve of Cryptocurrency—is the essential source of liquidity in the crypto trading markets. Every 24 hours, the entire $2 billion supply of tethers sloshes around 3.5 times, performing vital work for the market: completing the Barts on the price charts, burning the margin traders, and keeping the game of musical chairs going just that little bit longer. Tether remains the king of the stablecoins (n.: a coin found on the floor of a stable), at

FreedomCoin: Just another word for nothing left to lose?

Cryptocurrency started as "electronic peer-to-peer cash" that would free us all from our financial system oppressors! But since it was based on economics that don't work, it failed miserably as currency. The transaction clog from mid-2015 was bad enough, and the $55 average fees in the recent bubble shook off even the merchants who were doing okay with it. Now it's apparently a store of value (that loses 85% in a year), or a ridiculously expensive timestamping system, or something. (Don't say "c

Coin Prices

Stories by David Gerard

Book excerpt: Libra Shrugged—How Facebook Tried to Take Over the Money

Crypto (2019) Movie Review: Kurt Russell Joins The Bitcoin Bros

The fictional trading reserve

FreedomCoin: Just another word for nothing left to lose?