How to make Crypto Uncomplicated

Crypto is complicated.

There is a new hot thing, a new project, a new scandal, and a new regulatory crackdown popping up seemingly every day. There are people becoming overnight millionaires — and there are suckers being born just as quickly. In the endless churn of crypto headlines and updates, it has become increasingly easy to get lost in the sauce and increasingly difficult to focus on what matters.

As a journalist at Yahoo Finance and CNBC who was tasked with covering the daily crypto beat and interviewing the biggest names in the space, I wished there was a way to distill only the most important bits and pieces to an audience who might not have 24 hours in a day to constantly track everything.

Enter Crypto Uncomplicated.

What is Crypto Uncomplicated?

Crypto Uncomplicated is a newsletter/blog/community that has one singular mission: Make crypto easier. As such, it will attempt to add context to all of the biggest developments and noteworthy updates in crypto that you may have missed. Just as importantly, it will also be a place to expand on headlines you definitely remember seeing, but maybe didn't understand.

It's also a bit of an experiment. As an independent journalist without an agenda or advertisers or bosses to check in with, I am hoping to more intimately interact with the the audience this attracts. That could mean going live on Instagram or Facebook to help with things, or to hear feedback on how this should evolve in bringing you access to the smartest players in crypto. In the end, I am hoping this evolves into more of a conversation rather than a static feed of articles.

Who is it for?

Anyone interested in cryptocurrency and what this new technology unlocks.

Admittedly, I suspect this might attract people from various levels of understanding crypto — everyone from my grandma who still thinks crypto is Superman's weakness (love you, Abuelita!) to the next "Bitcoin genius." Regardless, I'm going to try to make everything covered here understandable for a reader at any step in their crypto journey.

The thing is, the fact that you're reading this means you're already ahead of 99% of everyone else. When I first got into Bitcoin in 2014, I felt like I was way too behind everyone else to get started. Obviously, that was wrong. And now, as completely new projects pop up, even yesterday's bitcoin experts are playing catchup to grasp everything.

It's also been extremely interesting to see how crypto is integrating with the traditional world of finance. Suddenly, as those worlds intertwine, new problems might (definitely will) arise.

You don't have to love crypto. To be honest, you could even hate crypto (there are a lot of fair complaints.) But as long as you have an interest in what is going on, and prioritize an unbiased place to get your crypto news, you've come to the right place.

How can I sign up?

Just subscribe! No Facebook account needed. All you need to provide is an email and you'll get a weekly update. Sometimes the news cycle might warrant more posts, sometimes less. Either way, I promise it will be interesting, deliver insights from my time spent with crypto billionaires and founders, and help frame the best way to think about some of the most important concepts in crypto.

Anything else I should know?

Crypto Uncomplicated should not just be judged by what we decide to cover, but also by what does not make the cut. Over my career as a crypto journalist at CNBC and Yahoo Finance, I always carefully considered crypto projects and their teams before inviting them on for coverage. For better or for worse, there is a certain sense of legitimacy that readers or viewers can incorrectly assume otherwise. Some publications seem to have forgotten that.

I intend to be just as careful as I ever was with any content decisions here. Sometimes that requires a bit more research and time for vetting things. As such, you might see some paywalled post for deeper dives into specific projects, or particularly prescient research items, or price calls from analysts.

In discussing crypto with my closest friends, I've learned someone can promise me a 10x return and immediately lose my interest. On the other hand, someone can explain how a much-needed project is solving a very difficult problem and immediately earn my interest for weeks.

In the end, the most precious asset anyone ever has is trust. Ironically, that fact may be even more true in the trustless world blockchain technology has created. I intend to continue to earn yours over the course of this journey and can't wait to learn together.

Let me know what you think, and where you're most excited to see this go. I'd love to hear your thoughts if you want to DM me, or hit me up on Twitter. And if you know someone who might be interested in joining the conversation, it would be amazing if you sent this to them, too!