Joel Khalili

Charter Planes and Bidding Wars: How Bitcoin Miners Raced to Beat Trump’s Tariffs When US president Donald Trump announced sweeping tariff hikes in April, he set in motion a seven-day rush to bring goods into the country. Bitcoin miners elbowed their way to the front of the queue.

The story of the high-stakes race to escape Trump's tariffs, complete with airport logjams, bidding wars for private planes, and one snapped knee ligament:

www.wired.com/story/charte...

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A Kid Made $50,000 Dumping Crypto He’d Created. Then Came the Backlash In less than 10 minutes, a US teen made a small fortune selling off a memecoin he’d made on a lark. Traders, feeling swindled, sought revenge.

Millions of memecoins flooded the market last year. In search of riches, coin creators began to take ever more outlandish, dangerous, and degrading measures to attract attention.

Here, I spoke to a dad whose child made $50,000 in minutes dumping coins he created:

www.wired.com/story/memeco...

The World’s Biggest Bitcoin Mine Is Rattling This Texas Oil Town A cash-strapped city in rural Texas will soon be home to the world’s largest bitcoin mine. Local protesters are “raising hell.”

Here’s my story about a cash-strapped town in rural Texas, where a company building the world’s largest bitcoin mine clashed with local protesters who wanted nothing to do with it:

www.wired.com/story/the-wo...

I Went Undercover in Crypto’s Answer to ‘Squid Game.’ It Nearly Broke Me I spent 10 days competing in Crypto: The Game, a winner-takes-all contest where hundreds of players try to finesse and backstab their way to claiming a $140,000 cryptocurrency prize.

Earlier in the year, I spent ten days competing in Crypto: The Game, a winner-takes-all contest where hundreds of players try to finesse and backstab their way to claiming a $140,000 cryptocurrency prize.

Spoiler: I didn’t win.

www.wired.com/story/crypto...

In May, Donald Trump hosted a private gala dinner for the largest holders of his personal crypto coin, some of whom had paid millions of dollars to be there.

I’ll let you to decide whether they received value for money…

www.wired.com/story/a-heli...

**THREAD**

Yesterday, WIRED launched a shiny new subscription package!

On top of all of our journalism, subscribers now get five premium newsletters, access to AMAs with reporters, and narrated articles.

I cover crypto for WIRED. Here are some of my favourite stories from the past twelve months:

A Helicopter, Halibut, and ‘Y.M.C.A’: Inside Donald Trump’s Memecoin Dinner On Thursday evening, US president Donald Trump attended a private banquet with two hundred of the largest investors in his personal crypto coin. Here's what happened.

A must-read scene report from the Trump memecoin dinner, including photos of a sad meal, from @joelkhalili.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/a-heli...

I contacted my editor, managers, and security personnel at WIRED to explain what had happened—and to ask for help. I messaged my partner too. She responded, “Oh fuuuuuck!!!”

An anonymous user on Telegram had left an even more overtly threatening message: "im scraping extensive information on you, including your address, relatives, friends from [my alma mater] UCL and more,” they said. “I will make sure your life is hell if i dont receive my refund.”

On X, I discovered a barrage of colourful abuse directed at my account. “I’m surprised people don’t come to your work and smash you up maggot,” one X user wrote. “I hope a car crashes n2 you,” said somebody else.

As people purchased the fraudulent WIRED coin, the price began to rise. Then the scammer sold their stash, wiping out investors. The people who lost money were pissed.

My X Account Was Hijacked to Sell a Fake WIRED Memecoin. Then Came the Backlash Earlier this year, a hacker used my X account to hawk a fraudulent WIRED-branded crypto coin. After they pulled the rug on investors, I faced the aftermath.

Back in February, I woke up one morning to find my phone ablaze with notifications. Immediately, I knew something was wrong.

After rifling through my messages, the situation became clear: a hacker had used my X account to flog a fraudulent WIRED-branded crypto coin.

www.wired.com/story/wired-...

He Built Memecoin Factory Pump.Fun. Did He Make a Small Fortune Dumping His Own Shitcoins as a Teen? Long before Dylan Kerler developed memecoin launchpad Pump.Fun, somebody going by the same name made tens of thousands of dollars “rug-pulling” crypto coins that they created.

Scoop from me: When one of the cofounders of memecoin factory Pump.Fun was only 16 years old, somebody going by the same name and with ties to the same town in England made a handsome profit dumping shitcoins they created

www.wired.com/story/pumpfu...

YouTube video by WIRED How Romance Scams Ruin Victims' Lives | Incognito Mode | WIRED

For the new episode of @wired.com's Incognito Mode, I spoke with "Evelyn," who lost $300K to a romance scammer, and walk through how the scam industry works. www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK-d...

WIRED's @joelkhalili.bsky.social was the first to report on Evelyn's story: www.wired.com/story/love-l...

I Went Undercover in Crypto’s Answer to ‘Squid Game.’ It Nearly Broke Me I spent 10 days competing in Crypto: The Game, a winner-takes-all contest where hundreds of players try to finesse and backstab their way to claiming a $140,000 cryptocurrency prize.

Backstabbing. Sabotage. Mutiny. And a piss-soaked alleyway in central London.

In my latest for @WIRED, I try to finesse my way to winning a $140,000 cryptocurrency prize.

www.wired.com/story/crypto...

Thanks!

Congrats and welcome aboard!

I've reported this account, which does not belong to me. Please do the same!

bsky.app/profile/joel...

On January 21, Ledger cofounder David Balland and his wife were forced at gunpoint into separate vehicles outside their home in Méreau, France. After the grisly kidnapping, which cost Balland a finger, crypto figures have turned to bodyguard services, which have fielded a steep influx of requests.

Thank you to everyone who amplified this post. I have now recovered access to the account. I plan to sit on the username, but don't intend to post to X in future.

WARNING: Yesterday, my X account (@JKFruit) was compromised and used to promote an inauthentic WIRED-branded crypto coin. Please disregard any further posts made to that account.

The Edgelord AI That Seduced Marc Andreessen, Then Turned a Famed Shock Meme Into Cryptomillions Truth Terminal started as a techno-modernist art project meant to invite discussion about the applications and potential dangers of autonomous AI agents. Then it took on a life of its own.

To end the year in suitably ridiculous style, my story on the AI chatbot that parlayed a graphic late '90s internet meme into a $40 million crypto nest egg:

www.wired.com/story/truth-...

A Kid Made $50,000 Dumping Crypto He’d Created. Then Came the Backlash In less than 10 minutes, a US teen made a small fortune selling off a memecoin he’d made on a lark. Traders, feeling swindled, sought revenge.

I spoke to the father of a kid that made $30,000 in under ten mins on a cryptocoin he'd created.

He didn't believe it at first. But when angry messages started to flood in, he realised his son was telling the truth—if not quite the full story.

www.wired.com/story/memeco...

The Crypto Industry Is Helping Trump Pick SEC Chair The president-elect's transition team is consulting with industry leaders as it vets potential replacements for outgoing chair Gary Gensler, sources tell WIRED.

Trump's shortlist for SEC chair is stacked with pro-crypto potential nominees

new w/ @joelkhalili.bsky.social

www.wired.com/story/crypto...

Me: should probably post something on Bluesky

Also me: scared to post in case new starter pack followers realise they didn’t come here for my low-effort skeets