Hi everyone, it’s been an exciting week. On Tuesday, we successfully launched Fortune Crypto, a new site dedicated to everything blockchain—including a ticker of top tokens. The site reflects how crypto has become an integral part of finance and business news, and how Fortune, the first mainstream site to have a crypto brand, is dedicated to producing quality journalism on the subject.

You can see for yourself by reading Leo Schwartz’s exposé on how Coinbase’s $1 billion “GiveCrypto” plans went awry, or Taylor Locke’s account of what went on behind the scenes during Ethereum’s epic merge. Leo and Taylor, along with NFT and metaverse reporter Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, are the core of a growing team that will be covering the most important stories in a way that’s accessible to crypto newbies and OGs alike.

Our coverage will include new crypto technologies like bridges and Layer 2 solutions, but also the growing role of banks and other big “TradFi” companies as they build out their blockchain capabilities. It is my thesis that, if the first era of crypto was rooted in Silicon Valley, the next will be heavily shaped by the finance industry. To help our readers understand this transition, New York-based Deputy Editor Justin Doom will be writing about top executives at top companies.

All of this also means the time has come to retire The Ledger, a pioneering brand in crypto media but one that didn’t reflect the full ambitions of the new Fortune Crypto. Those ambitions include high-quality events, an education module, and, in time, Web3 native business initiatives such as NFTs and crypto payments.

The newsletter also is changing significantly. Starting on Monday, Fortune Crypto will land in your inbox five days a week. We recognize your time is precious so the daily version will be shorter but still essential reading. 

Your feedback matters. Please share your thoughts about what you read here. And, of course, we’re always on the lookout for scoops, gossip, and insight about the industry. So reach out to me and my colleagues by email or Twitter DM or securely by Signal.

Thank you for reading—Jeff.

Jeff John Roberts
jeff.roberts@fortune.com
@jeffjohnroberts

DECENTRALIZED NEWS

The Biden Administration is invoking the 1865 failure of a bank founded by former slaves to highlight how novel financial innovations, including crypto, can pose a particular danger to Black communities.

Coinbase created a team to speculate on crypto—a bank-style prop desk—but ultimately pulled the plug before the team could make any bets.

Jesse Powell, a crypto OG and outspoken libertarian, stepped down as CEO of the Kraken exchange after 11 years.

Coinbase became the first company to receive central bank permission to operate crypto services in the Netherlands.

As Sam Bankman-Fried's fame increases, so is scrutiny of the connections—and possible conflicts of interest—that exist between his FTX exchange and its sister Alameda Research.

2019 Retail Forecast

Consumer spending will jump 4.07% this year between Black Friday and Christmas, according to IBM’s annual Holiday Retail Forecast. U.S. consumers are riding the positive tailwinds of low inflation and low unemployment.
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