Catch Me If You Crypto


April 25, 2025

Daily Edition:

Catch Me If You Crypto

Happy Friday, Core Readers!

Some stories start online and stay there.

Today’s didn’t. Here’s what actually mattered today:

A peace deal pushed with tweets, a generation losing its grip on truth, and a crypto heist planned in Minecraft chatrooms ended with Lamborghinis and duct tape.

Somewhere between the algorithms, the conspiracies, and the dollar signs, the lines between fiction and reality blurred — and then vanished.

I chase these stories not just for the shock, but for what they reveal underneath:

The internet isn’t just shaping the world anymore. It is the world.

Fatih Taskiran


In this issue:

Asia

"Vladimir, STOP!"


Internet Culture

Doomed by the Feed


Cryptocurrency

Catch Me If You Crypto


Beyond the Core

Get Rid of That Song

Asia

"Vladimir, STOP!"

It's the deadliest attack on Kyiv in nearly a year, killing at least 12 people and injuring over 90. Trump responded with a dramatic Truth Social post calling on Putin to "STOP!"—only to later suggest Russia had already made a "big concession" by not taking the whole country.

Zelensky cut short his trip to South Africa to return home and rally allies, but Trump's peace push seems to rely heavily on Ukraine—it could include recognising Russia's control over Crimea. We're entering a dangerous new phase in this war, where diplomacy could prove more costly than missiles due to the mixed signals.

Cryptocurrency

Catch Me If You Crypto

It began with a $243 million crypto heist. Then came the yachts, the Lamborghinis, and a $500K bar tab. Eventually, rivals kidnapped one suspect, another caught in the Maldives wearing a $500,000 watch, and a third turned out to be the actual son of a Connecticut couple who got duct-taped.

video preview

A Minecraft server, a masked vigilante named ZachXBT, and an FBI raid later, most of the money is still missing. Welcome to the Com: the internet’s darkest, richest boy band — now doing federal time.

Internet Culture

Doomed by the Feed

They scroll endlessly, swipe instinctively, and double-tap faster than they blink. But when it comes to spotting fake news? Gen Z is flunking the test. In a Stanford study, only three out of 3,446 high schoolers identified a viral video as Russian propaganda.

Why? The toxic cycle of algorithm-driven echo chambers, distrust of institutions, and comment sections as "fact-checking." From beef fat as skincare to geo-engineered hurricanes, this is more than just TikTok weirdness — it’s a systemic media literacy failure that risks reshaping not just a generation, but democracy itself. And yes, this is exactly why The Core exists.

Together with Watch Word

A newsletter worth your time.

If you love watches—or just want to sound like you do—Watch Word is my brand-new weekly newsletter. Sharp insights, timeless pieces, zero fluff.

First issue published!


Subscribe now​ before it hits inboxes

💬 Beyond the Core

AI’m all Ears!

Are chatbots deserving of your manners?


Bye, bye, byE

You might be able to get rid of that song stuck in your head thanks to scientists.


Sweat Smile

Here's how to make a morning routine you'll stick to (the last tip is probably the best).


Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it, and you'll start believing in it.
Jesse Owens

📸 Lens to Life

The beauty of the North through photography.


🗓️ Flashback

1660

The English Convention Parliament meets and votes to restore Charles II.


1792

The Guillotine was first used in France to execute highwayman Nicolas Pelletier.


1846

The Thornton Affair sparked the Mexican–American War over the disputed Texas border.


1915

First landings at Gaba Tepe and Cape Helles on the Gallipoli Peninsula by ANZAC forces during World War I.


1920

Three League of Nations mandates were established at the San Remo conference: a French mandate for Syria, and British mandates for Mesopotamia and Palestine.


1945

During the invasion of Germany in World War II, US and Soviet forces met at Torgau, Germany, on the Elbe River.


1953

Francis Crick and James Watson's discovery of the double helix structure of DNA was published in the Nature magazine.


1954

Bell Labs announces the first solar battery made from silicon. It has about 6% efficiency.


1990

The Space Shuttle Discovery put the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit.


Fatih Taskiran

I'm glad we could get together here. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Before you go...

I hope you enjoyed this issue. Before moving on, would you consider supporting my work as we prepare for a pivotal and uncertain year?

I rely on readers like you—yes, you! It takes a few dollars a month to keep The Core going.

Follow the Core on Social Media:


Share this issue with your friends


Sponsor this newsletter

We sent you this email because you subscribed to The Core.

Not for you? No worries, you can always opt out.

Your Email Preferences:

Your email address is Reader.

Change your account details

Unsubscribe from all emails

Send mail to 113 Cherry St #92768, New York, New York 100034.

Was this forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

The Daily Core

The newsletter that makes you the smartest in the room—in just 5 minutes. Join 16K+ cuirous readers

Read more from The Daily Core
Fever Dreams, Fragile Plans, and Fresh Starts

Letter from the Editor • May 05, 2025 Supported by you: “ Life inspires more dread than death — it is life which is the great unknown. — Emil Cioran Fever Dreams, Fragile Plans, and Fresh Starts Hello Reader, Today's newsletter was supposed to cover Warren Buffett's retirement plans (yes, even legends retire), Texans voting to build a SpaceX city, Trump's curious Alcatraz idea, and a peek into tonight's Met Gala extravaganza. But life had other plans. After dodging it for years, COVID finally...

America’s favorite shopping loophole is officially history.

May 3, 2025 Weekend Edition: Checkout Shock View on the web → Good morning and welcome to your weekend, Core friends! Nothing beats waking up to birds singing, coffee brewing, and... wait, what's that other noise? Oh, right. It's dreamy $2 Shein tops skyrocket in price as influencers furiously accuse each other of recipe theft.. Yep, just another relaxing weekend on the internet. But don't worry—I'll sort through all the crap and tell you the stories you actually want to hear (and maybe some...

Inside North Korea’s Secret IT Army

May 2, 2025 Daily Edition: A Quiet Revolution View on the web → Happy Friday, sharp thinkers! Like always, I woke up at 4 AM to make sure you have today's best stories fresh from our world. In the quiet pre-dawn, I thought two things: First, Toyota and Waymo are partnering, so I could soon nap safely behind the wheel—and that's a big deal. Second, letting decades-old desegregation orders expire feels like a sneaky reboot. Regarding North Korea taking your job... nothing surprises me at this...