Sam Bankman-Fried’s ‘emperor’ aura makes downfall a crypto stunner

The question now is if the great SBF can be done in this quickly – in no more than a handful of days – what does that say for anyone else in the once-hot industry, now enduring a prolonged rout that’s wiped out US$2 trillion (RM9.43 trillion) of market value? — Bloomberg

Sam Bankman-Fried was supposed to be different than the run-of-the-mill crypto types. He was this wunderkind with a preternatural gift for math who had quickly built a crypto empire and then shrewdly expanded it during the worst of the industry’s meltdown this summer.

So the sudden collapse of his crown jewel – the crypto exchange FTX.com, which now needs a bailout from its chief rival, Binance Holdings – has left crypto investors in stunned disbelief.