Paul Vigna, of the Wall Street Journal, Knows his Cryptocurrency

Paul Vigna, of the Wall Street Journal, knows his crypto from his currency

When they finally get around to writing the full history of cryptocurrency, one name will loom larger than all the rest -- Paul Vigna, of the Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Vigna, a modest and unassuming man who prefers to identify himself as a turnip farmer from Verona, New Jersey, has followed Bitcoin and other cybercurrencies since their hazy inception ten years ago. He it was who first cast doubt on the existence of Satoshi Nakamoto, grouping him with Prester John and the Loch Ness Monster as merely a convenient and somewhat whimsical fairy tale figure.

Standing aloof from the partisan and greed-induced hurly burly of the cryptocurrency maelstrom, Mr. Vigna's cool eye and steady hand have made him a keen analyzer and stern critic of this monetary Johnny-come-lately. While other reporters plucked at their toupees in anguish and eventually took prussic acid to end their puzzled agony, Mr. Vigna tracked down the online protagonists and offline antagonists in government and finance -- sniffing out the wheat from the chaff, and then sneezing it all over the place on his MoneyBeat blog for the edification of the masses. He has kept all his ducks in a row until they flew South for the winter.

When Mr. Vigna is not busy whaling on the whales or bruising blockchains he likes to relax by playing the zither in his garage band, The Garden State Gnomes. They are available for weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, interventions, and household pest control.