2022-11-12 · timestamps by ADAtainment
UPD 11/12/2022
- A Veterans Day reflection on the FTX collapse, which went from a crypto empire to an existential threat in about 48 hours.
- In hindsight the warning signs were clear: a regulated business in a position of trust led by inexperienced kids without a diverse expert team.
- FTX was a centralized business failing, not a failure of crypto; Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cardano were not hacked, people in positions of trust failed.
- The likely fallout is harsh legislation, possibly banning non custodial wallets or labeling everything but Bitcoin a security, though Madoff was regulated too.
- The real answer is not more leaders or regulation but changing how the game works, using blockchain as an artificial social physics we cannot corrupt.
- Cardano's path forward is the MBO, the age of Voltaire, and going for number one as the world financial operating system that banks the unbanked.
21 entries
On Veterans Day, FTX went from an empire spanning Solana, Polygon, and Messari to an existential threat to crypto in about 48 hours.
In hindsight the warning signs were enormous, a regulated business in a position of trust led by kids with no experience.
A young entrepreneur given money must build a diverse expert team, like IO's CFO with over 35 years on Wall Street.
If you have a fiduciary responsibility for other people's money this expert team is axiomatic, like going to a qualified surgeon.
FTX was not an unregulated business but a regulated one failing, so standards and oversight help but did not save it.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cardano were not hacked; crypto did not fail, people in positions of trust at centralized businesses failed.
Unlike Mt. Gox, Celsius, or Luna, FTX could be the straw that breaks the camel's back and changes lawmakers' appetite for crypto.
A possible future bans non custodial wallets or labels everything but Bitcoin a security, though Bernie Madoff ran a regulated entity.
FTX and SBF had direct relationships with DC politicians, dumping millions into elections, so politicians may overreact to scrub the association.
The YouTube podcaster class that mocked Cardano's small TVL is still arrogant, peddling snake oil and unvetted projects.
Even Sequoia took a significant loss on FTX, and celebrities like Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen may now turn on the industry.
In Scotland on the 18th the Edinburgh Decentralization Index will be announced to measure the decentralization of exchanges.
Nothing is free, and the 2021 Doge surge was criticized precisely because it epitomized the get rich quick mentality that will end crypto.
The focus should be use, utility, and adoption, since banking the unbanked, global supply chains, and portable medical records need blockchain.
You cannot separate the token from the blockchain, or you just hand the technology to Microsoft, Apple, Google, and the BIS.
Humans are terrible at holding virtue in positions of trust, so society must put faith in things that cannot change, using blockchain as an artificial social physics.
Mystical wealth will not materially change your happiness, since a short jubilation fades into hedonic amnesia, and people and relationships matter.
The recent US election was a dual rejection of both parties, a sign that everyday people are tired of the constant fighting.
FTX is a crossroads, and Cardano has a path forward with the MBO, the governance of the age of Voltaire, Scott Fest, and the Cardano Summit.
Going for number one means becoming the world financial operating system, giving everyone economic identity and banking the unbanked.
Crypto is a participatory sport, not a buy and hold waiting game, so everyone has to get off the bleachers and build.