Listen to a podcast episode about the time a 'Bored Ape' NFT—a valuable, unique digital asset stored on a blockchain—was kidnapped.

A unique art piece became the most expensive NFT when it sold for $92M

Non-fungible tokens sold for millions of dollars during their popularity peak from 2021 to 2022, with the top ten most expensive NFTs all costing upwards of $7M.

PixelMap, one of the oldest NFT projects, made its creator an overnight millionaire

PixelMap suddenly became popular as crypto enthusiasts looked to own a piece of NFT history. Its creator talks about its surprise success in this podcast.

NFT trading volumes rose 700% in the third quarter of 2021

Non-fungible tokens, digital assets backed by smart contracts, gained mainstream recognition in 2021 as the digital assets’ popularity rose in tandem with investors’ appetite for risk. NFTs are unique and not divisible.

NFTs have been leveraged by brands to represent physical and digital items

The buzz around non-fungible tokens has faded since 2021 to 2022, when brands including Prada and Starbucks launched their own NFTs. While Prada’s NFTs were linked to limited-edition fashion items, Starbucks’ were part of a loyalty program.

At their peak, some believed NFT royalties could create a new income source for artists

Non-fungible tokens’ role in the art world is evolving with experiments such as automated NFT royalties that generate income when an NFT is resold.

Bubbles can exist in markets for collectibles, not just industries and technology

This podcast tells how "Magic: The Gathering" faced its own speculative bubble as rare cards surged in resale value—risking a Beanie Baby-style crash. It follows how the game’s creators tried to engineer a system to keep a collectibles market from collapsing.

NFTs are unique assets that exist on the blockchain

This SNL skit accurately defines non-fungible tokens in a song and skit. They are cryptographic tokens that represent digital assets like art, and their value can be volatile.

The number of active art NFT traders peaked above 529,000 in 2021

The market for art non-fungible tokens has collapsed since its 2021 peak. In 2024, it had just 76,000 active traders.

Crypto history's is full of bizarre stories

Digital currencies based solely on misspellings of former President Joe Biden’s name have skyrocketed, and backers of a token based on a Shiba Inu wearing a hat raised $690K to get their logo on the Las Vegas Sphere.

The Chain Reaction podcast: The latest in bitcoin and blockchain developments

There are constantly new tokens, DeFi projects, NFT collections, and DAOs being launched, but how can you make sense of everything going on in the crypto space? TechCrunch senior crypto reporter Jacquelyn Melinek explores the impact of crypto on finance, art, web3, and society as a whole. One the best resources to keep up with actual—meaning, beyond the hype—developments in the world of bitcoin and blockchain.

Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin was surprised by the emergence of NFTs

Scams have pervaded the NFT space and made critics question their legitimacy, but proponents believe their use cases could one day extend to real estate and credit scores.

Bitcoin started as a .PDF

Have you ever wondered how bitcoin became, well, bitcoin? In this podcast episode, journalist PJ Vogt dives into what drove the bitcoin hype machine, explaining how it became the phenomenon it is today.

The memecoin casino

This podcast episode dives into the origin story of memecoins like Dogecoin and how people make money off of them in the crypto world.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide.

The biggest NFT projects that live on Ethereum include Bored Apes

Non-fungible tokens are primarily built on the Ethereum blockchain, though other blockchains host the tokens. NFT projects hosted on Ethereum include Bored Apes and plots of land in Decentraland.

Breaking down the details on how the art heist at the Louvre unfolded

On October 19, 2025, several people dressed as construction workers climbed a construction lift and broke into the Louvre, stealing roughly $100M of crown jewels. This podcast breaks down the specifics of the heist.

Listen to a podcast exploring reported UFO and alien sightings

From the most shocking accounts of abductions and UFO sightings to an interview with a Harvard professor about these claims, dive into fascinating stories about run-ins with ETs that have continued to be told for decades.

