So You Don’t Understand Crypto. Buckle Up.

Reveal

The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

News

4.7 • 8K Ratings

🗓️ 1 October 2025

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

More To The Story: The growth of crypto—decentralized digital currency that doesn’t rely on the backing of a bank or government—is one of the most transformative financial developments of the 21st century. And yet cryptocurrencies still baffle so many. How risky of an investment is it? Where do I buy it? And, wait, what is crypto again?

On this week’s More To The Story, host Al Letson sits down with independent journalist Molly White for some answers. She examines the growth of cryptocurrency in the US, how digital currencies have begun permeating American politics, and the extreme risks and rewards of investing in crypto as the Trump administration is deregulating the industry. White also recounts the epic rise and fall of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange started by Sam Bankman-Fried, who was convicted of fraud in 2023. FTX’s collapse and ensuing bankruptcy is the focus of Reveal’s new two-part series, The Secret Story of FTX’s Rise and Ruin.

Donate today at Revealnews.org/more
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at Revealnews.org/weekly
Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky

Listen: The Secret Story of FTX’s Rise and Ruin Part 1 (Reveal)

Read: Hodl Be Thy Name: My Adventures With Bitcoin’s True Believers (Mother Jones)

Learn more: Follow the Crypto

Read: Crypto: The Currency of the (Uninhabitable) Future (Mother Jones)

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	As the crypto industry is actually being deregulated rather than regulated, I remain very skeptical
0:08.0	and cautious about those types of companies because we see these catastrophes happening again
0:13.6	and again and again.
0:14.8	And without some sort of external force or oversight to stop that pattern, I think it will
0:20.2	just repeat.
0:21.6	Coming up on more to the story, tech writer Molly White is here to help us understand
0:26.1	the cryptic world of cryptocurrency.
0:29.0	We'll discuss the collapse of FTX why people risk investing in a virtual currency
0:34.0	and how crypto plays a role in today's politics.
0:37.4	Don't go anywhere.
0:41.7	Hey, this is Al, and I'm sure it is no surprise to you that President Trump doesn't like us
0:47.7	very much. He called the press the enemy of the people. Credential journalists have been banned
0:52.8	from press briefings just for asking
0:55.1	tough questions. Trump personally sued news networks demanding billions. And now, at his urging,
1:02.5	Congress has voted to gut all federal funding for public broadcasting. And I think I know why.
1:08.0	I think we all do. It's because real journalism brings sunlight, scrutiny, accountability. When power feels threatened, it lashes out. And that tells you just how vital independent reporting is right now. Here it reveal, we don't answer to billionaires or politicians or special interests. We only answer to you,
1:29.1	our listeners, but we can't do this alone. Stand with us. Support fearless independent
1:34.9	journalism that refuses to back down. Donate today. Just visit reveal news.org slash fearless.
1:42.9	Again, that's reveal news.org slash fearless. Again, that's RevealNews.org slash fearless.
1:46.9	Thanks.
1:53.9	This is more to the story. I'm Al Ledson.
2:00.2	There are few things in this world that I find as baffling as cryptocurrency.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.