“Sam Bankman-Fried, one of the crypto industry’s biggest stars, has said a lot of things over the years, most recently that he’s ‘sorry’ and he ‘f-cked up.’ Before that, he said he might spend as much as $1 billion on politics in 2024. He said he had a lot of ideas for policing the crypto industry and using his crypto-fueled fortune for good. He said he’d be fine bailing out some crypto companies in trouble as crypto winter hit over the summer. All of these claims are now in limbo thanks to another thing he said on November 7: that his crypto exchange, FTX, was ‘fine.’ It was not. Instead, the next day, the exchange imploded. By Friday, November 11, the company had filed for bankruptcy, and Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO.” Vox: The spectacular implosion of crypto’s biggest star, explained.

+ Before his epic fall, Sam Bankman-Fried was hailed as a crypto genius. Some clients saw smoke and mirrors.

+ The currency is newfangled. The bankruptcy is pretty old school. Enron’s Liquidator to Oversee FTX’s Massive Crypto Bankruptcy.

+ There was one bright spot for Sam Bankman-Fried. At least FTX didn’t invest in Twitter.

+ I’ve never been a huge fan of crypto and I especially worry that it will be a money-making scheme for big time investors that leaves mom and pop investors holding the bag. But in my neck of the woods, I’m surrounded by true believers. Not sure what the vibe is like in New Zealand where YouTuber Danny de Hek assails what he calls a dangerous and deceptive scheme, one rant at a time. NYT (Gift Article, no coins required): The Crypto Ponzi Scheme Avenger.

+ Bottom line, Larry David was right.