New York
CNN business
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Larry David made a pretty good prediction about the cryptocurrency meltdown this week.
and super bowl ad Regarding the FTX crypto exchange in February, Larry David sarcastically predicted that FTX would not succeed. The ad shows David’s character throughout history, denying humanity’s greatest inventions: the wheel, the light bulb, coffee, and democracy.
At the end of the ad, David learns about FTX “a safe and easy way to get cryptocurrency”. Negative David said: And I’m never wrong about this — never.
“Don’t be like Larry,” the FTX ad closes.
propaganda resurfaced upon Social media After FTX imploded this week. David’s character turns out to be skeptical.
FTX filed for bankruptcy proceedings It brought a stunning collapse to one of the biggest and most powerful players in the crypto industry in the US on Friday. The exchange’s founder, his 30-year-old CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, has stepped down.
Rival Binance said earlier this week it would consider FTX bailouts, but backed off almost immediately after the company said FTX was inherently beyond bailouts.
The full extent of FTX’s financial troubles is not yet known, but reports suggest the company faces an $8 billion shortfall. Bankman-Fried reportedly told investors on Thursday that the company faces bankruptcy without a quick injection of shares.
Despite its reputation as a reliable, low-risk investment portal, FTX’s business appears to be built on a complex and extremely risky type of leveraged trading.
Customers deposited money to engage in crypto trading. However, according to The Wall Street Journal, FTX apparently took billions of dollars’ worth of money instead and lent it to sister company Alameda to fund its riskier bets.
CEO Sam Bankman-Fried resigned on Friday. He is one of the faces of the cryptocurrency industry, once amassing a combined fortune of $25 billion, which has since disappeared. He was seen as the White Knight of crypto after stepping in to save struggling companies earlier this year. Backed by elite investors such as BlackRock and Sequoia Capital, his FTX has quickly become one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges.
Regulators are now swirling to investigate what went wrong, and some lawmakers are calling for a crackdown.
– Matt Egan of CNN Business contributed to this report.
