🎁 45% of Gen Z wants this for Christmas

Happy Thursday, {{first_name | friend}}. We’ve all got our breakfast staples. Some go with the classic cereal and milk. There’s the omelet, avocado toast or “just coffee, don’t talk to me” crowd. And then there’s Jeff Bezos who, during a high-stakes business meeting, mentioned his go-to breakfast that made everyone in the room say, “Huh?”

🌅 What seafood did Bezos admit to loving for breakfast? A) Caviar on toast, B) Octopus, C) Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, D) Raw oysters. Spoiler: They don’t serve it at IHOP. Keep reading, the answer is waiting at the end! 

🎟️ Only five days left to win. One reader scores up to $500 in Amazon gift cards every day, and the $1,000 grand prize hasn’t landed yet. Take a second and check the Golden Ticket below.

👆 Just one, uno, un. That’s how many people I need you to forward this newsletter to. It helps us grow, keeps this newsletter free and makes the world tech-smarter. Plus, it’s your good deed of the day! Thanks in advance. I knew I could count on you! — Kim

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I read that 45% of GenZers want crypto for Christmas. I’ve taken a few calls on my show asking the best way to do it. Buying crypto as a Christmas gift sounds complicated. It’s not, if you take it step by step and skip the hype. 

Let’s start with the easiest option.

Step 1: Create a Coinbase account
Go to Coinbase and sign up. You’ll need to verify your identity and link a bank account or debit card. This is standard practice to help prevent fraud.

Step 2: Buy a well-known cryptocurrency
Search for Bitcoin or Ethereum. These are the most established and beginner-friendly. Choose Buy and enter the dollar amount you want to gift. You don’t need to buy a full coin.

Step 3: Give the gift
For Christmas, give a card or note saying you bought them crypto and will help them set it up. You can print out your crypto account screenshot.

Step 4: Help the recipient create their own Coinbase account
After Christmas, sit down together and help them sign up for Coinbase and complete the verification steps.

Step 5: Transfer the crypto
Open your Coinbase app, tap Send, choose the crypto you bought, enter their Coinbase email address and confirm. The transfer usually takes minutes.

Step 6: Cover the basics
Show them where their crypto lives, and explain one critical rule. Never share passwords, verification codes or recovery phrases with anyone.

Step 1: Buy a hardware wallet
Purchase a wallet like Ledger (50% off, $75) or Trezor (30% off, $55). Never buy used or from a third-party seller on Amazon.

Step 2: Set it up carefully
Follow the setup instructions. You’ll receive a recovery phrase. This is the master key. If the wallet is lost, damaged or replaced, the recovery phrase is the only way to get access to the crypto. If that phrase is lost, there is no customer support line and no reset button. The crypto is gone forever. Write it down on paper, and store it somewhere safe. Don’t save it on your phone or computer.

Step 3: Buy crypto on Coinbase
Use Coinbase to buy Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Step 4: Transfer the crypto to the wallet
Send the crypto from Coinbase to the wallet’s receiving address. Double-check the address before sending.

Step 5: Give the gift with guidance
When you give the hardware wallet, explain that the wallet itself is a key, not the crypto. The crypto lives on the blockchain, and the wallet is what lets them access it. Show them how to connect the wallet to a computer or phone using the manufacturer’s app. Once connected, they can see the crypto balance and manage it, like checking an account.

Crypto gifts work best when they come with education. When you keep it simple and safe, you are not just giving digital currency. You are giving confidence and understanding.

Share this intel. I want people to give crypto the right way and not get taken. Remember, the first three letters in crypto spell cry. 😭

The calls won’t stop: Real customers lose thousands to a cloned version of Jesse’s business website. What’s the nuclear option to legally force a shutdown? Plus, laptop prices skyrocket, deepfake kidnapping scams and AI Christmas toys.

Listen on Komando.com →

🎧 Or listen now wherever you get your podcasts, search for “Komando.”

💾 NSFW goes public: Hackers say they’re holding 200 million Pornhub Premium user records hostage, including emails, search terms used on the site and video titles. The criminal group broke into Mixpanel in November, though Pornhub stopped using the firm in 2021. Because the data’s from old analytics, users’ secrets might be from the “peak pandemic” era. The hackers say they’ll leak it if ransom isn’t paid. If you watched something weird in 2020, now’s the time to deny everything.

