FOMO: examining the execution layer behind the interface
The more I look at @fomo, the less interested I am in the glossy growth story and the more interested I am in the execution architecture underneath it.
Research & analysis11 min
Read the publication
MASTR · 2024–2026
All publications · 4
Original investigations, critical essays and the conversations behind them. Read by subject, follow a thread, or find a person or project in the source texts.
694 · Selected publications · 4/29
The Solana bot economy: who gets paid before the retail trade?
The Solana bot economy: who gets paid before the retail trade?. Dated original source, with context and links.
Research & analysis12 min
Coldcard: firmware history, signatures and review questions
There are too many details here that deserve a closer look: the firmware vulnerability itself, the "switck" identity, Peter D. Gray / @DocHex, the GPG signatures linking the accounts, the integration of "libngu", the development history, and…
Research & analysis8 min
Trading psychology: MASTR’s collection of attributed quotations
Not because every one of them is universally right, but because together they say a lot about what trading actually comes down to: risk, patience, psychology, discipline and surviving your own stupidity.
Commentary & rants3 min
Why serious security research struggles to pay for itself
Security, research and honest information have almost no economic value in crypto because they require the one thing this industry despises more than regulation: sustained attention.
Commentary & rants4 min
Dexscreener Boosts and the paid Trending Score
Its own documentation states that paid Boosts directly increase a token’s Trending Score for 12 to 24 hours.
Commentary & rants1 min
MiCA authorisation: checking the legal entity behind an exchange
It does, however, mean that a specific European legal entity has passed an authorisation process and is subject to regulatory supervision, governance rules, prudential safeguards, client-asset protection requirements, complaints procedures,…
Research & analysis3 min
Crypto’s attention economy and the cost to useful work
Crypto is starving while directing an absurd share of its attention toward disposable tokens, manufactured narratives and products designed to monetize impulse before anyone has time to ask what they actually bought.
Research & analysis5 min
When low-effort posts bury original work
Even some people I genuinely like have started posting complete bullshit because apparently that is what the algorithm rewards now.
Commentary & rants2 min
BitMart withdrawals: missing transaction IDs and support disputes
You are trapping users behind frozen withdrawals, cancelled transactions, missing TXIDs and dead support while publicly pretending their money remains accessible.
Research & analysis2 min
Can useful products survive without a hype machine?
More accurately, I started building it before my vacation, but the further I get, the more I wonder whether serious products have any chance here unless they come wrapped in hype, a shitcoin, or somebody already famous enough to…
Commentary & rants3 min
Bots, MEV and manufactured hype: a Web3 grievance list
- Bots. - Hype - MEV bots. - People who are in crypto but vote for oligarchs and autocrats or defend ketamine-addicted trillionaires. - AI-generated comments. - Influencers and KOLs. - Scammers. - Marketing people. - BitMart listing…
Commentary & rants3 min
Exit liquidity and the culture of avoiding responsibility
For someone to walk away with profit, someone else has to buy too late, trust the wrong person, hold the exit liquidity or lose entirely.
Commentary & rants2 min
A map of the Solana ecosystem
A detailed map of Solana’s infrastructure, from validator clients and RPCs to wallets, liquidity, security and payments.
Original articles15 min
A small reward and a large permission: AI-wallet access
A small reward and a large permission: AI-wallet access. Dated original source, with context and links.
Commentary & rants1 min
Tokenisation: the asset, the claim and the marketing
I want to take a closer look at the tokenization hype and explain why most of what is being marketed as “tokenization” in this space is completely pointless garbage.
Research & analysis5 min
Professional standards in an industry that handles user funds
I am probably one of the most openly pro-crypto people you will find, but being pro-crypto does not require pretending that this industry is professionally mature.
Commentary & rants3 min
Exchange accountability · 28 Jul 2026
It genuinely hurts to see so many people losing substantial amounts of money because yet another Web3 bank, this time BitMart, is allegedly withholding customer funds while still trying to extract additional payments before shutting its…
Commentary & rants2 min
Elon Musk: a review of promises and delivery dates
A dated review of public predictions and delivery timelines, with the original examples and source context.
Original articles14 min
KOL credibility as an inventory to monetise
They do not write code, ship products, trace funds, publish verifiable research or accept responsibility when their followers get destroyed.
Research & analysis3 min
Trump: political influence · 27 Jul 2026
They are parading a handful of alleged $TRUMP winners across your timeline and presenting one of the most grotesque retail extraction events in recent crypto history as a “missed opportunity.”
Commentary & rants1 min
An archive of centralised exchange closures
BitMart: January 31, 2027 - BitMEX: September 23, 2026 - AscendEX: July 1, 2026 - Knaken: June 2026 - March 31, 2026 - ProBit Global: February 26, 2026 - OceanEx: December 5, 2025 - Payeer Exchange: October 23, 2025 - Felixo: July 18, 2025 -…
Research & analysis2 min
BitMart: the history behind the wind-down
A review of BitMart’s earlier disputes, security incidents and withdrawal concerns alongside its 2026 closure announcement.
Original articles11 min
Compromised public X accounts used to promote crypto scams
1/2 This is my (crazy!) list of high-profile X accounts that were compromised and then used to promote memecoins, fraudulent tokens or related crypto scams.
Research & analysis5 min