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Scammers can even make money off of people starved for FAN fiction. That's my takeaway from a fake website popping up that tried to sell computer-generated audiobooks of fan fiction, which is content created by ANYONE based off of existing works. "Fifty Shades of Grey" started as a fanfic of Twilight, for example.
This scam website popped up in the wake of the uber-popular fan fiction website AO3, Archive of our Own, going down for an estimated two to four weeks after a "security incident." People are starved for their stories and apparently will click on anything. Lucky for the world, the scam website has been taken down.
Coming up
- How criminals are racing to launder stolen crypto
- Why gold prices are at a one-year low
- The origin of fear around the adjustable-rate mortgage
News We're Watching
How to launder THAT much cryptocurrency
What to know: North Korea just loves stealing crypto. They love it! It's become a major part of their economy. Last week, a state-sponsored hacking group called "TraderTraitor" executed the largest crypto theft in history, stealing $6.43 billion from Binance, a massive cryptocurrency exchange. $2.85 billion has been frozen or seized, according to Elliptic, a crypto analytics & compliance firm. But $3.35 billion is still linked to the group. "TraderTraitor" is actively trying to launder this money (yes, crypto is surprisingly traceable). A huge part of the stolen funds are in stablecoin, which can be frozen. Whatever isn't already frozen, the hacking group is trying to launder it and FAST. So how are they doing it?
How are the criminals laundering these assets?: Laundering this much crypto is NOT simple. The intelligence firm Elliptic broke down how "TraderTraitor" is trying to quickly protect its newfound loot. First of all, they want to turn any Stablecoin into assets that cannot be frozen, like Ether (ETH). From there, the group is using automation to create LOTS of new wallets to filter small amounts of crypto, so as not to trigger alarms for moving assets worth a bazillion dollars. From there, launderers want to move the money across networks like Ethereum to Bitcoin then pull it from a mixed pool with a bunch of other people's assets. The goal: make the crypto's origins hazy. "TraderTraitor" is moving fast. On Tuesday, Elliptic reported the group has made more than 40,000 transactions, creating a new wallet every 25 seconds.
One interesting detail: Binance has promised to make customers whole, but investors have already pulled billions from the exchange.
Why gold prices are being weird
What to know: This week, gold fell below $4,000 per ounce after hitting nearly $5,600 per ounce in January. It's typically seen as a safe-haven asset, which is why investors were shoveling money into it earlier this year. As you know, things have been a bit volatile from the Iran War to the criminal probe into the Federal Reserve chair. But today, there's still economic uncertainty, no? The war with Iran rages on. So why are gold prices falling? I took my question to Planet Money co-host Jeff Guo to find out. I asked him: could gold be going down because Treasury bond yields are up? That could mean there are MORE reliable ways to make money.
Why is gold going down?: Our answer, courtesy of Jeff Guo!
Jeff: I think you are right that rising Treasury yields are the story. As you know, gold tends to be seen as a "safe" asset and an inflation hedge; but the problem is that gold doesn't earn any income/interest on its own. Meanwhile, you could buy a 10 year TIPS (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities) bond right now that does earn income, above and beyond inflation. Sure, the Iran war is a source of political instability that might drive investors toward gold. But the main effect of the war so far seems to be raising the price of oil. And higher oil prices are one of the factors pushing interest rates up, making bonds more attractive relative to gold.
THANK YOU JEFF!
What the election means for data centers - Washington Post
What to know: People do not want data centers and the election left us with numbers to prove it. Apparently voters either BANNED or placed restrictions on data centers in at least 38 jurisdictions across the country. The numbers within the ballot measures were fascinating. It's also notable that Texas' new governor, Democrat Gina Hinojosa, ran on a platform of reining in data centers. She called for a moratorium on new projects and pushing for more aggressive protections on both ratepayers and the environment. A Democrat hasn't been governor in Texas in more than 30 years.
Why it matters: All this local opposition could actually make an impact on what big tech wants to do. Local opposition has already made a difference in data center world. S&P Global has tracked projects nationwide and found more than 146 were delayed or canceled through early August. 75% of those were tied to local opposition. Several big tech companies are dropping contract provisions that have drawn the public's ire – one that keeps early phases of data center projects a secret, for example. We will be keeping an eye on this.
Today's Indicator
The return of the adjustable-rate mortgage
If you're buying a house, you have a choice on what kind of mortgage to get. The "fixed-rate" mortgage has become dominant in the U.S. The "adjustable-rate" mortgage (ARM) makes up only five percent of mortgages here. They used to be much more popular until the 2008 financial crisis showed adjustable rates can be risky! In 2008, a man in Colorado saw his interest rate rise to NINE percent. He and his wife owed more than the house was worth.
" I am on the Titanic, watching it sink I don't even have a lifeboat," he told NPR at the time.
But now, the adjustable-rate mortgage is rising in popularity again. They represented 11% of new mortgage applications, the highest in more than a year. What's going on?
The origins of this story: The show Planet Money was actually born out of a collaborative story between NPR and This American Life called The Giant Pool of Money explaining the 2008 financial crisis. The episode moves through the housing crash by following a chain of people relevant to the market collapsing. It includes a guy (not the Colorado guy) who took out an adjustable-rate mortgage and things did NOT end well for him. His mortgage rate adjusted upwards by more than $2,000 per month due to his adjustable rate.
Rest of the Week
Why is Pakistan cozying up to the crypto industry?
Will AI take my job? Ask an economist!
Can Anthropic make enough money to justify its value?
In Our Spare Time
Producer Angel Carreras is reading DC's Absolute Martian Manhunter
I swear I read real books and NBER [National Bureau of Economic Research] papers, but I must recommend another comic: DC's Absolute Martian Manhunter.
Instead of the cartoon alien who loves Oreos and beats up other alien bad guys, this run turns John Jones (FKA J'onn J'onnz) into an FBI agent who survives a suicide bombing and merges with an alien entity. What follows is a psychedelic, politically charged comic, one that's deeply attuned to modern anxieties from the police state and climate dread to the slow erosion of the social contract and xenophobia.
Sounds heavy, but it's so wildly inventive with the medium (hold this page up to the sun! cut these bits out of the next page!) that you won't be able to put it down.
Copyright 2026 NPR