OpenAI’s brain switcheroo: If you’re on the ChatGPT free or $5 Go plan, you’ve been quietly shuffled to its cheaper, quicker model, GPT-5.2 Instant, unless you manually switch to the better “Thinking” version every time. OpenAI says it’s about choice. But also, surprise, it saves them a boatload of money.

Pulling the plug: Sorry to break the news to you, but the F-150 Lightning is out. Ford’s replacing it with a “range extender” hybrid. Think electric truck but with a gas generator riding shotgun. The company’s eating a $19.5 billion loss to rethink its EV plans after meh sales and political headwinds. Ford’s next-gen EV truck project is also dead, and they’re planning for a new commercial van. 

🦊 Firefox joins the chat: OK, you know how Firefox was the one browser that wasn’t trying to shove AI in your face? Yeah, that’s over. The new CEO said Firefox is turning into an “AI browser.” Folks aren't happy. The vibe is kind of like your favorite dive bar installing neon TikTok signs and robot bartenders.

Hiring that actually works: When I need smart, reliable people, LinkedIn is what delivers. You’re reaching folks who are serious about their careers, not just doomscrolling between meetings. You can post a job for free right now using my link. It’s one of the easiest ways to find real talent without wasting time.*

🚨 AI said he did it: Here’s an annoying scenario I hope to never go through. A Nevada trucker stopped at a Reno casino and got cuffed because facial recognition AI said he was a banned trespasser. He showed ID, a pay stub, no dice. Police jailed him anyway. Hours later, fingerprints proved he was innocent. But get this, the arrest still shows under his name. The charge was dropped, but the record? Still hanging around like it belongs there. He’s suing, because, yeah.

Big Tech might be slowing down, but Uncle Sam is staffing up. I break down the new Tech Force program.

Listen on Komando.com →

🎧 Or listen now wherever you get your podcasts, search for “Komando.”

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: To find a specific moment in a YouTube video, click Show Transcript in the description. Then press Ctrl + F (Windows) or Cmd + F (Mac) and search for the word or phrase you want. The transcript highlights the exact spot, so you can jump straight to it. Brilliant.

🚨 Chrome alert: Google is rolling out another security update to patch remote code execution flaws. Yep, again. This makes three weeks in a row, so you know the drill. Head to Settings > About Chrome, and the update should install automatically. Once you’re done, you should be running version 143.0.7499.147.

Don’t buy a white noise machine: Your iPhone can play its own ambient background sounds to help you focus or sleep. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual > Background Sounds. Toggle it on and choose a sound like Rain, Ocean, Stream or Balanced Noise. Then use the slider to set the Volume.

Android eye saver: Turning your phone’s brightness all the way down isn’t the darkest it can go. Android has a secret setting for nighttime. Open Settings > Accessibility > Vision enhancements and turn on Extra dim. FYI, you can also add a shortcut so it shows up in Quick settings for faster access.

🧹 Trim the taskbar fat: On Windows, you can ditch that big ol’ “search box” if it annoys you. Go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar. Then under Taskbar items, set Search to Hide. You can still search by opening Start and typing. Bonus: Follow the same path to turn off Widgets and clean things up more.

You’ve locked the doors and closed the blinds, but your privacy has a new blind spot: the sky.

Acoustic Eye is a specialized drone detector designed for residential airspace. While most security systems look out, this one looks up. Using omnidirectional acoustic sensing, military-speak for a high-tech digital ear, it listens for the specific frequency of drone motors and propellers from up to 1,500 feet away. That’s roughly five football fields of protection around your home.

When it hears a drone hovering where it shouldn’t be, it doesn’t only beep. It syncs with your smart home to automatically close smart shades, lock the doors and turn off patio lights, all managed through an app. 

Think of it as a baby monitor for your backyard. Ground threats still need cameras, but your airspace paranoia is finally covered.

💯 This is the #1 free tech newsletter in the United States. Tomorrow, I’ve got the secrets on how to skip the TSA line for free and the magical seat button that unlocks more legroom. Be sure to open your newsletter tomorrow for those goodies and more.

🐙 The answer? B) Breakfast octopus. Bezos has mentioned a few times that he loves it for the protein. Then, during an intense business negotiation, he told another CEO, “You’re the octopus that I’m having for breakfast, I must have the breakfast octopus.” A heavily armed response, right? This is classic billionaire energy. That is, taking something mildly unsettling and leaning into it just enough that everyone remembers who’s in charge.

✌️ Even the best tech glitches. Be kind to yourself, then try again. You got this! — Kim

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Photo credit(s): Bing, Evertrip, Linsol

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