David Z. Morris

David Z. Morris was CoinDesk's Chief Insights Columnist. He has written about crypto since 2013 for outlets including Fortune, Slate, and Aeon. He is the author of "Bitcoin is Magic," an introduction to Bitcoin's social dynamics. He is a former academic sociologist of technology with a PhD in Media Studies from the University of Iowa. He holds Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and small amounts of other crypto assets.

David Z. Morris

Latest from David Z. Morris


Opinion

The Algorithmic Life Is Not Worth Living

Behavior modeling is the flywheel of the digital economy - and it's making us all stupid, boring, and neurotic.

Socrates, forced to drink poison for his defiance of the Hulu Watch Next queue.

Opinion

What Today's Fed Decision Could Mean for Crypto

Interest rate hikes are likely to be modest in 2022 - but that could still be enough to change the equation for speculative bets.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at his renomination hearings in January. The Fed is mulling its 2022 interest rate plans. (Brendan Smialowski-Pool/Getty Images)

Layer 2

The Privacy Boom Is Going to Change Everything

The public is wising up to the harms of surveillance. Investors see opportunity, but activists say fixing privacy requires more than new widgets. This article is part of CoinDesk's Privacy Week.

(Rachel Sun/CoinDesk)

Opinion

Bukele's Bitcoin Is Not What Turkey Needs

El Salvador's President didn't mention bitcoin in his meeting with Erdogan - but it's not a cure for Turkey's monetary woes anyway.

Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele this week. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)

Opinion

Meta Leans In to Tracking Your Emotions in the Metaverse

Meet the new world, same as the old: Horizon Worlds, where you will be bagged, tagged and mercilessly monetized.

We have such sights to show you ... (And also we'll be stealing your face.) (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Opinion

Nayib Bukele Is Not the Bitcoin Hero We Need

Evidence that El Salvador's president has targeted journalists and suppressed free speech contradicts Bitcoin's core values.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has reportedly targeted journalists with spyware. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Opinion

Bitcoin, Inflation and the Expectations Game

For stocks, new data is often already "priced in." For bitcoin, it seems, things are different.

Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Opinion

DeSo Wants Your Seed Phrase. Let Them Come and Take It

Private key security is a fundamental building block of Web 3. One project seems a little too eager to compromise.

Sterling Hayden (left) as Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper and Peter Sellers as Captain Lionel Mandrake in the 1964 film "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb." (John Springer Collection/Getty Images)

Layer 2

The Mnuchin Files: New Documents Shed Light on Trump-Era Crypto Policy

Jared Kushner advocated behind the scenes for a U.S. digital currency, among other revelations in a 250-page trove from Steven Mnuchin’s tenure at Treasury.

Steven Mnuchin (Illustration: Melody Wang/Photo: Getty Images)

Opinion

How to Stay Sane During a Crypto Crash

Crypto longtimers are unfazed by bitcoin’s recent 38% drop. Here’s why they’re so zen – and how to find your own happy place.

Things are getting rough out there, but remember: it can't rain all the time.