If you’ve ever tried to explain L2 gas to a friend without losing them at “rollups,” you understand why Margaret Jemituwi is catching fire. Her work at Altcoin Desk reads like a conversation you want to have after hours: technically sound, unpretentious, and punctuated with jokes that disarm the jargon. She doesn’t just cover crypto; she translates it without dumbing it down.
On any given week you’ll see her pivot from trend clashes to market roundups that actually entertain, to lesson-rich explainers. The connective tissue is a voice that’s equal parts newsroom and neighborhood, precise enough for analysts, playful enough for newcomers.
Why her byline travels
Margaret’s cross-discipline fluency is rare and it’s why her pieces bounce across group chats and Slack channels. Scan her recent run and you’ll see the range: “11 crypto tweets that actually made people money,” “6 legendary crypto trades… and the lessons they teach,” “What does a tokenized workplace look like?” Each one packages receipts with rhythm, so the takeaway sticks long after the tab closes.
Even when she goes full satire—like the fan-favorite day-in-the-life caper “My proof-of-fail internship: 24 hours of illusion as Vitalik Buterin’s sidekick”—the piece snaps back to education with a wry disclaimer and genuine teach-me energy. It’s a comedy that earns its keep.
The signature move: bridge degen and discipline
Plenty of writers can be funny about crypto. Fewer can be funny and useful. Margaret lands that split routinely:
- Clarity without condescension. Her trading primer strips price-action down to essentials—candles, RSI, support/resistance—so a first-timer can follow a desk trader’s chat the same day.
- Story with spine. The weekly “whale” wrap threads on-chain data, exploits, memecoins and culture war headlines into one narrative you can brief a team with.
- Skin in the game. Her cautionary “coin diary” on copy-trading face-plants ends with the line, “My name is Margaret Jemituwi, and this is my coin diary!”—a wink that humanizes risk better than a dozen disclaimers.
Altcoin Desk even codifies her voice on-site: “word alchemist… a reformed fintech analyst and full-time meme chef.” It’s branding, sure—but it’s also accurate.
Margaret Jemituwi: In her own words
“If I remove this joke, will the piece lose clarity—or just lose a smile?”
Q: You’ve built a voice that’s funny without being flippant. What’s your internal checklist for deciding when a joke serves the reader—and when it would sandbag the signal?
A: Honestly, I ask myself one thing before I hit publish: If I remove this joke, will the piece lose clarity—or just lose a smile? If the joke helps the reader visualize a complex point, it stays. If it’s just me trying to be clever, it goes in the “later” folder. My humor isn’t there to show I’m witty—it’s to sneak past the reader’s “this is too technical” defense wall. Sometimes a meme is the only bridge between DeFi jargon and real understanding.
“Transparency builds more trust than perfection ever could.”
Q: Your “coin diary” invites readers into your own misses. What’s the hardest lesson you’ve chosen to publish—and what did it change about your process?
A: The one where I confessed to copy-trading a “sure-win” signal that turned into a slow-motion rug pull. It was embarrassing—I literally typed the words “My name is Margaret Jemituwi, and this is my coin diary” with my portfolio crying in the background. But it taught me that transparency builds more trust than perfection ever could. Readers don’t want an untouchable expert; they want someone who’s been burned, learned, and can now hand them the fire extinguisher.
“That’s a global south-south collaboration no one is spotlighting enough.”
Q: From Lagos to Dubai, you straddle two fast-moving tech hubs. What are crypto media in Africa and the Gulf getting right—and what story is everyone still missing?
A: Both regions are nailing community engagement. In Africa, crypto isn’t just an investment play—it’s survival. People are building peer-to-peer economies that solve actual daily problems. In the Gulf, you’ve got visionary regulation that’s pulling in serious institutional players. The missing story? The cultural exchange happening quietly between these ecosystems. African devs are finding work in Dubai’s blockchain startups, and Gulf-based investors are backing African DeFi solutions. That’s a global south-south collaboration no one is spotlighting enough.
“Treat AI like an intern with unlimited coffee, not a co-author.”
Q: You cover AI as readily as altcoins. If you had to teach one five-minute mini-class to a newsroom on using AI in reporting—ethically and effectively—what would you include first?
A: Step one: Treat AI like an intern with unlimited coffee, not a co-author. It can fetch you sources, suggest leads, and summarize dense reports—but you still have to verify everything. Step two: Use it to expand, not replace, your voice. AI can show you a hundred ways to explain “staking,” but only you know which metaphor will click with your readers. Step three: Always tell your audience when AI played a role in your process. In journalism, sunlight is trust.
Editor’s takeaway
In an industry that often confuses noise with narrative, Margaret Jemituwi has found the hard middle: pieces that read like a friend, land like a brief, and travel like a meme. If crypto is going mainstream on the back of better storytelling, she’s one of the writers carrying that weight—one punchline, one plain-English explainer, one rigorously sourced roundup at a time. Start with the four stories above, then let the rabbit hole do what it does. You’ll come out smarter—and probably grinning.
Wanna have a good laugh while predicting your next bull run? Here are her handles: Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin
