Why does Crypto attract the best of the best? From movers and shakers, to big idea men, to white collar criminals, it seems like everyone is rushing into the space.

Today, we’re going to take some time to examine the motivations and career paths of those men and women who make that all powerful crypto pivot. We know we did!

Do we regret taking the leap? No. But will our parents understand what we do for work? Never.

Espresso Shots

☕️ SEC vs. BKCoin ⚖️ 🪙

The SEC has filed an emergency action lawsuit against crypto hedge fund, BKCoin.

An emergency action lawsuit means that the SEC received last minute permissions from a Florida court to freeze the assets of the Miami-based hedge fund.

Why? Because it seems that co-founder Kevin Kang was using investor funds for “Ponzi-like payments” as well as for personal use.

Yes, in addition to commingling client funds and using investor’s money to pay… other investors. Kang was also dipping into the hedge fund to pay for his vacations, tickets to a variety of sporting events, and rent for his luxury apartment in New York.

This is shaping up to be a fun, spicy bit of legal action. And don’t worry, nobody knows what the “BK” in BKCoin stands for, but our best guess is “Burger King.”

☕️ Musk Tweets and Dogecoin Takes a Beating 🐥 🐕

Elon Musk and Dogecoin have become inexorably linked. So much so, that when Elon Musk tweets something like this, Dogecoin drops 10%.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, Mark Yusko, Chief Investment Officer of Morgan Creek Capital Management, took a shot at Dogecoin on an episode of Scott Melker’s crypto analysis Youtube series.

“The speculative nonsense like Dogecoin, why does it even exist? I mean my mind hurts. And I said the bear market would be over when DOGE is zero, and I want to stand by that but I can’t because stupid people are going to be stupid,” said Yusko.

It feels like Dogecoin is undergoing so much abuse that it’s only a matter of time before the coin is featured in one of those Sarah McLachlan commercials.

☕️ US Appeals Judge's FTX Investigation Ruling 👨🏻‍⚖️ 🤬

The U.S. Justice Department has filed an appeal against Judge John Dorsey’s denial of bringing an independent investigator into the FTX proceedings.

The US Department of Justice has argued that bankruptcy laws require independent probes for any collapse of this magnitude.

The court, however, feels that an independent investigative party “would create an increased risk of further loss through inadvertent disclosures or hacking.”

In addition, an independent investigation would be expensive. The current estimate is around $100 million and that money would be coming from FTX’s debtors and other parties hurt by the collapse.

If this appeal is successful, there's truly no telling what an independent investigator may discover deep within the bowels of FTX.

Unfortunately, until the Judge says, “Go-go gadget fraud investigator,” Inspector Gadget will have to remain on standby.

Spilling the Beans

Why Are Crypto Jobs So Appealing?

We hear a lot about second acts in careers.

Usually, that’s retiring from your real estate empire to own and operate a coffee shop. Or just getting, like really really good at golf.

Maybe you blow your retirement savings on opening an ill-advised restaurant. Or a motor scooter rental depot. Some surgeons secretly dream of being oyster farmers.

But for some people, that’s not enough. They can’t stop challenging themselves and launching their careers into new and unexplored arenas.

It seems that many of the most successful and driven Americans can’t resist the siren’s call of crypto.

These second act career pivots are becoming commonplace as businessmen and women leave arguably more established careers to focus on crypto.

Sometimes it truly seems like we’re getting the best and the brightest.

Consider Greg Haseley.

Haseley had a promising and lucrative career as an analyst at Goldman Sachs, but he had a dream that kept gnawing like a zombie at the corners of his brain.

And that dream was about zombies. About killing zombies. To earn crypto.

Haseley left Goldman Sachs to become Executive Director at Wagyu Games. Wagyu Games’ first release, Undead Blocks, will be the first kill-to-earn Web3 game.

It’s an accessible, social zombie-killing first person shooter that will allow players to earn ZBUX tokens that can be traded on Uniswap.

“Our game isn’t for pros,” said Haseley. The aim is for casual, incentivized fun. Haseley sees it as, “Mario Kart meets COD zombies.”

Web3 gaming is still trying to find its niche, but the team behind Undead Blocks is very excited about this endeavor.

Though Web3 seems to be full of deckbuilding games and turn-based RPGs, the zombie-killing content in Undead Blocks will make it the first of its kind.

Andrew Sorokovsky, the VP of Global Business Development at ImmutableX, the publisher behind Undead Blocks said:

“Undead Blocks is exactly the right combination of innovative tech and approachable, inclusive gameplay poised to give a massive push to the mass adoption of web3 gaming.” 

And while we’re on the topic of gaming, let’s discuss another rising crypto conglomerate that ditched the mainstream for Web3 gaming.

Avalon Corp was founded by a veritable who’s who of video gaming. The team comes from distinguished stock, an array of veterans from Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Blizzard, and Sony.

Avalon’s CEO Sean Pinnock brings his own pedigree, working at both EA and Microsoft before leaving to head this venture with Chief Product Officer, Jeffrey Butler. Butler brings six years of expertise as a creative director at Sony.

Avalon Corp is one of the most promising Web3 entities, they’ve already raised $13 million in funds from angel investors.

Because those investors see what we do, some of the best minds in modern gaming come together to, “empower gamers, creators, anyone to build worlds," said Pinnock.

Pinnock went on to say these interconnected worlds "could become something like an Oasis from Ready Player One,” which is pretty much how we all imagine the metaverse.

So, why are all of these talented individuals flocking from more established companies to crypto and Web3 gaming?

Because this space offers the same opportunities for gaming as it does for finance, namely, the power is in the hands of the individual rather than the establishment.

Pinnock views the current video game marketplace as a “walled garden” with access controlled by institutional paywalls and monopolies.

Pinnock believes, “this is going to be one of the most invasive technologies ever built by society, it’s incredibly important that this technology is actually decentralized.”

In short, it’s the opportunity and freedom to create something fundamentally new and revolutionary that’s attracting top talent.

It even worked for the team behind the Coffee & Crypto newsletter! We feel like we’re top talent even though the superlative in our high school yearbook was, “Most Likely to Underwhelm.”

Meme of the Day

Somebody please help this doge!

Crypto 101

Coins: Yesterday, we discussed tokens. So, today we’re going to approach the other side of the proverbial coin… and talk about coins.

Coins have their own blockchain, while tokens are built on an existing blockchain. By this logic, all coins are tokens, but not all tokens are considered coins.

A metaphor that has always made this easy for us to understand, is to try and think of tokens like vouchers, coupons, or collectibles while coins are more like dollars or cents.

The Last Sip

If we were Kevin Kang and we were illegally dipping into our hedge fund, here’s what we would spend the money on:

• Beach houses for our various secret families across the country.

• Equinox Membership.

• Start up capital for a new hedge fund where we would continue our nefarious schemes.

Stay Caffeinated,

Coffee & Crypto Team

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.