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Crypto exchange FTX collapses.

jufonuk

not tag worthy
Embattled cryptocurrency exchange FTX has filed for bankruptcy in the US, seeking court protection as it looks for a way to return money to users.
Former boss Sam Bankman-Fried has also stepped down as chief executive, the company said.
It is a massive turn of fortunes for the 30-year-old, who had headed the world's second largest crypto exchange.
In just over a week, his FTX empire has collapsed, shaking confidence in the already troubled crypto market.
I feel bad for the little guys who lost a shit ton of money. But I’m glad I never got Involved in trying to Invest in this.

Any savvy GAF users. Is this the end for Crypto. Was it all just a pyramid scheme?
 
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jufonuk

not tag worthy
I just feel like it was a get rich quick scheme that was going to collapse sooner rather than later. Like the emperors new clothes type thing. People only want(ed) it because they think it is valuable and now maybe this shows it’s not?

Or maybe it’s like the .com bubble in the Nineties. It got too big too quick. Maybe it will evolve and a newer more stable version will be developed.

Part of me want to be all schadenfreude, about the situation. But let’s be real there are going to be people who put all their money in one basket and are now broke 😞
 

German Hops

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
well-that-sucks-bummer.gif
 

jufonuk

not tag worthy
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Cyberpunkd

Member
You are telling me crypto has no real application as fuckton of smart people were saying for years now?

Cbs Reaction GIF by The Late Late Show with James Corden


I wonder if 100 years ago you had equally gullible populace falling for the snake oil nonsense. Probably.
 
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Ionian

Member
Billions. Not millions.

Ah I meant individual large investors but yup billions I can well imagine.

And to think some retard flew over here to interview a dude who studied crypto and accused him of creating Bitcoin when he rented a bedsit whilst studying securities in a top college. True story, he even showed me the online published interviews. He was clever as fuck but the journalist was an idiot, this is going back years. In fairness he was top of his league in a top college.

He showed me the published articles as I was the landlords agent and we were friendly. Still kept some of his deposit (100euro) as he didn't clean up properly when leaving. (he didn't create BitCoin, just a shit journalist visited from abroad). Charged him 100 euro to clean up cookers/fridges etc. was an absolute bargain for a bitcoin creator.

I shan't name names.
 

Sybrix

Member
Crypto is like any investment, always a risk.

However Crypto is no different to traditional investment, contrary to what the Crypto-bros will tell you, it is not inflation proof, it is not interest rate proof, it is not FIAT run proof.

This whole FTX saga is proof of that, as soon as shit hit the fan, all the big players pulled their money out of the exchange which sent FTX spiralling down.... sound familiar?! You'd be right!! Because that is exactly what happened in 2008 when the banking sector collapsed, a huge run on the banks and that's what's happened here and FTX is the casualty and wont be the last.

Moral of the story - Crypto investment is like any other investment, don't kid yourself to think its different from Wall Street investments, its all a huge risk and not invulnerable to external market factors.


TLDR:

-FTX bought a huge ton of shit coins worth fuck all
-FTX had billions on balance sheet but in worthless coins
-If everyone wanted to with draw money from FTX, FTX couldn't pay because majority of assets were in worthless coins
-Everyone did withdraw, FTX had no money to pay
-FTX Collapse


Seriously, read your financial market history, the above is what happened in 2008 and it will happen again.
 
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Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Crypto is like any investment, always a risk.

However Crypto is no different to traditional investment, contrary to what the Crypto-bros will tell you, it is not inflation proof, it is not interest rate proof, it is not FIAT run proof.

This whole FTX saga is proof of that, as soon as shit hit the fan, all the big players pulled their money out of the exchange which sent FTX spiralling down.... sound familiar?! You'd be right!! Because that is exactly what happened in 2008 when the banking sector collapsed, a huge run on the banks and that's what's happened here and FTX is the casualty and wont be the last.

Moral of the story - Crypto investment is like any other investment, don't kid yourself to think its different from Wall Street investments, its all a huge risk and not invulnerable to external market factors.
That's why I invest exclusively in Beanie Babies. The one true pillar of the financial industry.
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
Moral of the story - Crypto investment is like any other investment, don't kid yourself to think its different from Wall Street investments, its all a huge risk and not invulnerable to external market factors.
Terrible take. Vast majority of Wall Street companies (as opposed to start up bros) are real companies with real products, not scams like crypto. People there do not wear jeans to work, don’t play LoL during meetings and don’t have beanie bags to sleep in the office, but they for sure make fuckton more money than crypto companies.
 

Mistake

Member
I was never really interested in crypto for investment purposes, just as a viable alternative to exchange currency without getting screwed by banks. Don’t have an account? $10 to cash a check. Wire transfer to a different bank? $15. Went on a trip and need to change money? Takes 10%

It’s no surprise crypto is going down when everyone is spending less and prices are going up
 

Ellery

Member
The irony of people investing in a decentralized asset that is protected from greasy greedy finger humans .... by putting money into a centralized company that is controlled by human promises of an obligation.

Can't even make this up.
 

thefool

Member

Any savvy GAF users. Is this the end for Crypto. Was it all just a pyramid scheme?

No. If anything, this only empowers crypto's trustless, secure, decentralized features. FTX was no different than a shady bank.
Short term, horrible for the industry because of the contagion (and the retail who lost money on it), long term, its good.
 
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jufonuk

not tag worthy
No. If anything, this only empowers crypto's trustless, secure, decentralized features. FTX was no different than a shady bank.
Short term, horrible for the industry because of the contagion (and the retail who lost money on it), long term, its good.
michael douglas greed GIF by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
 

thefool

Member

Greed was definitely the main reason for their downfall. Their income from daily business was great but they needed more fresh dollars to be able to participate in scammy raises (low float, high valuation) and to farm tokens so they decide to:
a) start collateralize worthless crap.
b) (most likely) use depositors funds (now stuck in iliquid shit, lost, or hacked considering today's events).

They deserve all the shit they are about to get.
 

There's something about that opening line "she got job because she was fucking" that irks me, she's supposedly his girlfriend, plenty of people decide to give responsibility jobs to people who are close to them and that in no way means they're incompetent on it's own. I'm not defending it, as it obviously often creates other problems and barriers and well as a feeling within the company of some people being untouchable, but it happens because it works to the people in power interests.

She was in a position of responsibility so I'm guessing she didn't get the job because she was fucking, but because someone trusted her.
 
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Sybrix

Member
Terrible take. Vast majority of Wall Street companies (as opposed to start up bros) are real companies with real products, not scams like crypto. People there do not wear jeans to work, don’t play LoL during meetings and don’t have beanie bags to sleep in the office, but they for sure make fuckton more money than crypto companies.

My point really was that Crypto is just as risky as any other investment.

I can remember so many posts and vids on YouTube in 2020 when Crypto was booming about how invulnerable it was to external market forces and big headed all these idiots were and look today.....

And lets not even get started on regulation........
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
My point really was that Crypto is just as risky as any other investment.

I can remember so many posts and vids on YouTube in 2020 when Crypto was booming about how invulnerable it was to external market forces and big headed all these idiots were and look today.....

And lets not even get started on regulation........
Crypto is way more risky, it’s a purely speculative asset.
 

GloveSlap

Member
Once that NFT stuff got hyped up you knew the top was in. Just pure lunacy.

The only time i ever considered investing in bitcoin was right before MtGox went down. That scared me off for good and it just keeps happening.
 
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