FTX Collapse
The second-largest exchange was a fraud. $8 billion in customer funds gone.
Date
2022-11-08
Impact
bearish
On November 2, 2022, CoinDesk published an article revealing that Alameda Research's balance sheet was largely composed of FTT, FTX's own token. CZ of Binance announced he'd liquidate his FTT holdings, triggering a bank run. FTX couldn't meet withdrawals. Within a week, the $32 billion exchange declared bankruptcy and SBF resigned. An estimated $8-10 billion in customer funds had been misused. SBF was arrested in the Bahamas on December 12. Cobie was live on the "Up Only" podcast the night FTX was hacked post-bankruptcy, narrating events in real time. GCR, who had warned about custodial risk, went silent permanently after the collapse. The event destroyed trust in centralized exchanges, accelerated regulation, and ended the careers of dozens of industry figures.