What should 2025 fiction– of the here and now– look like?

COULD it capture today’s chaotically volatile up-and-down economy and markets? The “let’s make a buck” societal mindset? The culmination of a tech wave of ambitious innovators and hustlers eager to make fortunes? Who are these guys? Have any writers captured the personality and/or mystery of them?

Well, yes– in our new feature short story, “Crypto” by Jonathan Stone, one of the most intelligent short story writers around.

NOT ONLY is it a glimpse of a unique moment of history– this moment– it’s an excellent story, about the pursuit of a kind of excellence. We’re sure you’ll agree when you read it!

Nine figures doesn’t happen every day, but for Mark, its pathway is utterly unsurprising – money that comes from money. Ahmet’s eight figures is inherently far stranger – produced from nothing but an idea, walked into the right receptive investor at the right market moment. When it came time to transfer proceeds – required distributions per the fund charter, and then unloading into cash equivalents when they all dumped their shares – Mark had overseen the allocation to Ahmet’s brokerage account. A deposit requiring phone calls and letters with signatories. Eight figures in a fell swoop. The American dream, on steroids. Or better yet, hallucinogens.