Mapping the FTX Contagion

We’ve survived another Monday and we’re BACK with today’s Daily Defiant to share everything we know about the impact of the FTX saga which has been unfolding over the past fortnight.

Sam Bankman-Fried’s empire was a huge ship to sink and we’ve just started to feel the ripple effects that will shake the entire crypto industry. From hedge funds and venture firms, to lenders and startups, to celebrities and NFT projects, nobody is immune.

SBF made an estimated fortune of over $15 billion dollars from his empire. Then, a shocking turn of events which showed SBF’s crypto exchange FTX had a backdoor through which it funnelled $10B in user funds over to his hedge fund, Alameda Research. When it became apparent that a big chunk of those assets were FTX’s own token, the house of cards collapsed.

But on the way up, he was hailed as the golden child of crypto, the prodigy, the boy wonder. He was able to charm the world with many highly influential individuals and institutions throwing their trust and money at him.