Let’s make a crypto heist movie: 3 To The Moon, 3 Rekt
Things generally seem to be looking up. Spring has sprung. Bitcoin is over $9,000 as I write this. Amazon is doing crypto things, which is music to the ears of a half-man-half-crypto-half-cloud being like me.
To The Moon
I’m very cool with this — I think of Verge tying itself directly to another industry that is historically panned as vice to be similar to jumping into a lake head first instead of wading into the water. If you believe that the adult industry is a technology bellwether, which is historically accurate, then things are definitely looking up for crypto. I will say that the oh-so-timely rumor leaking around this announcement was a pretty clear pump-and-dump scheme from this perspective, and Verge’s price has fluctuated, lending credence to the idea that some selling pressure deflated any hope that hodlers had of a major spike. That’s dirty pool and really pissed off a handful of Verge-stans that I know personally. That said, however you feel about adult entertainment, PornHub is a major, lawful brand in its industry that just validated privacy tokens. Think about that the next time you doubt whether this stuff is here to stay.
Had this discussion with some friends recently — why hasn’t some major film studio leaked that it’s working on a bitcoin heist movie yet? This Iceland story seems like easy plot fodder. While we’re on the subject, here’s my cast, inspired by true events:
Cool mastermind crypto thief who toys with investigators: Oscar Isaac
Veteran lead detective with a chip on her shoulder who only works alone: Olivia Wilde
Millenial rookie detective who nips at lead detective’s heels but has tons of potential and knows crypto: Michael B. Jordan
Friend who snitches on crypto thief under police pressure: Michael Cera
Retired cop father of lead detective who doesn’t understand what all the crypto fuss is about but is proud of his daughter anyway: Clint Eastwood
Budget: 21,505 Bitcoin
Title: Doge Day Afternoon — Rated R
It’s the “in response to client interest” piece that I’m excited about. We know that all of the big banks who hated crypto months ago will become lovers before long, or risk disruption. This is the kind of thing that gives me confidence that a new wave of adopters with stronger convictions than what we experienced during the Moonshot of late 2017. No one is getting rich if everyone that enters is just looking for the fire escape. This would seem to be an underlying indicator of a stronger, more durable upturn than what we saw late last year.
Rekt
Well, that’s not great. If you needed any more insight as to why cold storage is a must for those who hodl, please read this article. The fact of the matter is that crypto companies don’t offer the same insurance that banks do today — there is no FDIC for crypto. Of course, crypto stored on a Ledger in your home isn’t insured either, but taking matters into your own hands is the best play you can make right now. I look at this as a massive area of opportunity for crypto — improve the practicality of the storage problem and gain lots more adopters.
This is just not the kind of thing we need. To me, this is when crypto companies go too far and forget to apply potentially transcendent technology to stuff that actually matters. Social media influencers, while impressive in a weird way for their ability to create value where none existed (exists?), do not need disrupting. Do better.
Yuck. This is a case where centralization is probably a good thing — Google, with all its resources, can take unilateral action to correct problems in its app store. In a decentralized model, everyone is their own software detective — that is a scary thought. That being said, it sounds like Google has let too many bad actors slip through the cracks. It’s a good reminder that the space is still flooded with bad people trying to leech off of a good thing. The key is not to let these crooks define the space.
