As everyone has seen the FTX blow up has been a major news event. I won’t go into the details of the event other than to summarize for posterity… FTX was one of the largest crypto exchanges, it was viewed in a very positive light, its founder and CEO (Sam Bankman-Fried, “SBF”) was always interviewed and was active in Washington DC trying to set regulations for the industry. Many of the world’s best venture funds had invested in the firm and held them up as an example of how things should be done. And then they Blew up. In the span of a few days the entire house of cards fell. At this point no one is entirely sure of the details but it looks like there was some weird leverage and borrowing between different entities going on. Long story short it was a major major blow to the crypto industry from a market perspective as well as a reputation perspective.
I can honestly say I did not see this one coming, Terra Luna and Celsius I figured would happen in the end, FTX falling apart was close to Coinbase falling apart in my head. I will say though I never really was a fan of Sam Bankman-Fried, he always kind of said that he didn’t care that much about the crypto industry and that he was there just making money. His ideals were not aligned with the original ethos of the industry (decentralization, freedom, innovation). Never the less this is not being viewed as a failure of an individual that never really embraced the spirit and goal of crypto but as the poster boy of crypto falling. The comments in social media are very telling, people equating the downfall of FTX with the actual failure of crypto in some way. Its bad out there, people think crypto is once again a BIG JOKE.
THAT IS GREAT!!!
Crypto isn’t going anywhere, I think it was proven in this last cycle that things are being built and unique abilities are unlocked using these systems. People may think ill of crypto, but something is going to get built that captures their attention, names will change, rebranding will take place, integrations will happen, and people will forget. Its going to take a while…. bare minimum a year, but probably 2 or 3 years (maybe 5+!) before we get some signs of life sprouting.
This is not financial advise given I don’t know your situation so think before acting. For me personally I’m going to use this time to rebuild the position that I had sold when times were good and prepare what I think is the inevitable return of Crypto.
As Warren Buffett has said be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful… this situation meets that sage wisdom.