Matt Levine's free column

Matt Levine's Bloomberg column Money Stuff is the smartest mainstream finance writing on crypto in existence. It is also, by far, the funniest. Ben Thompson's Stratechery is the smartest writing on the broader tech-and-business landscape that crypto sits within. Both are essential for serious participation in crypto, in different ways. The combination — Levine for the finance-side analysis of specific crypto events, Stratechery for the broader context of where crypto fits in the internet's commercial trajectory — gives you most of what you need to be a literate participant in conversations that touch on both finance and tech.

Matt Levine. A former Goldman Sachs derivatives lawyer who has been writing Money Stuff at Bloomberg since 2015. The column is published daily and is free to read. The format is typically 2000-4000 words covering whatever financial news caught Levine's attention that day. Crypto regularly features — Levine has been one of the sharpest single voices on FTX, on the various 2022 collapses, on the SEC's enforcement actions, on the Tornado Cash sanctions, and on most major crypto-finance intersection points.

What distinguishes Levine's crypto writing.

Genuine technical and legal understanding. Levine actually understands the financial structures he writes about. When he analyzes a token issuance, a CeFi failure, or a securities law question, the analysis is grounded in the actual mechanics rather than in headlines. This is rare in mainstream finance writing about crypto, which tends toward either dismissive or credulous framing without engaging the underlying technical reality.

Comic detachment. Levine is funny. The humor comes from observing the absurdities of finance with affectionate detachment. The serious crypto critic and the credulous crypto promoter both write with intensity; Levine writes with bemusement. The bemused framing produces analyses that age better because they're not invested in any particular narrative outcome.

Long-time-horizon coverage. Levine has been writing about finance daily for over a decade. His running commentary on specific stories (the multi-year arc of the SEC's Ripple case, the unfolding of the FTX bankruptcy, the developments in stablecoin regulation) is one of the most useful longitudinal records that exists. The column archives are valuable in their own right.

Where to start. Levine's column is at bloomberg.com/opinion/authors/ARbTQlRLRjE/matthew-s-levine. Most posts are free to read; some are paywalled but the substantive crypto coverage is typically accessible. There's no need to read every day — sample a few recent columns when major crypto news happens. The cadence of "Matt Levine's take on whatever just happened" is one of the most useful information habits you can develop.

Ben Thompson and Stratechery. Stratechery is a long-running independent business strategy publication, primarily focused on tech industry analysis. Thompson is a former Apple employee who has been writing about the tech industry for over a decade. Stratechery's primary product is a paid daily Update newsletter; a free Monday article is published weekly and is the entry point.

What distinguishes Stratechery for crypto purposes.

Frameworks for the broader tech-business landscape. Crypto doesn't exist in isolation — it interacts with the broader trajectory of internet commercialization, platform dynamics, regulatory frameworks for tech generally, and competitive dynamics across the tech industry. Thompson's frameworks (the Aggregation Theory, the various platform analyses) provide structural context for understanding where crypto fits and where it doesn't.

Strong skepticism balanced with engagement. Thompson has historically been more skeptical of crypto than many tech writers, but the skepticism is engaged rather than dismissive — he engages the strongest arguments, identifies where crypto has and hasn't delivered, and adjusts his framing over time as evidence accumulates. This is the right stance for serious tech writing about crypto.

The free Monday articles are typically substantial (2000-4000 words) and the topics often touch on crypto-adjacent issues even when not directly about crypto. The paid subscription is worth it for anyone seriously following the tech industry; for crypto-specific purposes, the free articles plus the occasional paid post are sufficient.

The combined recommendation. Bookmark both. Read Levine's column when major crypto news happens (he'll write about it within a day or two). Read Stratechery's Monday articles weekly. The combination produces a substantially better understanding of where crypto sits in both the finance and tech landscapes than either source alone, and is significantly more useful than the maximalist crypto-native voices for forming long-horizon views.