FTX to file for U.S. bankruptcy, CEO resigns • Hacker News Board

Re: FTX to file for U.S. bankruptcy, CEO resigns

#921

Post by ilaksh » Sat, Nov 12, 2022, 2:23 AM UTC

djinnandtonic wrote: post #431

Alupis wrote: post #422

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For someone that only dabbles in crypto - what are the reasons people choose to use high-risk exchanges like FTX, and buy even higher risk "sh*t coins" on them? Especially the exchange-created-and-owned coins - of which I have yet to see one actually do what it promised. Is Coinbase just not cool anymore, or is there some advantage to using exchanges like FTX until they go belly-up?

For someone that only dabbles in investing, what are the reasons people choose ultra-high-risk investments like crypto?

It's too bad that people think cryptocurrency is for speculation.

Re: FTX to file for U.S. bankruptcy, CEO resigns

#922

Post by ilaksh » Sat, Nov 12, 2022, 2:30 AM UTC

planetsprite wrote: post #917

For those who believe crypto and web3 is the future, has any comparable emerging technology been met with as many scandals and busts in so little time?

This has nothing to do with the technology of cryptocurrency. In fact, it's the complete opposite.

What people are doing with FTX is taking their money off of public blockchains and giving them to something like a bank or stock exchange where ultimately customer funds are accessed in secret. This is again, antithetical to cryptocurrency which has the main features of avoiding the necessity of banks for operating with digital money and having a public, mathematically verifiable ledger.

All of this nonsense is people using the interest around cryptocurrency to promote what is essentially gambling.

Some people have even theorized that they were intentionally trying to sully the reputation of the technology since it makes old fashioned financial institutions obsolete, and the family has strong ties to the establishment (with massive investments in old-fashioned financial schemes).

Re: FTX to file for U.S. bankruptcy, CEO resigns

#923

Post by CyberDildonics » Sat, Nov 12, 2022, 2:35 AM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #887

CaptainZapp wrote: post #876

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By no more accepting deposits?

I don’t think you have a choice to accept a deposit or not, do you? You can’t stop people sending you coins. And sending them back costs you money so you wouldn’t do that.

What address do you think people would send to? You can't send to some random address that you think is owned by an exchange and have it show up in your account. They give you an address to send to when you say you want to make a deposit. How did you think it worked?

Re: FTX to file for U.S. bankruptcy, CEO resigns

#924

Post by rheffern » Sat, Nov 12, 2022, 2:42 AM UTC

sharkweek wrote: post #856

Howdy HN, as some of you may know from previous comments of mine, I’m always on the hunt for swag from dead companies (Lehman Brothers letterhead, Theranos shirts, Clinkle phone case, Enron desk art, et al). The more fraudulent the collapse, the more interested I am. I’d love to get ahead of the ball on this one so if anyone here has any, and I mean any, FTX swag you somehow have picked up over the years, I’m a very…

I'll hop on here in a vain hope too.

I want to buy a Theranos Edison machine and am willing to pay. If you know anyone that has one, parts of one, or anything like that, my email is in my bio and I am very happy to talk to you.

I intend to take a small portion of it, melt it into steel ingots, and include it in 'Order of the Engineer' rings for myself and my colleagues who are also engineers.

We are looking for physical equipment in which engineers screwed up and the general public paid a high price for it, as a reminder to ourselves that our work is meaningful and is one of service to the people we serve with our efforts. If you know of any equipment that may fit that bill, I am looking to pay for that too.

Re: FTX to file for U.S. bankruptcy, CEO resigns

#925

Post by nullc » Sat, Nov 12, 2022, 2:48 AM UTC

oldgradstudent wrote: post #871

nullc wrote: post #617

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This may be the biggest embezzlement of customer funds held in custody in history. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the amount of actual customer funds that went in were much smaller than claimed. Keep in mind FTX was mostly 'perpetuals' -- fake assets. It might be that a lot of the customer funds were just fictional gains, also may be that a lot of them were paper value owned by SBF entities. I've been trying…

> It might be that a lot of the customer funds were just fictional gains, also may be that a lot of them were paper value owned by SBF entities. That's true for the numbers used when reporting on Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. Much of the $50B was fictional gains. There were even clawbacks on the gains of those who withdrew before the collapse.

Interestingly, many madoff victims had paid tons of federal gains taxes on the fictional gains and were unable to get the money back from the government.

