Crypto’s "Lehman Moment"

Episode 99 Sneak Peek

For our last double-digit episode of KK&F (!) we’re bringing Matt Stoller to the show to talk about the latest crypto collapse. Last week, FTX, one of the biggest crypto exchanges, posted an $8 billion shortfall and filed for bankruptcy. According to a New York Times report, the huge, Lehman Brothers-esque collapse was foreshadowed by dubious business practices and potentially illegal use of company funds. Now, the DOJ and SEC are digging into whether or not founder Sam Bankman-Fried dipped into FTX funds to bankroll another venture of his, trading firm Alameda Research. And the Times reports on comments and internal communications that show how Bankman-Fried struggled to delegate and share management of the exchange, even to his fifteen-person circle of closest team members, at a company where relationships between coworkers seem at times to have gone beyond the professional.

Surprised that the FTX team was the type to endorse effective altruism? More on that later, but while we have you here, we hope you’ll join us for this latest episode of KK&F to dive into this crypto behemoth’s shady demise — and what it tells us about crypto more broadly. We’re thrilled to have Matt Stoller on the show to discuss with us. If you need something else to watch before our episode drops on Saturday (Friday for paying subscribers), we’ve got you covered: try Breaking Points’ coverage of the fiasco at Twitter after its acquisition by Elon Musk, or head over to the Kyle Kulinski Show for some info on how Biden’s student debt relief plan was recently blocked. Then we’ll see you Friday!