The crypto-collapse: inside the crazy world of
FTX
Today in
Focus Series
Presented
by Hannah Moore with Alex Hern; produced by Tom Glasser, Safi Bugel and Rudi
Zygadlo; executive producer Phil Maynard
Tue 29 Nov
2022 03.00 GMT
The cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed earlier this
month, leaving billions of dollars unaccounted for. Alex Hern explores what
happened and where the money went
For a time,
it seemed that everything Sam Bankman-Fried touched turned to gold. He’d been a
maths whiz at university and made a fortune trading cryptocurrencies for a
hedge fund before striking out on his own and founding a crypto exchange: FTX.
The crypto boom made him a billionaire and he moved into a $40m apartment in
the Bahamas with eight others in the group’s inner circle who were romantically
linked. There were reports that stimulants were doled out to staff who worked
intensely long days, often sleeping on beanbags at their desks.
Earlier
this month, the music stopped. As investors in FTX began to take fright at
rumours of a black hole in its balance sheet, the panic spread and
Bankman-Fried failed to calm it. FTX collapsed, taking billions of dollars with
it, and Bankman-Fried stood aside. Having become an ambassador for the crypto
industry and one of its most trusted faces, he had become a pariah.
The
Guardian’s UK technology editor, Alex Hern, tells Hannah Moore that the rapid
downfall of FTX is just the latest cautionary tale for those who have invested
huge amounts of money – and faith – in cryptocurrencies.
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