Ultimately the US government is the party that gained the most financially from Madoff's scheme!

Re: FTX to file for U.S. bankruptcy, CEO resigns

#926

Post by Arcuru » Sat, Nov 12, 2022, 2:52 AM UTC

rheffern wrote: post #924

sharkweek wrote: post #856

Howdy HN, as some of you may know from previous comments of mine, I’m always on the hunt for swag from dead companies (Lehman Brothers letterhead, Theranos shirts, Clinkle phone case, Enron desk art, et al). The more fraudulent the collapse, the more interested I am. I’d love to get ahead of the ball on this one so if anyone here has any, and I mean any, FTX swag you somehow have picked up over the years, I’m a very…

I'll hop on here in a vain hope too. I want to buy a Theranos Edison machine and am willing to pay . If you know anyone that has one, parts of one, or anything like that, my email is in my bio and I am very happy to talk to you. I intend to take a small portion of it, melt it into steel ingots, and include it in 'Order of the Engineer' rings for myself and my colleagues who are also engineers. We are looking for phys…

I can't help but that sounds awesome.

I'm curious, have you already made any rings or are you still looking for the right equipment?

Re: FTX to file for U.S. bankruptcy, CEO resigns

#927

Post by ignoramous » Sat, Nov 12, 2022, 2:53 AM UTC

victor22 wrote: post #919

Flatcircle wrote: post #916

I’d encourage you to listen to the odd lots podcast where Sam gets lost in the explanation of what crypto does and his soon to be famous hypothetical “x coin,” and the “box” it uses to derive value from it. Begins at about the 24 min mark https://open.spotify.com/episode/2SXncXpdjwH6WIxhM2V9zZ?si=D...

Holy shit thats so funny. The weird part is nobody cares about these senseless explanations til these shitcoins die.

Hype cycles are a bitch.

  "I LOVE THIS FOUNDER," typed one partner.
  "I am a 10 out of 10," pinged another.
  "YES!!!" exclaimed a third.

https://archive.is/qFJJN

Re: FTX to file for U.S. bankruptcy, CEO resigns

#928

Post by matheusmoreira » Sat, Nov 12, 2022, 3:03 AM UTC

planetsprite wrote: post #917

For those who believe crypto and web3 is the future, has any comparable emerging technology been met with as many scandals and busts in so little time?

This has nothing to do with cryptocurrency. It's just an exchange that gambled away customer deposits and then was liquidated. They're banks. We've reinvented banks with all of the drawbacks and none of the benefits.

This isn't the way cryptocurrency was meant to be used. We were meant to hold our money in our own wallets, not leave it in some centralized exchange so it can "efficiently" allocate the funds. People keep using exchanges as if they were banks and they keep getting burned in ways only banks are capable of.

Re: FTX to file for U.S. bankruptcy, CEO resigns

#929

Post by shigawire » Sat, Nov 12, 2022, 3:21 AM UTC

chasd00 wrote: post #878

Animats wrote: post #590

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've at least turned off signups. There are still people who believe . This is the top comment on FTX on Coinmarketcap, posted yesterday: $FTT -- Take a screenshot of this post 1. Someone is going to buy out FTX and this exchange is not shutting down. By someone I mean Elon Musk kind of people. 2. No. FTT isn't going to wipeout if we talk about the fall, most of the cryptos have all fallen significantly. So a cryp…

So sad, it’s like the people who sell their shoes for one more bet at the track..

The thing is, if there are enough believers they will validate each other in the short term by re-inflating the hype bubble

Re: FTX to file for U.S. bankruptcy, CEO resigns

#930

Post by HWR_14 » Sat, Nov 12, 2022, 3:33 AM UTC

Animats wrote: post #389

"Voluntary Chapter 11" in Delaware. Figures. That gets them out from bankruptcy in the Bahamas, which is much tougher than US law. The Bahamas still has classic tough bankruptcy laws, where there's no debtor-in-possession reorganization. It's straight to liquidation, with a court-appointed receiver in charge. This should be, and may be, converted to a straight liquidation. Chapter 11 can be useful for restarting comp…

A financial firm with nominal billions in outstanding debts and credits seems like the worst thing to shut down with a straight liquidation. Nothing says "these creditors get nothing" like the need to immediately firesale numerous crypto tokens moving the price dramatically.