October 25, 2022
Entire issue dedicated to a single essay written by Bloomberg Opinion Columnist Matt Levine
October 25, 2022 – Today, Bloomberg Businessweek published a special issue containing a single 40,000 word essay about crypto, written by Bloomberg Opinion columnist Matt Levine.
“The Crypto Story” attempts to help readers better understand where it came from, what it all means, and why it still matters. Levine writes in his essay, “My goal here is not to convince you that crypto is building the future and that if you don’t get on board you’ll stay poor. My goal is to convince you that crypto is interesting, that it has found some new things to say about some old problems, and that even when those things are wrong, they’re wrong in illuminating ways. Also, I’m a finance person. It seems to me that, 14 years on, crypto has a pretty well-developed financial system, and I’m going to talk about it a fair bit, because it’s pretty well-developed and because I like finance.”
On dedicating an entire issue to the topic of crypto, Bloomberg Businessweek editor Joel Weber writes, “If you’re a disciple, this new dimension is the future. If you’re a skeptic, this upside-down world is just a modern Ponzi scheme that’s going to end badly—and you also probably hope that the recent ‘crypto winter’ is its long-overdue ending. But crypto has dug itself into finance, into technology, and into our heads. So maybe we’re closer to a beginning than an ending. And if crypto isn’t going away, we’d better attempt to understand it.”
Mirroring Matt’s style of writing, the story features many footnotes throughout. Online, the interactive article format allows readers to jump to any chapter.
This is the second time in the magazine’s history where an entire issue has been devoted to one story written by a single author; in 2015, Businessweek published “What Is Code?” by programmer and writer Paul Ford.
“The Crypto Story” is available in the October 31, 2022 print edition of Bloomberg Businessweek, online at bloomberg.com/thecryptostory, and in audio version.
Read here for key takeaways from the essay: https://bloom.bg/3W9Sl3F