Want to know what happens when fraud is a core component of your business model?Want to know how a business idea described as an “economic fairytale” could be valued at $300m? Want to know how an unknown cryptocurrency exchange could end up with a $1bn a year marketing budget, rivalling that of Microsoft?Want to know how easy it is to corrupt auditors and journalists with crypto tokens?All this is in Crypto Confidential (https://thehistorypress.co.uk/contributor/jake-donoghue/), a new book by Jake Donoghue that’s coming out in August 2024. I read a review copy, really enjoyed it and have invited Jake to talk to New Money Review podcast listeners.Donoghue describes his book as “a record of the sheer extravagance, excess and absurdity I bore witness to on a daily basis”.In the podcast we discuss:* How an unviable betting start-up could be worth $300m on its first day of trading* Why its founders switched focus from gambling to marketing* Duplicitous tactics, shilling, pumping and dumping in crypto* The confluence of politics and cryptocurrency* Why did the cryptocurrency markets recover after the 2022 FTX/Terra/Luna frauds?* From bitcoin to ICOs, NFTs and memecoins: how crypto has lost touch with its origins* How influencer crypto marketing hit its peak in 2022* When Bybit’s reported $1bn a year marketing budget rivalled Microsoft’s* The innovation of crypto fundraising* Why crypto journalism is an oxymoron* Tether and sanctions evasion* Why crypto projects are jumping onto the AI bandwagon* What next for cryptocurrency?