Scam Economy

Matt Binder

Bitcoin, the Blockchain, Web3, NFTs...welcome to the Scam Economy. Host Matt Binder (The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder, DOOMED) dives into the world of cryptocurrency in order to reveal the frauds, grifts, and scams. And there's plenty because, really, the whole thing is a scam. It's the Scam Economy.

66 Episodes

58: Her: OpenAI v. Scarlett Johansson
5/30/2024
50:26
Scam Economy host Matt Binder breaks down the latest OpenAI scandal: an AI Voice Assistant that its CEO Sam Altman not so subtly tweeted "Her" about, resulting in a cease and desist from actress Scarlett Johansson. Is this just a voice impersonator or did OpenAI really use an AI voice trained on Johansson's? Visit: ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder
57: Crypto Number Goes Up + The AI Hype Bubble (w/ Ed Zitron of Better Offline)
3/7/2024
1:28:05
Ed Zitron of the new podcast Better Offline joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to discuss Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies getting some a new life and pumping in recent weeks, what's going on with crypto lately? We also discuss the AI hype bubble and Apple Vision Pro. Check out Ed's new podcast Better Offline at https://www.betteroffline.com/ Visit: ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder
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56: How MrBeast Inadvertently Revealed X / Twitter Monetization is Rigged
2/5/2024
54:40
MrBeast made a quarter of a million dollars by uploading a video to Elon Musk's X and in doing so revealed just how rigged the monetization system is. Scam Economy host Matt Binder walks through all the details of X Monetization, the little known X Amplify program, how Elon Musk and company pushed the famous YouTuber's content into social media feeds, and how basically no other creator can replicate MrBeast's earnings on the platform. Visit ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder
55: Sam Bankman-Fried Guilty!: The FTX Fraud Trial (w/ Molly White)
11/8/2023
1:33:51
Molly White of Web3 is Going Great joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to discuss the Sam Bankman-Fried trial. Molly brings us her first hand account from the days she spent at the court about the FTX founder's testimony and cross examination, what former FTX employees like SBF's ex Caroline Ellison had to say, and how SBF was found guilty on all 7 financial fraud charges. What does this mean for crypto and what's next going forward? Visit ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder
54: The Tech Hype Bubble: VR Edition (w/ Paris Marx)
7/31/2023
1:24:19
Paris Marx of the Tech Won't Save Us podcast joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to discuss one of the current big tech industry hype bubbles: VR or Virtual Reality. We break down Apple's entry into the field with the Vision Pro, Meta's play with their VR headset and its subsequent failings with the Metaverse, the crypto adjacent Web3 metaverse attempts, the tech industry's continuation to try and monetize everything, and much much more! Check out Paris Marx's newsletter, Disconnect, on the Apple Vision Pro: https://www.disconnect.blog/p/apples-vision-pro-headset-deserves Visit ScamEconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder
53: Meta Launches Threads by Instagram as Elon Musk Wrecks Twitter
7/7/2023
1:02:36
The battle between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg officially began on Wednesday, July 5th as Meta launched Threads by Instagram, it's Twitter competitor app. On this DOOMED and Scam Economy livestream crossover episode, Matt Binder breaks down the Threads app, the enshittification of Twitter by Elon Musk, how this past week's actions by Musk at Twitter which blocked logged out visitors from accessing Twitter and rate limited logged in users' daily tweet alottment may actually be Musk's worst move at Twitter yet, where the other Twitter alternatives like bluesky, Mastodon, and Spill fit into the equation, what the future of the internet will look like, and is Twitter now actually dying? (Episode from the 7/5/23 livestream show.) Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder
52: Unregistered Securities: SEC Sues Coinbase & Binance...Is This the End of Crypto in the U.S.? (w/ Molly White)
6/13/2023
1:10:27
