Dark Markets
Dark Markets is the Newsletter for Fringe Finance. David Z. Morris, PhD (CoinDesk, Fortune) is your guide to the squirming underbelly of capitalism, where markets are irrational, money is imaginary, and the machines are even stupider than the rest of us.
David Z. Morris
Show overview
Dark Markets has been publishing since 2023, and across the 3 years since has built a catalogue of 27 episodes. That works out to roughly 20 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a roughly quarterly cadence.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 15 min and 1h 4m — with run-times ranging widely across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Technology show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 3 days ago, with 17 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2026, with 17 episodes published. Published by David Z. Morris.
From the publisher
Bleeding-edge finance and technology analyst David Z. Morris, PhD (CoinDesk, Fortune) is your guide to the squirming underbelly of capitalism, where fraud is rampant, markets are irrational, money is imaginary, and the machines are even stupider than the rest of us. davidzmorris.substack.com
Latest Episodes
View all 27 episodesCaroline Ellison, Manifold Markets, and Eugenics
Zuckerberg's AI Vision Looks Great ... for Facebook
Situational Awareness was Dumber than We Thought: Live with David Z. Morris
Effective Bribery, live with David Z. Morris
👁️ LIVE: Ben Affleck Conned by Fake Satoshi?
Leverage Research Returns, Live with David Z. Morris
KOSA vs. Privacy, Live with David Z. Morris
👁️ AI Exuberance, Binance Regulated, and SCOTUS on Executive Power - News Live with David Z. Morris
Citation Hallucinations Live with David Z. Morris
👁️ Live with DZM: The Tragedy of Barbara Fried
Live with David Z. Morris
👁️ Video: Tornado Cash and Katie Lin
How Silicon Valley Tech Bros Are Destroying Democracy Through AI, Crypto, and Fascist Ideologies
👁️ OpenAI Red Flags: Live with DZM
Apologies for the sound quality here - I was apparently still connected to my Bluetooth headphones. There’s also a brief, weird blackout at around the 4:00 mark, but stick with it, I come back!Thank you Susanne Berger, Don Buckter, TM, kbacon, Ellen Young, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidzmorris.substack.com/subscribe
👁️ The PolyFraud: Live with David Z. Morris
Thank you Honey Badger, Jen, Jean, Kathy Colbenson, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidzmorris.substack.com/subscribe
Stealing the Future: A Conversation with Daniel Pinchbeck
I was extremely flattered to see author Daniel Pinchbeck show up for one of my recent book release events. We had a great conversation about Sam Bankman-Fried, crypto, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidzmorris.substack.com/subscribe
How Epstein Seeded The Great Crypto Grift
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidzmorris.substack.com/subscribe
Why Was Alameda Tether's Biggest Client? w/Crypto Critics Corner
Cas Piancey and Bennett Tomlin are investigative reporters for Protos.com and cohosts of the venerable Crypto Critics Corner podcast. They join David Z. Morris to discuss evidence that Alameda Research was arbitraging the stablecoin Tether to users in Asia, at huge scale, and possibly in service of illegal activity.We also dig into the deeper connections between the FTX group and Tether, including their shared efforts to buy Farmington State Bank ("Moonstone Bank"), and gain access to the U.S. FedWire system.Other topics include:* Why the notorious Crypto Critics actually think Bitcoin is “super cool.”* The implications of American monitors tracking activity on Binance.* Deltec Bank’s reliance on Chinese capital.* Why nuanced critical thought is dying on the Internet.Find more episodes of the Dark Markets podcast at: https://davidzmorris.substack.com/podcastDark Markets is produced by Eleanor Pahl and features music by Altus Noumena. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidzmorris.substack.com/subscribe
Secret Network: From "Privacy Coins" to Confidential On-Chain Computing, w/ Secret Labs CEO Alex Zaidelson
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit davidzmorris.substack.comI sat down with my old friend Alex Zaidelson to talk about his current work as CEO of Secret Labs. He and his team, along with other related projects, are working to shift the conversation about on-chain privacy to focus on what they call “confidential computing.” While “privacy coins” like Monero and Beam (where Zaidelson was formerly CEO) are focused …
What is West Ham? w/ 0xKitsune
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit davidzmorris.substack.comI sat down with notorious foxboy and international currency expert 0xKitsune to talk stablecoins, community, and crypto risk. Kits is pseudonymous and appears here as an avatar. Premium Subscribers listening through the Substack App will get a bonus 15 minute segment on the philosophy and mindset of crypto traders.Topics covered in the main ep: - Why Bo…