FTXs

In a matter of days, Sam Bankman-Fried has gone from crypto hero to villain. An outwardly genial 30-year-old commonly referred to as SBF, Mr. Bankman-Fried was until this week the industry’s leading champion. His firm’s finances were opaque, but he seemed to be an open book on Twitter and in scores of media interviews. Bill Clinton, Tom Brady, Katy Perry and other boldfaced names trekked to FTX’s Bahamas base to appear with him at a conference he organized to promote his…

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) slapped the Sam Bankman-Fried-owned cryptocurrency exchange FTX with a cease-and-desist order over “false and misleading statements” that suggest its assets are FDIC-insured. The FDIC doesn’t cover stocks or crypto, and only safeguards funds held in insured bank accounts. In a letter to the exchange, the FDIC points to a now-deleted tweet from FTX president Brett Harrison, which states “direct deposits from employers to FTX US are stored in individually FDIC-insured bank…