Want to get rich quick? In a country with massive wealth disparity and intense precarity caused by expensive housing, healthcare, and education, scams and schemes profiting off of everyday people are literally all around us. This week’s guest Coffeezilla has made it his focus to analyze modern-day scams, to understand how their messaging plays into social and financial concerns and gets the buy-in of people who might otherwise be skeptical. He makes the excellent point that today’s hucksters are able to “sell the dream tailored to the specific person,” understanding what kinds of struggles and goals different people have — and convincing them that you have the product to make their problems go away.
How does this fit into the current fiasco in the crypto world, the fall of FTX? Coffeezilla leads us through the charges against SBF, the government’s response to violation of campaign finance laws, and where this story could go from here. Thanks for joining us, and remember that you can listen to this podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pandora.
Episode 103 Audio: Coffeezilla