Someone needs to do this work. Your support makes it possible.

The newsletter is free to all and pay-what-you-want. I also have founding memberships, which make a significant difference and allow me to take on more ambitious projects.

https://www.citationneeded.news/membership-drive-2026/

From two people whose work I deeply admire:

I maintain Web3 is Going Just Great, which documented 114 crypto disasters in the past year. https://web3isgoinggreat.com/

I run Follow the Crypto, tracking industry political spending. I’m in the process of updating it for 2026, where crypto super PACs have already raised more than double their record-breaking 2024 spending. https://www.followthecrypto.org/

My work is cited in Congressional reports and I advise Congressional staffers.

The crypto industry spent $133 million installing pro-crypto lawmakers in 2024 and $285 million on lobbying. There is not a similarly funded effort on the other side; I do everything I can to offset that imbalance.

Citation Needed is free or pay-what-you-want because I believe everyone should be able to access critical information, regardless of whether they can afford it.

People do support high-quality reporting even when they’re not forced to, which is how I’m able to do this work full-time.

There’s a lot that goes into this beyond the weekly newsletter.

In the past year: 119 press appearances. Major media publications generally don't devote the resources or cultivate the expertise that good crypto coverage requires. I help where I can to ensure coverage is accurate and hard-hitting.

https://www.mollywhite.net/press

I’ve launched a Citation Needed membership drive to celebrate publishing my 100th recap issue!

Citation Needed critically covers cryptocurrency, the crypto industry, and its influence on policy. Paid subscriptions support much more than just the newsletter — here’s what goes into this work:

https://www.citationneeded.news/membership-drive-2026/

@isaac wow

Also:
• Visa and deportation controversies in the second Trump administration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_and_deportation_controversies_in_the_second_Trump_administration
• List of deaths in ICE detention: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deaths_in_ICE_detention
• List of shootings by U.S. immigration agents in the second Trump administration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shootings_by_U.S._immigration_agents_in_the_second_Trump_administration
• Targeting of political opponents and civil society under the second Trump administration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targeting_of_political_opponents_and_civil_society_under_the_second_Trump_administration

Even when there’s no accountability, the record matters. Credit to the Wikipedia editors maintaining this page.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths,_detentions_and_deportations_of_American_citizens_in_the_second_Trump_administration

#USpol #USpolitics

@nieuemma yes! https://donate.stripe.com/14k8AseTNaqLaZy7ss

@mcc zero
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00655.htm

@PaulDitz There is a common sentiment among crypto traders of “I know this is a scam, but if I can just get in and out quickly enough, I can make some money off the other suckers”

I'm one person writing about an enormous amount of corruption and chaos in a sector that few publications cover well — or at all. Please consider supporting my work with a pay-what-you-want subscription: https://www.citationneeded.news/signup

The SEC is in a similar situation, having just lost its last Democratic and crypto-cautious Commissioner, Caroline Crenshaw. In her last speech as a Commissioner she warned of “dire repercussions” from the SEC’s deregulatory pivot, drawing comparisons to the period prior to the Great Depression.

#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

The Senate has confirmed the CFTC’s new Chairman, Michael Selig. He has very minimal regulatory experience, and is now the only Commissioner on what is supposed to be a five-person bipartisan Commission.

#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

The Trump family’s World Liberty Financial crypto project has applied for a national trust bank charter. If approved, the Comptroller of the Currency — who serves at the pleasure of the President — will be expected to enforce the law against Trump’s own company and its competitors.

#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

Trump has claimed “the leaker” has been jailed, seemingly referring to a group of wallets that made large profits from Polymarket bets with apparent advance knowledge of US military action against Venezuela. One such wallet profited around $410,000.

#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

Former NYC Mayor Eric Adams is fending off rug pull allegations after a wallet connected to his “NYC Token” project extracted almost $1 million in liquidity less than an hour after launch, crashing the token price.

#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

But Coinbase’s flex may have caused something of a power struggle with the White House. “This is President Trump’s bill at the end of the day, not Brian Armstrong’s,” said a source close to the Trump administration.

#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

The crypto lobby wrote their dream bill. Senators proposed some amendments. Coinbase tweeted their disapproval, and Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott immediately canceled the markup. When you spend $130M, you expect to get exactly what you want.

#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter