FTX’s Fall From Grace And What It Means To Venture And The World of Crypto

This is a weekly feature that will look back at the week that was in crypto, blockchain and Web3, and offer insights and analysis. Check out last week’s here.

Through the first 10 months of 2022, crypto’s year has been rocky to say the least.

But no one would have imagined what the last week-plus would bring to the industry, as one of its biggest exchanges imploded, leaving crypto and venture investors wondering what could possibly happen next.

FTX’s unprecedented collapse — causing it and 130 related entities to declare bankruptcy — will have significant effects not just on the crypto and Web3 ecosystem, but in the greater venture network in general.

FTX was not just the fourth-largest crypto exchange by volume when it failed, but its co-founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was one of crypto’s biggest evangelists and financial backers. Through FTX Ventures and his other trading firm Alameda Research, the crypto whiz kid made hundreds of bets on the industry and the future of digital finance.

Now, in a span of days, his exchange’s implosion has left crypto enthusiasts, venture backers, startups and many others wondering what is next for the industry. Whatever is next, the one certainty is the reverberations from FTX’s demise will be significant and long lasting.

Read our coverage of all the FTX-related events and more below:

Illustration: Dom Guzman