Banksy turned graffiti into high art

The anonymous artist is renowned for his puckish, often stenciled street art. He's also known for the eye-popping sales those works command once they're up for auction. This podcast dives into the history of the singular artist, exploring how a British graffiti artist became a cultural icon.

True crime, explained

Tales exploring some of the most grisly and unthinkable crimes have satisfied the public's morbid curiosity for more than a century, and modern podcasting has shot the genre to new heights. Want to learn more about the history of true crime? 1440 has the breakdown here.

The acronym NFT stands for non-fungible token

NFTs have developed as a secure way to use cryptocurrencies and the blockchain to create unique digital art, allowing the owner to prove ownership of a specific digital item.

Explore a podcast devoted to uncovering different conspiracy theories

Hear stories of controversial events from all around the world and come to your own conclusions about why they happened—and if someone shaped the narrative around them. From art fraud to the death of a Roman emperor, this Spotify podcast covers it all.

Some venture capitalists believe cryptocurrency will revolutionize global finance

Some of the brightest minds at Andreesen-Horowitz, one of the country’s leading venture capital firms, believe the cryptocurrency ecosystem will revolutionize global finance in the coming decades. This podcast recounts, through their view, the history of crypto, how it works, and trends they see emerging in the future.

Beanie Babies used to be viewed by some as alternative investments

Beanie Baby stuffed animals were once a hot collector item with skyrocketing prices as people believed that the toys would significantly grow in value over time.

Spellcaster: the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried

The rapid collapse of FTX, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, in late 2022 shocked the world. At the center of the fiasco was Sam Bankman-Fried, a 29-year-old wunderkind who had entranced politicians, journalists, financiers, and others with his melding of altruism and digital currency. The sordid details revealed as the empire fell captured public attention—venture into the death spiral with this in-depth podcast from Bloomberg.

Why blockchain applications are worth investing and building

Chris Dixon is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. In this hourlong podcast episode, Dixon shares his overall thesis for investing in the cryptocurrency space, the opportunities and limitations of blockchain applications, and why this is the most interesting area for investing and building over the next 10 years.

Read about why America is obsessed with the stories of financial scammers.

Breaking down the numbers on art theft trends

Cultural property theft has been on the rise in recent years, and the recovery rate of such artifacts is estimated to be below 10%. Explore dozens of other statistics here.

Successful art thieves run into the problem of having a painting too famous to sell

This potentially explains why some robbers hold onto these pieces for years, even decades. Security experts say no reputable art dealers, or even black-market dealers, are willing to sell stolen works by famous artists like Van Gogh or Modigliani.

The global horse market is worth about $400B

In this podcast episode from a new series on horses, Freakonomics explores the market around buying and selling some of the world's top sport horses, and the nebulous forces that make them so valuable.

The Beanie Baby craze is known as one of the wildest collectible bubbles in history

The Beanie Baby boom saw collectors drive prices for stuffed animals into the hundreds or thousands of dollars, fueled by hype surrounding scarcity and online bidding wars. When demand collapsed in the early 2000s, the market crashed—leaving steep losses for many speculators.

Memecoins are cryptocurrency created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes

Dogecoin is perhaps the most famous "memecoin." While they tend to be more volatile than other types of crypto (after all, they're often created due to ephemeral trends), that doesn't mean they can't be valuable: Dogecoin is currently one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies in the world.

Bitcoin, the oldest and most popular cryptocurrency, is a digital cash alternative introduced in 2009 that rapidly grew in popularity and now boasts a global user base.

Two Papa John's pizzas were the first real-world transaction involving cryptocurrency.

Nearly a quarter of the US's 451 top-ranked podcasts belong to the true crime genre

Perhaps, Pew Research Center proposes, this popularity stems from the fame of "Serial," the 2014 hit series about a 1999 murder in Baltimore. Politics and government is the second top genre. Outside typical genre divides lie series such as fictional radio stories and Dungeons & Dragons podcasts, which account for 12% of top-ranked podcasts.

