Current Position & Biography Jacob Silverman is a reporter for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and an author whose work examines technology, finance and political power. His current ICIJ staff page identifies him as a United States-based reporter. On his own website, he dates his arrival at the nonprofit newsroom to July 2026. Earlier contributor biographies describing him as an independent journalist should therefore be read as historical descriptions rather than his current employment status.
His connection to digital assets is sustained reporting and criticism, rather than building a blockchain or issuing a token. He coauthored Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud with Ben McKenzie. Abrams published the book on July 18, 2023. The book takes a strongly skeptical position on cryptocurrency markets; that editorial perspective is central to understanding his place in the sector’s public debate.
Notable Contributions Easy Money brought long-form reporting about cryptocurrency businesses, market promotion and the experiences of participants to a general readership. The publisher describes reporting conducted in the United States and abroad, drawing on interviews across the industry. Its account and conclusions are the authors’ work, not a legal determination about every company, token or participant in the market.
Silverman’s wider bibliography includes Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection, published in 2015, and Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley, first published in October 2025. These books place his cryptocurrency coverage within a broader examination of digital platforms and concentrated influence. His ICIJ profile also lists cryptocurrency reporting in 2026, demonstrating that the subject remains part of his work beyond the 2023 book.
Why Katharos Is Following Them Silverman is relevant to the information environment surrounding digital assets. Journalists and critical authors help determine which claims receive scrutiny and which questions reach a wider audience. Following this work can help readers understand debates about disclosure, consumer protection, financial incentives and the relationship between technological promises and operating businesses.
Inclusion here records a public reporting role. It is not an endorsement of the conclusions of a book, a prediction about cryptocurrency prices, or an assessment that all uses of blockchain share the same risks.
Areas to Follow Future reporting on cryptocurrency businesses and financial oversight; the evidence behind public claims about adoption and utility; the interaction between technology companies, capital and policy; and the distinction between documented facts, disputed assertions and an author’s interpretation.
Reporting Scope Katharos will follow Silverman’s published journalism, books and relevant public appearances. Coverage should identify the publication date and distinguish his reporting from the responses of its subjects. Any specific allegation requires its own supporting sources and current legal context. This profile does not reproduce allegations against named third parties or imply a regulatory role for its subject.
Katharos Category Community, Media & Education
Photo Credit Ramsey Cardy / Web Summit via Sportsfile, “RC2_0980,” November 4, 2022. Archival photograph at Web Summit, Lisbon. CC BY 2.0; cropped and resized. Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/websummit/52476371941/ License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/