Crypto’s Glitterati: A Splashy Magazine Feature Sparks Debate Down Under
The cryptocurrency sphere, ever hungry for the latest buzz, recently found itself with a generous serving of tabloid fodder thanks to a rather flamboyant article in Vanity Fair. Titled “Crypto’s True Believers Demand to Be Taken Seriously,” the piece showcased a lavish spread of prominent industry figures striking poses at New York’s Nine Orchard hotel, draped in avant-garde attire that likely cost more than many Aussies’ annual salaries. Predictably, the article drew a wave of derision from those outside the crypto bubble, while those within it decried the “mainstream media” while simultaneously questioning the wisdom of their industry peers’ participation.
The sentiment of “what were they thinking?” isn’t entirely unfounded. When a glossy publication with a limited track record in covering the intricacies of blockchain technology decides to send a reporter, expecting a glowing endorsement of the underlying principles might have been a tad optimistic. However, this was Vanity Fair, a magazine synonymous with the iconic photography of Annie Leibovitz and a history of photographing presidents and A-list celebrities. Even those who publicly profess a disdain for traditional media would likely jump at the chance for such exposure.
Despite a headline that leaned towards the sardonic, the article actually offered a reasonably comprehensive, albeit somewhat superficial, 17-year retrospective of the crypto industry. It traced the journey from Satoshi Nakamoto’s foundational white paper to the current landscape dominated by “Big Crypto.” The author managed to secure access to key figures, providing a reasonable assessment of their individual contributions. Among those featured was Olaf Carlson-Wee, an early Bitcoin evangelist who went on to become Coinbase’s inaugural employee before venturing out to establish his own crypto venture fund. The striking group photo also included Cathie Wood, the visionary founder of ARK Invest, and Meltem Demirors, an early proponent and adept self-marketer within the crypto space. Demirors, in particular, was described as arriving at the photoshoot “layered in diamond crosses and wearing a black sweatsuit with her firm’s slogan—’Believe in Something’—bedazzled across the ass.”
Billionaire investor Mike Novogratz also made the guest list. One might speculate that his participation was facilitated by the fact that he reportedly lent his hotel for the photoshoot, thus avoiding any potentially awkward photographic moments that might have revealed a conspicuous Terra-Luna scamcoin tattoo emblazoned on his bicep, perhaps by having him photographed in a short-sleeved shirt. Danny Ryan, a long-standing contributor to the Ethereum Foundation, appeared to fare less well in the editorial choices. The Vanity Fair photo director apparently persuaded Ryan to shed his footwear for the shoot, a decision that could be interpreted as an attempt to cast him as a sort of crypto ascetic or, perhaps, a “holy fool” of the digital asset world. However, the most pointed criticism was reserved for Devin Finzer. Having secured hundreds of millions in venture capital funding for a project that, by the article’s account, has largely underperformed, Finzer is portrayed as a figure viewed with scepticism, even scorn, by the more established builders in the crypto community, who see him as a recent, opportunistic entrant.
On a broader thematic level, the article posed a pertinent question: where do these somewhat eccentric figures fit in now that the cryptocurrency industry is increasingly rubbing shoulders with the corridors of power, from the Oval Office to Wall Street and Capitol Hill? Vanity Fair seemed to suggest that the individuals depicted might represent a peculiar segment of an emerging American aristocracy, preoccupied with image and lifestyle, and demonstrably detached from the everyday struggles of ordinary Australians grappling with soaring cost of living pressures, record credit card debt, and an increasingly unattainable housing market.
There is certainly a kernel of truth to this observation. Yet, the gathering at the Nine Orchard hotel (Finzer notwithstanding) also served as a nostalgic nod to an earlier era of cryptocurrency, one populated by larger-than-life characters who genuinely believed in a future that few others could even comprehend. To echo the sentiment of early Apple advertisements, these were “the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes… because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” As these distinctive personalities perhaps begin to recede from the forefront, one might find that their unique brand of conviction and eccentricity is something we will, in fact, come to miss.
