Everywhere you looked, there it was, the ghostly outline of three letters: FTX. The Futures Industry Association conference in Chicago this month was supposed to be another celebration for the golden boy of markets, Sam Bankman-Fried. At a previous FIA confab in March in Boca Raton, Florida, his FTX crypto exchange flexed its platinum status by hosting a late-night cocktail party by the beach, holding a fireside chat with former baseball star Alex Rodriguez and handing out branded swag from its tricked-out megabooth in the exhibition hall. Bankman-Fried brought pizazz to an industry that lacks fleets of Lamborghinis and is filled with job descriptions such as “exchange operator” and “risk manager” and “commodities regulator.”
Now it’s strikingly obvious that FTX ran its business quite differently from everyone else in the room. In the days before the Chicago conference began, FTX collapsed when it was revealed that it owed its customers billions of dollars more than it could pay. Conference staff papered over the FTX name on banners in the lobby. But they couldn’t fully erase the fact that many sophisticated finance pros were duped by BankmanFried’s wacky charm and lavish spending.
“There are a few people in the industry that need to think hard about how someone can appear from nowhere and become the primary sponsor when others have been around for 20-plus years,” says Keith Todd, chief executive officer of Trading Technologies, a futures trading platform. “This is a wake-up call. The adults need to run this industry. We need innovators but also adults.”
Bu hikaye Bloomberg Businessweek US dergisinin November 21 - 28, 2022 (Double Issue) sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Bloomberg Businessweek US dergisinin November 21 - 28, 2022 (Double Issue) sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Instagram's Founders Say It's Time for a New Social App
The rise of AI and the fall of Twitter could create opportunities for upstarts
Running in Circles
A subscription running shoe program aims to fight footwear waste
What I Learned Working at a Hawaiien Mega-Resort
Nine wild secrets from the staff at Turtle Bay, who have to manage everyone from haughty honeymooners to go-go-dancing golfers.
How Noma Will Blossom In Kyoto
The best restaurant in the world just began its second pop-up in Japan. Here's what's cooking
The Last-Mover Problem
A startup called Sennder is trying to bring an extremely tech-resistant industry into the age of apps
Tick Tock, TikTok
The US thinks the Chinese-owned social media app is a major national security risk. TikTok is running out of ways to avoid a ban
Cleaner Clothing Dye, Made From Bacteria
A UK company produces colors with less water than conventional methods and no toxic chemicals
Pumping Heat in Hamburg
The German port city plans to store hot water underground and bring it up to heat homes in the winter
Sustainability: Calamari's Climate Edge
Squid's ability to flourish in warmer waters makes it fitting for a diet for the changing environment
New Money, New Problems
In Naples, an influx of wealthy is displacing out-of-towners lower-income workers