Introducing: Rare Sams
Own a piece of crypto history - on your wall, and on the blockchain.
UPDATE: Rare Sams are now LIVE for auction on OpenSea. The auction will close on December 22nd.
Note: Thank you to all my loyal subscribers for putting up with a brief sales pitch. Hopefully this project will ultimately mean you get MORE Flesh/Markets, so I appreciate your patience.
The Absolute State
Life is pretty weird right now. On the one hand, having been laid off by CoinDesk back in August, I remain technically “unemployed.” (For the record, I’m available.)
At the same time, there are incredible things happening – for instance, my layoff left me free to report on the Sam Bankman-Fried trial. Hopefully I’ll be able to share more detail very soon about what has will in turn come out of that: a book.
This will be the sort of book I’ve dreamed about writing for many years – a serious examination of the very deepest social forces that create something like Sam Bankman-Fried. You can read a partial overview of those ideas here: The Boy Who Wasn’t There: Why SBF Matters.
Now, the downside of writing what is basically a book of financial philosophy and super-macroeconomic trend analysis is that while they can sell well, I don’t anticipate getting a big chunk of money up front to support the writing process. This is where you come in.
Would you like to own this amazing sketch, from inside the SBF courtroom, of Sam getting his shit COMPLETELY COOKED by AUSA Danielle Sassoon?
Remember, there were no cameras in the courtroom. These sketches, alongside the work of the great courtroom sketch artists of SDNY, are among the only contemporaneous visual records of what happened at the trial of one of the biggest financial fraudsters of all time. Each captures a specific moment in the trial, often including my notes of actual testimony.
So I’ll be selling 15 unique courtroom sketches, as part of a series I’m calling RARE SAMS. In addition to sketches of Sam himself, there are sketches of Nishad Singh and Can Sun (misspelled by me as “Cam” Sun for real authenticity); one each of Joe and Barbara, one of lawyer Mark Cohen, etc. (Tragically, no Caroline Ellison - I didn’t make it into the courtroom for her testimony).
At the end of this email, you’ll find preview images and titles of all of the pieces.
The sale for the 1/1s will likely be in an auction format. It will likely launch in the next five to ten days. It will be announced FIRST here on Flesh/Markets. So if you’re not subscribed, do so.
The sketches will be delivered in two forms. The initial sale will be for NFTs minted to Ethereum, and likely will be conducted on Manifold. But each 1/1 NFT purchaser will also receive the original notebook page where the sketch appeared. These pages also includ my live notes from the trial. (Again, full-page images of the physical works appear below.)
So for instance, the buyer of the Danielle Sassoon NFT sketch shown above will also get this notebook page, framed for display:
Added Bonuses
The main point of this sale is to support my book project. But buyers of the 1/1 NFTs will also be eligible for a variety of bonuses and benefits.
Please note, purchasers will likely be anonymous or pseudonymous by default. These benefits can be collected anonymously, but it will be up to the purchaser to contact me through secure channels and arrange secure mailing of physical rewards in accordance with their own security stance. (If you’re willing to share your identity with me, things will be much easier and I’ll keep it private.)
Framed Physical Art
Most importantly, remember: You get the NFT, and you get the framed notebook page for real-world display.
Signed Book
Buyers will receive a signed copy of the eventual SBF book, personalized if desired.
Lifetime Flesh/Markets Subscription
The initial buyer of each piece receives a free lifetime subscription to Flesh/Markets. I’d say this is worth around $500 - or much more, if you still find me interesting in a decade.
Consultation Hour
Interested buyers will be eligible for a one-hour one-on-one consultation with me. Topics might include crypto market or product insights and writing or thought leadership coaching.
Gift Subscription
Each buyer also gets one free one-year gift subscription for the recipient of your choice. (If prices get nutty, I’ll be happy to add more gift subs.)
Coming Next: Open Edition
If you are interested in supporting me and the book project, but don’t want to spend a lot of money on a unique piece, fear not. Within a week or two, I also plan to release an “open edition” of simple NFTs, likely at a low fixed cost. These will be modified from the original drawings to mark them as distinct from the 1/1s, but will still be Fun and Cool. Ideally the mint price will be around .02-.03 ETH.
Meet the Sams
Here are all 15 Rare Sam 1/1s, with the NFT on the left and the full note page on the right. (Each is a bit cropped for space.)
“So The Answer Was, Anything”
“I Wasn’t Nearly as Correct”
“Go Negative in Those Assets”
“I Wish I Had a Better Understanding Than I Did”
”Head”
“Withdraw Below Zero”
"Did you Ever Institute Any Requirements for Alameda to Repay?" (AUSA Danielle Sassoon)
“Never Needed” (Nishad Singh)
"Be Careful Not to Liquidate" (Barbara Fried)
“In a Sense” (Joe Bankman)
“Shall or May Be Loaned” (Can Sun)
“That Wasn’t the Purpose I Was Told” (Mark Cohen)
"Transfer in the Serum" (Nishad Singh)
"I Don't Recall Learning" (SBF)
"Current Value of $60m Investment = Zero" (Robert Boroujerdi)
And there you have it. In my dreams, there’s enough interest in these that I can focus entirely on the book for a few months. More realistically, this sale will help me bridge into a flexible workload that will allow me to *mostly* focus on the book for a few months.
Stay tuned for the launch of the sale, soon. And even if you’re not a buyer, spreading the word would be very helpful. I’m very grateful for your support.