Jeff Roberts

Fortune magazine Finance & Crypto Editor. Lawyer, author, policy geek, IP aficionado. DMs open.

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

Coinbase is making headlines again. If you want to get the inside scoop on the company's culture, the hard cover of Kings of Crypto drops in December! You can order now:
https://t.co/53U4uJJNLY

[Joe Walsh @WalshFreedom]

ICE deported a U.S. citizen.

Brian Morales had a Colorado birth certificate, Social Security card and hospital records proving he was born in Denver. He repeatedly told agents he was American. They refused to let him produce his documents, accused him of lying, threatened him with prison and pressured him into falsely claiming he entered illegally.

Citizens are not required to carry proof of citizenship, because this is not 1930s Germany.

Then they threw him out of his own country.

DHS still refuses to explain the evidence.

https://t.co/du9bv2U4pY explains: This is not law enforcement. It is a deportation machine that values quotas over facts, due process and citizenship. If it can erase Brian’s rights, it can erase yours. You think you’re safe when there’s no due process? You’re not.

PAXIS helps people prepare for ICE encounters and deal with the aftermath. Keep it free: https://t.co/Hi5Yo2N2N2

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

@jameswester I just remember this movie from c. 2015 when Microsoft armed a bunch of patent trolls to go after Google with flimsy software patents

No one wins but IP lawyers.

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

Ugh. Business strategies based around IP litigation rarely work and can do a lot of industry-wide damage

Innovative companies don't resort to these tactics.

Also, if these patents were genuinely valuable, IBM wouldn't be such a dumpster fire

[Circle @circle]

Circle has acquired fundamental assets from the @IBM blockchain patent portfolio, including 680+ patent families and nearly 1,000 issued patents worldwide.

The acquisition makes Circle the leading U.S. blockchain patent holder and strengthens the foundation behind USDC, CPN, Arc, and onchain financial infrastructure.

https://t.co/5LAJP629WR

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

This new banger by @jenwieczner about the sordid underbelly of the Trump family's crypto venture is full of great nuggets.

But this @nic_carter meets Steve Witkoff cameo was my very favorite!

https://t.co/7RTQkaPyfP

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

@MichaeleDudley @Gueidogg @RonwHammond thanks, updated

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

CLARITY Act looks cooked for 2026.

Clock is running out and D's midterm messaging on Trump corruption make it hard for party to vote in favor.

There's still an outside chance but, more likely, banks win again. w/insight from DC whisperer @RonwHammond
https://t.co/X72xfyFJFw

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

@Gueidogg @RonwHammond Go on…

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

Trouble is, 'trans' isn't an adjective. 'Trans woman' is a compound noun meaning 'man who wants to be considered a woman.' If the individual being described isn't trans, he's simply a man, whereas a bespectacled woman remains a woman even if she's not wearing glasses.

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

@Kapuster @BillAckman I should’ve been clearer that Ackman is not suggesting it should be compulsory.

Perhaps if one prominent company did it, other others would follow their example. Alternately, there could be some sort of tax incentive to encourage such donations

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

"Everyone, in my view, needs to participate in capitalism. Otherwise, you’re going to prefer socialism.”

That's what billionaire @BillAckman told me last month, making the case that every American should have a stock portfolio.

Right now, Ackman says, 60% of Americans cheer when the market goes up and 40%—those who don't own stock—feel resentful.

He believes giving everyone skin in the game would not only increase prosperity but also repair some of the political divisions tearing us apart. But would it?

I suggested to Ackman that a large number of Americans, especially the poorest ones, lack the financial literacy to understand the market.

And providing universal retirement accounts, which he proposes, would not address the financial stress many people feel day-to-day.

Ackman believes that simply seeing their very own portfolio would be exciting for many Americans, and that schools could step up to teach financial literacy. So why don't we try it?

My own two cents is that America is never going to build a social safety net like what you find in Canada or Scandinavia. It's just not in the country's political DNA. So a market-based solution to poverty and inequality, like Ackman proposes, is probably the best shot.

We're already seeing the basics of this structure emerge. The so-called Trump accounts, which provide $1000 to every baby, are now a reality. And Ackman and Charles Schwab are pushing to expand a program that provides IRA matches to working Americans.

In time, these programs could expand to resemble what Ackman first proposed in 2020: giving every American $6,750 in index funds at birth, which would grow to $1 million by age 64.

This could become a reality if another idea—also endorsed by Ackman—catches on: Companies like SpaceX or OpenAI donating a small portion of their stock to the accounts when they go public.

It's not clear if expanding universal retirement accounts is politically viable, or if all this would turn the political tides more in favor of capitalism. But it's an interesting idea.

For the full take, see my new @FortuneMagazine feature "The American Dream According to Bill Ackman" just below.

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

@AnnicaBenning I am SO impressed! Way to go, Annica

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

London Stock Exchange is moving onchain, which means instant settlement is coming.

Per Matt Levine, "The blockchain doesn't need lunch"

[Alexei Oreskovic @lexnfx]

Wow...

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation https://t.co/5Q7bKsJ4HR

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

https://t.co/UiCP9VL1Ot

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

I took a walk with @BillAckman, who shared policy ideas for restoring faith in the American Dream.

Critics will dismiss him b/c he's a rich white guy. But the ideas are compelling—and refreshingly positive

He also revealed a moving personal story (link in next tweet)

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

So who did tip off the press about the FBI raid of Polymarket CEO's place? Agree that his claim Kalshi was tailing him is paranoia.

My hunch, based on the tip-off going to a well-known VC reporter, is that it was the politically-connected Kalshi board member cited in NYT piece

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

@AnnicaBenning @HHorsley 🎯. I've had the same thought! "Crypto" is starting to feel like a term from another era. "Onchain" captures what we're in nicely

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

@TheStalwart @RachelVentresca Ordinarily, I'm suspicious as hell about "I was hacked" in response to embarrassing social media posts.

But Airbnb shared screenshots showing a back-and-forth with X that seemed to confirm this account. So unless company went to unusual lengths, feels account is legit..

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

So about Airbnb's CEO posting AI slop...

Turns out Chesky was hacked! Fortune's @RachelVentresca with the scoop below

(Weird thing: Hacker didn't pump any single crypto project but RWAs in general. A true believer I guess)

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

@JBSDC Not cool. But do you think this will fly given recent backlash against debanking? I doubt it..

[Jeff Roberts @jeffjohnroberts]

https://t.co/7MAuc6NEEN