Born and raised in Little Village. This Forbes piece captures a difficult reality on 26th Street and spotlights my research on how federal policy volatility, including tariffs and immigration enforcement, is affecting local businesses and corridors. www.forbes.com/sites/lyanne...

I contributed to a new Brookings piece on the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling. Within hours, alternative authorities were floated to keep tariffs in place. Uncertainty is still the story for families and small biz & that matters as “affordability” takes center stage. www.brookings.edu/articles/bro...

"The rule of thumb is typically 'cheaper, better, faster' in terms of technology. But blockchains are not cheaper. They're not really faster. And the user experience is not better." – ETH Denver founder John Paller (via @decrypt.co)

About $1.7 billion flowed from two accounts at Binance, whose founder was pardoned by Trump, to Iranian entities with links to terrorist groups, a possible violation of global sanctions, investigators discovered. David Yaffe-Bellany @pekingmikenyt.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/t...

Detroit tenants are taking on crypto-backed landlords—and a broader system of housing greed. When corporations treat homes like speculative assets, communities pay the price. But residents are organizing and fighting back. Read the story👇

I spoke with Texas Public Radio about how immigration enforcement stacked on tariff volatility is creating economic instability in Texas. The ripple effects are happening in real time. www.tpr.org/podcast/fron...

Some personal news

Reduced immigration slowed population growth for the nation and most states, new census data show www.brookings.edu/articles/red...

LA County identifies the ZIP codes hit hardest by ICE. "The report, which was commissioned by the county Board of Supervisors, also found that many small businesses county-wide have lost revenue and customers since ICE ramped up its presence in Los Angeles last year." laist.com/news/politic...

This was not an inevitability. This is the result of decades of political choices that rig the system in favor of the wealthy and powerful while leaving workers behind. It does not have to be this way.

This isn’t a new playbook - Andreessen Horowitz more or less lobbied the crypto markets into existence (along with a bunch of other fintech). Lobbying and marketing - rather than finding good tech- is WHAT THEY DO. fintechdystopia.com/chapters/cha...

This WSJ reporting from South Texas mirrors what my latest report finds. Immigration enforcement is functioning as an economic shock, showing up first as construction delays, supplier layoffs, and stalled investment: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

does anyone else remember when the 2022 Super Bowl had so many crypto ads people were calling it the Crypto Bowl and then crypto just absolutely fucking tanked? anyway

“We must be willing to say that the hedge fund managers have no clothes and their parading about is an unpleasant sight for us all,” Oren Cass writes. “Your daughter has taken a job at Blackstone? My condolences.”

The Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on Thursday launched an initiative to help small businesses and neighborhoods in the Chicago area recover from the effects of raids by federal immigration agents.

This is my beat. It all depends on how interconnected crypto and the traditional financial system have become. See: driverlessfinancebook.com fintechdystopia.com/chapters/cha...

In regular markets, market stress signals further declines in valuations. In crypto markets, market stress signals a bunch of fraud is about to come to light. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Crypto prices have fallen sharply despite President Trump’s support, with Bitcoin down more than 50% from its peak.

I wrote about the crypto crash and why this is the worst crypto winter in the industry's history. Sub to the Odd Lots newsletter here www.bloomberg.com/account/news...

Bitcoin under $65k today from a high ~$125k. Private credit is falling apart and institutionals are trying to fight their way out of private equity exposures. Tell me again why this administration is encouraging plan managers to pawn these assets off on retirement savers? tinyurl.com/3js6eyru

New Mexico's legislature just passed a bill that bans local governments from joining ICE's 287(g) program *and* from hosting detention centers. On to the governor. www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/i...

This is a big shift, and you can see why in the map. 287(g) agreements are deeply uneven across states, with real economic consequences for local businesses and workers. 📊 My research here: www.brookings.edu/articles/eve...

State Fiscal Chiefs Protest Federal Immigration Chaos www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/b...

having trouble processing the washington post news on top of all the other news of the worst people in the world gutting or degrading things that matter. I'm just so sad & angry. primarily, the journalists who've been laid off (many of whom i look up to) deserve better. but it hurts all of us.

“You need only know this: Whatever is happening with your data, it is important enough to the most egregiously lawless administration in American history that it be collected and consolidated.” Always read @tressiemcphd.bsky.social (gift link)

I'm in Arkansas, and the response to data centers here has been enlightening. Too many people got burned by crypto miners dumping a shipping container full of servers running 24/7 in their backyard, and now they want blood. It's a very broad coalition of people.

