Web3 is an empty buzzword – but beware, it can still hurt you

There’s plenty of excitement about a new, decentralised version of the internet. It is largely still a fantasy, but scammers are using it to lure in unsuspecting victims, writes Annalee Newitz

By Annalee Newitz

A FEW weeks ago, a couple named Heather Morgan and Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein were arrested in New York, accused of laundering $4.5 billion in stolen bitcoin. Dubbed the “crypto couple”, their story quickly went viral. Not only was the scale of the pair’s alleged crime mind-boggling, but it soon emerged that Morgan makes bizarre rap videos under the name Razzlekhan, which feature her dancing on Wall Street and issuing advice like “be a goat, not a sheep”.

This is hardly the only weird news from the often shady world of crypto. There has been plenty of hype recently about …