Molly White, the creator of Web3 is Going Great, joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to discuss the SEC's lawsuits against Coinbase and Binance for selling unregistered securities. Molly and Matt break down the lawsuit against Coinbase, how the suit against Binance is different (fraud allegations!), what this means for the state of cryptocurrency in the United States, and more! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder Visit http://www.ScamEconomy.com Sources: https://newsletter.mollywhite.net/p/sec-v-binance-we-are-operating-as https://newsletter.mollywhite.net/p/issue-29-sec-showdown https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-102 https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-101
51: Worldcoin Wants to Scan Your Eyeballs & Give You Crypto in Return: What Could Go Wrong? (w/ Leo Schwartz)
5/24/2023
56:06
Leo Schwartz, reporter at Fortune, joins Scam Economy with Matt Binder to discuss Worldcoin, the project that wants to scan the eyeballs of everyone in the world and give them cryptocurrency in return. Why do they want your biometric data? To create an identity network to prove you're a real human, of course! Who is behind Worldcoin? OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Leo and Matt discuss the details of the project, how one Altman project supposedly creates the problem that the other claims to solve, the snag the project hit regarding its cryptocurrency, and much more! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder Visit http://www.ScamEconomy.com Check out Leo's piece on Worldcoin: https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/03/21/sam-altman-orb-scan-eyeballs-ai-bot-worldcoin/ Other sources: https://web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=sam-altmans-worldcoin-project-incentivizes-a-black-market-for-biometric-data-taken-from-people-in-developing-nations
50: Elon Musk and the Twitter Blue (Check)Mark of Shame
5/9/2023
1:17:56
It's a DOOMED / Scam Economy crossover episode! Host Matt Binder breaks down what he's been so busy with over the past few weeks: a series of reports on Twitter that drove Elon Musk to gift/punish him with the Twitter Blue checkmark of shame. Matt breaks down what Twitter Blue is, why it's so controversial, how Elon Musk marketed the roll out and caused his own mess, the removal of the legacy verified checkmarks, @dril and the #BlockTheBlue campaign, celebrities having Twitter Blue subscriptions being force upon them, why Twitter may be DOOMED, how Musk's version of Twitter is the perfect encapsulation of the tech SCAM ECONOMY, and much more! (Episode from the 5/2/23 livestream show.) Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder
49: Orange is the New Blockchain: Crypto Crime ft. Kwon, Sun, SBF, & CZ (w/ Jacob Silverman)
4/6/2023
1:10:42
In honor of the indictment and arrest of Trump Card NFT founder Donald J. Trump, Scam Economy takes a look at four of the (other) biggest crypto founders who recently got in trouble with the law. Host of CBC's The Naked Emperor, writer Jacob Silverman joins Matt Binder to break down the crimes and recent charges filed against Terra / Luna founder Do Kwon, TRON's Justin Sun, Binance founder CZ, and, of course, FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried. Check out The Naked Emperor, Jacob Silverman's 4-part mini-series podcast for CBC: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/1353/episode/d20230403 Visit: http://www.scameconomy.com Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/mattbinder Additional sources for the episode: https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/03/31/cz-native-crypto-binance-recovery-fund-corporate-wallets/ https://www.reuters.com/legal/sec-sues-justin-sun-others-over-illegal-crypto-sales-2023-03-22/ https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/03/23/do-kwon-now-faces-criminal-fraud-charges/ https://www.theverge.com/c/22947663/the-many-escapes-of-justin-sun

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Scam Economy

Matt Binder

66 Episodes

58: Her: OpenAI v. Scarlett Johansson

57: Crypto Number Goes Up + The AI Hype Bubble (w/ Ed Zitron of Better Offline)

56: How MrBeast Inadvertently Revealed X / Twitter Monetization is Rigged

55: Sam Bankman-Fried Guilty!: The FTX Fraud Trial (w/ Molly White)

54: The Tech Hype Bubble: VR Edition (w/ Paris Marx)

53: Meta Launches Threads by Instagram as Elon Musk Wrecks Twitter

52: Unregistered Securities: SEC Sues Coinbase & Binance...Is This the End of Crypto in the U.S.? (w/ Molly White)

51: Worldcoin Wants to Scan Your Eyeballs & Give You Crypto in Return: What Could Go Wrong? (w/ Leo Schwartz)

50: Elon Musk and the Twitter Blue (Check)Mark of Shame

49: Orange is the New Blockchain: Crypto Crime ft. Kwon, Sun, SBF, & CZ (w/ Jacob Silverman)