Thank you, Victor. I spent a few weeks on this. As usual, it’s always a negotiation with length. So a few other bon mots: 1. The admin has issued DOJ guidance to challenge state laws that would regulate AI www.wired.com/story/ai-sup...

Two months of heavy ICE presence in the Twin Cities are crushing the metro area's retail, food, and entertainment industries -- like Covid, business owners told me, except without the federal aid. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/b...

New reporting from The New York Times on how immigration enforcement is rippling through local economies. I was quoted in the piece, but the story is really about what small business owners are experiencing on the ground www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/b...

Today, we honor the birthday of Franklin D. Roosevelt—a leader who guided the nation through crisis with bold vision and unwavering resolve. While it may be his 144th birthday, FDR’s ideas still speak to our current economic and political moment. 1/6 🧵

the arrest of journalists in minneapolis, including don lemon, is more evidence that the only move the administration knows how to make is to use force, and does not know how to respond when that force is met with defiance and indifference.

Latino entrepreneurs are bellwethers of economic stress, including in 'business-friendly' states like TX, FL, and NC. New report: www.brookings.edu/articles/eve...

"ICE OUT" on Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, as seen from my flight leaving MSP airport

Brian Shearer and Adam Levitin—two of the biggest brains in consumer finance land—have been going back and forth on the proposed 10% credit card interest rate cap. It’s a policy debate that’s both wonky and worth your time. Here’s a little thread. 1/9

Congress is fast-tracking crypto — not fixing the real economy. New op-ed in Fast Company: www.fastcompany.com/91474218/cry...

“Support your local businesses because they contribute to the community as well as give back to the community.”

🪙 With the recent adoption of a federal #stablecoin law and more #crypto regulations on the horizon, what does this all mean for consumers? Hear our panel of experts dig into the future of these financial markets. #CryptoRegulation #CFAFSC

“Just because the status quo isn’t working, doesn’t mean that #crypto is the solution” #GeniusAct #CFAFSC - Tonantzin Carmona, @brookings.edu

“I want you to understand what it is like to live in Chicago during this time.” aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...

Latino entrepreneurs are driving America’s small-business boom—but facing “policy-made crises” from tariffs, raids, and program cuts. New @brookings.edu report out today: Stabilizing Latino entrepreneurs amid federal policy volatility www.brookings.edu/articles/sta...

NEW 📰: Building a more effective government that moves beyond the status quo requires honest reflection. Drawing on interviews with more than 45 former senior Biden officials, our latest report offers 161 practical recommendations for better governance. https://bit.ly/4312Zid

The real scandal of the Argentina bailout open.substack.com/pub/bharatra...

"I was struck by the detail that CNN documented at least a dozen potential fraud cases tied to a single ATM. That’s an indication not just that one ATM has a problem, but that these cases of fraud are rampant in the US," writes Zachary B. Wolf. | Analysis https://cnn.it/475HHko

Crypto cowboys have taken over Wyoming, and “the regulators are so happy to be captured.” Workers have gotten nothing, while crypto advocates ramble about how the real value of crypto is “potentially its uselessness.” From @whitneycwimbish.bsky.social: trib.al/AhD93ZM

NEW @crisesnotes.bsky.social PIECE: With the attempted firing of Lisa Cook by Donald Trump, the first Black woman appointed to the Federal Reserve Board, I think its important to examine the @federalreserve.gov's history of Racial Segregation. This is a long one www.crisesnotes.com/the-federal-...

Justice Sotomayor, not mincing words, also says that today's decision will lead to the "creation of [] a second-class citizenship status" for Latinos, who now will have the burden to "carry enough documentation to prove that they deserve to walk freely."

🚨The Supreme Court today gives Trump a license to engage in racial profiling, with Justice Kavanaugh writing in concurrence to expressly endorse ICE and Border Patrol targeting any Latinos they observe in Los Angeles speaking Spanish and then demanding their papers.

"Let's Get Skeptical," the final chapter of Fintech Dystopia, has dropped fintechdystopia.com/chapters/cha... Covering - How much the abundance agenda and VC output suck - Silicon Valley subsidies we can take away - How to laugh our way into Silicon Valley skepticism - A plan to actually fix finance

If you'd like to know the many, many reasons why this is not fine, I wrote a book chapter about the many ways in which blockchains are terrible: fintechdystopia.com/chapters/cha...