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The fast-paced, high-risk world of cryptocurrency is awash with stories of fortunes made and even more stories of fortunes lost.
But the latest fall of a crypto darling is perhaps the most astonishing to date. The “Warren Buffet of crypto” – Sam Bankman-Fried – watched his collection of companies go from being worth more than $30 billion to bankrupt in a single week. The collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, has left millions of investors, both large and small, with no way to get their money back.
If you hadn’t heard of the acronyms FTX, SBF and FTT before the last few days, you’re probably like most U.S. residents who don’t follow crypto too closely and don’t own any. But when tens of billions of dollars disappear, it’s reasonable to wonder: Will this affect me?
According to finance professors D. Brian Blank and Brandy Hadley, most people have nothing to worry about. But this latest crypto scandal may be an important lesson to large investment firms and casual traders alike who have started to dabble in crypto.
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The cryptocurrency exchange FTX fell from a multibillion-dollar company to bankruptcy in less than a week.
NurPhoto via Getty Images
D. Brian Blank, Mississippi State University; Brandy Hadley, Appalachian State University
Even though some traditional financial firms parked millions in the bankrupt company – once valued at $30 billion – the impact of FTX’s spectacular crash is limited to crypto investors
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Science + Technology
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Jack Burns, University of Colorado Boulder
When the Orion Crew Capsule orbits the Moon there will be no one on board. But the mission will mark a key step in bringing humans back to Earth’s dusty sidekick.
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Raphael Sarfati, University of Colorado Boulder
Synchrony is ubiquitous throughout the universe. But physicists’ equations predicted there could also be erratic exceptions marching to their own beat. Now they’ve been spotted in firefly swarms.
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Sihong Wang, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
A type of computer chip that mimics both the skin and brain could pave the way for wearable devices that monitor and analyze health data using AI right on the body.
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Politics + Society
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Joshua Holzer, Westminster College
Runoff elections in Georgia have a racist past, but the contest between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker for US Senate is a sign of progress.
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Arts + Culture
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Peter Lehman, Arizona State University
The son of the director has argued that Americans are still too squeamish about sex to fully appreciate the film. A porn scholar disagrees.
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Ethics + Religion
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Marie-Claire Beaulieu, Tufts University
A scholar of Greek mythology explains the naming of NASA’s missions after mythological figures and why the name Artemis is indicative of a more diverse era of space exploration.
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Pierce Salguero, Penn State
The Mahāyāna branch of Buddhism likely emerged around the first centuries A.D. and was most readily carried through the Silk Road and maritime trade routes.
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Environment + Energy
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Jim Krane, Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University
130 countries have signed a pledge to cut methane emissions by 30%. Success could have a swift impact on global warming.
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