Why cryptocurrency matters from Andreesen Horowitz general partner

In this hourlong video, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) General Partner Chris Dixon discusses "Crypto Networks and Why They Matter," giving an overview of the cryptocurrency space, the transformative implications of its technology, and the potential for cryptocurrency networks to lead a new wave of innovation.

YouTube brought endless content—and endless culture wars

How did YouTube grow from a startup in 2005, to a media powerhouse with more than 2.5 billion monthly logged-in users who watch more than 1 billion hours of video every day? That’s what this podcast interview with Bloomberg tech reporter Mark Bergen on NPR’s Fresh Air explores.

Stolen art is often ransomed rather than resold because it is too risky for collectors to purchase.

Listen to a podcast episode that goes inside the 2017 Equifax credit bureau hack

This podcast episode details a 2017 credit bureau hack in which Equifax data about millions of Americans was compromised. It dives into the history of credit bureaus, specifically how they became legally allowed to access Americans' financial information without Americans actually volunteering it themselves.

NFTs create a unique digital signature to prove ownership

NFTs create digital certificates for unique online collectibles, mainly on the Ethereum blockchain. Artists can leverage NFTs to verify their online works.

A beginner's guide to creating your own NFT

It took 12 hours and three different Apple devices, but this 30-something poet successfully minted her first NFT, and so can you. Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating an NFT.

Explore a list of the world’s weirdest and wildest ETFs

Whether you’re leaping straight into the future and looking for stocks picked by AI, a sci-fi aficionado who wants to invest in space travel, or a drama enthusiast looking to make money on stock market volatility, the ETF market’s weird corners have something for you.

Some robbers have been able to steal works of art with surprising ease

A number of heists have taken place in just a few minutes, relying on a small team and minor weapons. Once pieces are stolen, some are sold as high-quality replicas, leaving art collectors unknowingly holding original masterpieces in their collections.

Listen to a podcast episode that explains how the Chinese discount e-commerce retailer Temu became one of the most downloaded apps in the US.

Nonfiction books have been struggling to sell in the mid-2020s

In the early 2020s, readers sought out nonfiction books to help explain prominent current events, such as the first presidency of Donald Trump and the BLM movement. That interest has since waned, as publishers note that readers have lately shown a preference for escapism and gather their information from podcasts.

The world of rare and expensive Pokémon cards

The rising value and popularity of Pokémon trading cards is driven by nostalgia, influencer culture, and the launch of Pokémon Go. Fans of the decades-old Japanese game are now seeking to buy rare cards in mint condition for thousands of dollars, sometimes even millions. Learn more about the frenzy to collect these rare cards, and how influencer Logan Paul helped boost market interest in this article.

The creator economy—which is projected to be worth as much as $480B by 2027—is a system powered by people creating online content for monetizable audiences.

Stephen Findeisen is the YouTuber taking on crypto scams

While many cryptocurrencies are focused on advanced technical projects or real-life uses, the proliferation of easy-to-create memecoins has led to a boom in scams. Stephen Findeisen, aka Coffeezilla, is regarded as one of the best independent investigative journalists exposing high-profile frauds, pump-and-dump schemes, rug-pulls, and more.

The world's 50 most valuable private companies

While public companies typically have the highest valuations, private companies get close. This list breaks down the top 50 as of 2025, with SpaceX at the top with a value of $350B, followed by ByteDance. Over three-fifths of the list are located in the US, with eight in China.

Pop culture sometimes changes the way people invest

After the "Barbie" movie premiered, the number of investors in Barbie parent company Mattel's stock grew more than six times larger on the investment platform Public, according to the platform's recent report. Other cultural trends have affected which stocks investors choose as well.

A 'unicorn' is a private company with a $1B-plus valuation

Just like a horse with a spiraling horn on its head, private companies with a more than $1B valuation are rare creatures. But unlike the mythical creature, this type of “unicorn” is occasionally spotted in the wild. Unicorn companies include SpaceX, OpenAI, Skims, and more.