At the height of the pandemic, Axie Infinity wasn’t just a game — it was a lifeline. In the Philippines, thousands of players earned a real living by battling cartoon monsters on the blockchain. But behind the scenes, cracks were forming in the game's foundation. In this episode of Proof of Stake, we trace the rise and fall of the world’s most popu…

In 2016, a mysterious attacker siphoned $60 million in Ether from The DAO—a revolutionary decentralized investment fund. What followed was a moment of reckoning for Ethereum: Should they stand by the code, or rewrite history to save the network? This is the story of the biggest hack in Ethereum’s early history—how it happened, the ideological war i…

At its peak, Bitconnect was more than just a crypto platform—it was a full-blown cult. With its devoted followers, wild promises of riches, and an infamous rallying cry ("BIIIIITCONNEEEECT!"), it pulled in billions before vanishing into thin air. So what really happened? How did this Ponzi scheme grow so fast? And why did people believe in it so bl…

For years, Tether (USDT) has been the backbone of the crypto economy, promising stability in a volatile market. But behind the scenes, questions loom—does Tether really have the reserves it claims? Or is it the ticking time bomb that could bring the entire industry crashing down? In this episode of Proof of Stake, we investigate the biggest stablec…

In 2019, Gerald Cotten, CEO of Canada’s largest crypto exchange, QuadrigaCX, was reported dead—taking $190 million of customers’ funds with him. But as investigators dug deeper, they uncovered a tangled web of deception, missing money, and a story that was stranger than fiction. Was Cotten really dead, or did he fake his own death and escape with m…