Top Featured

(Jim Heimann Collection/Getty Images)
'I Would Never Date a Crypto Guy Again.' What Women Say About Dating in Crypto

Three women share how greed, gluttony and pride have turned them off from dating crypto bros.

(Jim Heimann Collection/Getty Images)
(Rachel Sun/CoinDesk)
Designer Drug Markets Get Boost From Crypto

Novel psychoactive chemicals with names like 2C-B, AMT and 5-MeO-DMT are freely available at online marketplaces and digital currencies help facilitate the global trade.

(Rachel Sun/CoinDesk)
(Matt Popovich/Unsplash)
In Defense of Crime

Crime can be an important signal that something in society needs reforming, writes David Z Morris. Financial surveillance that attempts to completely prevent crime could just...

(Matt Popovich/Unsplash)
(Rodrigo Lizaraga)
The Sex Club, Tokenized

Daniel Saynt’s Manhattan sex club has plans for NFT membership and its own NSFW token. This piece is part of CoinDesk's Sin Week.

(Rodrigo Lizaraga)
(Rachel Sun/CoinDesk)
Can Crypto Save the Cannabis Industry?

The legal cannabis industry’s problems go much deeper than a lack of access to banking. This piece is part of CoinDesk's Sin Week.

(Rachel Sun/CoinDesk)
Central Texas Gun Works, in January 2014, became the first firearms retailer to accept online payment in bitcoin. (Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis via Getty Images)
As the Gun Market Moves to Crypto, Deeply Private Owners Reveal More Than They May Know

Lobbyists don’t want the government to track guns with a registry but the blockchains driving crypto act like one. This piece is part of CoinDesk’s Sin Week.

Central Texas Gun Works, in January 2014, became the first firearms retailer to accept online payment in bitcoin. (Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis via Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
How to Pay for Porn With Crypto

Artists and workers in the sex industry routinely face problems with traditional finance, making the case for crypto as a preferred payment.

(Getty Images)
(Kevin Ross/CoinDesk)
Introducing Sin Week: Sex, Drugs, Guns and Web3

Private lives, public ledgers.

(Kevin Ross/CoinDesk)
(Gwen Mamanoleas/unsplash)
Why Crypto Winter Hasn’t Dulled the Passion for Web3 Sex Work

Dead Discords, derailed roadmaps and shrinking market caps have not deterred those who think crypto could reshape adult entertainment for the better.

(Gwen Mamanoleas/unsplash)
(Rachel Sun)
The Metaverse Casino That Wasn’t

ICE Poker drives 60% of Decentraland’s traffic. Is it a casino? More like a casino-that’s-not-a-casino.

(Rachel Sun)
Russian arms manufacturer Vladislav Lobaev (Lobaev Arms)
Binance Froze Russian Gun Maker's Crypto Assets, Amid Ukrainian Pressure

Vladislav Lobaev, a Russian gun manufacturer, raised $21,000 in crypto for the war in Ukraine before the world’s largest crypto exchange locked down the funds.

Russian arms manufacturer Vladislav Lobaev (Lobaev Arms)
"NO STRINGS ATTACHED" (Cryptonatrix/cryptoart.io)
Web3 Is Still Censoring Sex Workers

Internet decentralization has not stopped the shadow-banning of sexual images, adult performers say.

"NO STRINGS ATTACHED" (Cryptonatrix/cryptoart.io)
(Viacheslav Bublyk/Unsplash)
The Perverse Impacts of the Anti-Money-Laundering System

Do anti-money laundering rules actually stop crime, and is it worth the costs to privacy and fairness?

(Viacheslav Bublyk/Unsplash)
Here's what the data tells us about crypto use in dark web markets. (Lorenzo Cafaro/Pixabay, modified by CoinDesk)
Criminal Crypto Use Is Growing, but That’s Just Half the Story

Data suggests that while authorities are getting better at sniffing out dark web markets, dark web markets are getting better at not getting sniffed out.

Here's what the data tells us about crypto use in dark web markets. (Lorenzo Cafaro/Pixabay, modified by CoinDesk)

Opinion

Opinionated 4:3
One Ex-Sex Worker’s Web3 Solution to Ethical Porn Consumption

Crass Kitty, founder of adult content platform Proof of Peach, describes how Web3 tools can make porn creation and consumption more ethical.

Opinionated 4:3
(Dmitry Demidko/unsplash)
Beyond the Silk Road: Crypto Needs a Regulatory Course Correction

The Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists' crypto and illicit finance expert says the industry needs to be more than "reluctant good citizens." This artic...

(Dmitry Demidko/unsplash)
Even the most ethical hacker could fall prey to the seven deadly sins when penetration testing. (Cesar La Rosa/Unsplash)
When White Hat Hackers Go Bad

Even the most ethical hacker can be lured in by the seven deadly sins of pen-testing. This article is part of CoinDesk's Sin Week series.

Even the most ethical hacker could fall prey to the seven deadly sins when penetration testing. (Cesar La Rosa/Unsplash)
(Viacheslav Bublyk/Unsplash)
The Perverse Impacts of the Anti-Money-Laundering System

Do anti-money laundering rules actually stop crime, and is it worth the costs to privacy and fairness?

(Viacheslav Bublyk/Unsplash)
Can the metaverse empower sex workers? (Kunal Patil/Unsplash)
Digital Liberation: How Blockchain Can Be Sexy (and Safe)

Tech is changing the way individuals live and innovate. How will this affect "the oldest profession," sex work? This article is part of CoinDesk's Sin Week.

Can the metaverse empower sex workers? (Kunal Patil/Unsplash)
(Kevin Ross/CoinDesk)
Introducing Sin Week: Sex, Drugs, Guns and Web3

Private lives, public ledgers.

(Kevin Ross/CoinDesk)
(Matt Popovich/Unsplash)
In Defense of Crime

Crime can be an important signal that something in society needs reforming, writes David Z Morris. Financial surveillance that attempts to completely prevent crime could just...

(Matt Popovich/Unsplash)
With the rise of immersive gaming and metaversal experiences, people now have even more ways to explore every aspect of their personality and interests, including their dark side. (Ayko Neil Kehl/Unsplash)
Why It Can Feel Good to Be Bad in the Metaverse

Virtual reality is fun. It’s a release. But when does it become a little too real? This article is part of CoinDesk's "Sin Week."

With the rise of immersive gaming and metaversal experiences, people now have even more ways to explore every aspect of their personality and interests, including their dark side. (Ayko Neil Kehl/Unsplash)
(Avery Meeker/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)
Why the Marijuana Industry Needs Crypto

As Congress fails to open up the financial system for the cannabis industry, crypto offers a promising alternative.

(Avery Meeker/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)

Previous Theme Weeks