This Week in Crypto

Plus: Media consolidation and brain rot

Happy Monday!

With December in full swing and “let’s circle back next year!” season upon us, we examine a busy last week in the world of digital currencies. But first…

📡 ON OUR RADAR

• The new administration will likely be more favorable to mergers – and media outlets are no different. From spikes in investor interest in Bari Weiss’ Free Press to Puck’s acquisition of Sarah Shapiro’s substack, it’s clear that consolidation is in the media’s future.

• Billionaire Larry Ellison is taking “happy wife, happy life” to new (dollar) highs. Originally bound for LSU, top U.S. high school quarterback recruit Bryce Underwood will now attend the University of Michigan, thanks to a surprising push from Ellison. Ellison seemed to have no ties to the school – but it appears his fifth wife was a Wolverine.

• The 2024 beverage industry is flooded with celebrity investments and endorsements as creators hope fans will drink the Kool-Aid, the electrolyte beverages, the whiskey, and who knows what else.

💡 ON OUR MINDS: This Week in Crypto

• It’s been a week for the crypto bros. Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $100,000 on Wednesday, hours after Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Paul Atkins, a crypto advocate, to lead the SEC.

• Meanwhile, Enron Corporation – an energy company infamous for its 2001 bankruptcy and fraud – seemingly announced a relaunch driven by five strategic pillars, including “a forward-looking emphasis on decentralized technology,” hinting at a foray into crypto.

• However, the announcement was quickly traced back to College Company, co-founded by Connor Gaydos (of the conspiracy parody “Birds Aren’t Real”). This led many to believe the Enron re-launch was also a parody. (Needless to say, those who lost their livelihoods in the 2001 scandal aren’t laughing.

• Finally, Haliey Welch (a.k.a. the “Hawk Tuah” girl) launched a meme coin. It did not go well. The value of the $HAWK token plummeted instantly, and many investors lost their money before the announcement was even complete. Welch and her team hosted a Twitter Space to try and clear the air; this did not go well, either. Now, she could be facing prison time.

• The TL;DR? Regardless of your POV on crypto, this week’s happenings spotlight the volatility and unpredictability of the digital world we live in… and the weight a few words on a screen can carry.

🥊 QUICK HITS

In case you missed these reads:

• As the Justice Department looks to break up Alphabet and AI eats the world, Wired ponders the beginning of the end— or the end of the beginning?— of Big Tech.

• According to the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary, “Brain Rot” is the word of the year, besting dynamic pricing, lore, romantasy, slop, and demure.

• In 2024, these 63 “people, characters and things” were the most stylish, says New York Times styles section (legacy media not on the list).