For years, many crypto investors have been consumed by a single, persistent question as they’ve watched the prices of coins rise and fall, especially as of late: Wen Lambo? 

Bloomberg reporter Hannah Miller and crypto VC Peter Saddington join this episode to discuss all your burning questions about one of the most visible status-symbols of crypto. 

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[This episode originally published in August, 2022]

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Back in mid-November on the podcast, we were unpacking the spectacular downfall of one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the industry in real time, and how it would possibly changed the sector forever.

A month before, if someone would have told us that crypto exchange FTX was potentially mismanaging customer funds, funneling money into its sister trading firm, Alameda Research, and would soon be a cautionary tale from the crypto industry, we wouldn't have believed them.

As more details about its general finances have emerged, we're starting to better understand how FTX and its former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, might have managed to change the industry forever. How much of a mess was FTX in? How did nobody notice? And how can this shape the future of crypto? Bloomberg reporters Katie Greifeld and Vildana Hajric ask Bloomberg opinion columnist Matt Levine for the long view.

[This episode originally published on November 17, 2022]

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It’s been an extremely messy month or so in crypto since Sam Bankman-Fried’s exchange FTX went bankrupt. But in this episode, we’re discuss something entirely different - an NFT vending machine. NFTs were all the rage last year, but this year prices have dropped along with the rest of crypto. 

What if you could buy an NFT from a vending machine? Earlier this year, these popped up in central London. The company behind the vending machine - myNFT - said the goal was to eliminate any barriers to entry when it comes to NFT shopping. Hugo McDonaugh, the CEO and co-founder of myNFT  joins senior editor Philip Lagerkranser, along with Bloomberg reporter Tanzeel Ahktar, to talk more about this.

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It’s been another wild week in crypto, specifically for Sam Bankman-Fried. The crypto founder and former CEO of FTX has been spending time in a Bahamian jail after being denied bail related to multiple criminal charges. On Tuesday, he signed documents formally agreeing to be extradited to the US to face numerous charges, including allegations of fraud and money laundering.

The FTX bankruptcy and its aftermath are impacting the wider digital asset industry, including Binance - by far the largest crypto exchange in the world by volume - and its affiliate, Binance US.

Bloomberg editor Beth Williams joins the episode to consider the week’s events and ponder what’s next.

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The Year of 2022 was supposed to be one of crypto regulation. Multiple CEOs, venture capitalists and trade groups for the industry globally had hired lawyers and lobbyists and prepared policy papers and blog posts. Over and over, they said the refrain: “we’re hoping for regulatory clarity.”

In the US, the Biden administration announced an Executive Order,  [Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets] calling for a national policy on digital assets. It required federal agencies to get their digital asset policies in order, but it lacked either teeth or specifics.

Individual US lawmakers across the political spectrum proposed their own bills on crypto asset regulation, some of which competed with or even contradicted each other.

Against this backdrop, things were going poorly for investors and the industry. Token prices plunged in value. One buzzy crypto company after another filed for bankruptcy - including FTX, which had sought to position itself as exceptional in every way. It’s now-former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has since been arrested and is facing allegations of fraud and other crimes. 

So: will 2023 be the year that crypto gets regulated? Bloomberg  reporters Allyson Versprille and Bill Allison join to sort out where we are with regulation, and look ahead to what we’re likely to see in 2023.

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Sam Bankman-Fried might not have expected that his time in the Bahamas would include the inside of a jail cell. Bankman-Fried and his inner circle at FTX and Alameda Research relocated operations to the Bahamas from Hong Kong in late 2021.

The Nassau-based employees and executives seemed to enjoy a lavish island lifestyle - think yachts and penthouses with ocean views. How much of that lifestyle was funded, ah, improperly is at the center of allegations and charges filed by everyone from the US Department of Justice to the Securities and Exchange Commission to the CFTC. 

The Department of Justice alleges that, among other things, SBF misappropriated customer deposits. And there’s a brewing fight between officials in the US and local regulators in the Bahamas just who is in charge of what. 

Bloomberg reporters Zeke Faux and Carly Wanna join this episode.

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In the aftermath of the FTX collapse - one of the most significant crypto exchanges in the industry, investors and hedge funds are seriously questioning the future of crypto. 

FTX was once among the top centralized exchanges, a haven for professional and amateur investors. But now, billions of investors’ dollars have disappeared and its former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been arrested and denied bond, facing conspiracy and fraud charges. 

Binance is the largest exchange by volume and a former rival of FTX. It suffered a wave of withdrawals recently, after releasing its ‘proof-of-reserve’ report, leaving many investors and crypto proponents wondering: should they trust any crypto exchange at all?  And if so, what should it do differently? 

Bloomberg reporter Justina Lee joins senior editor Anna Irrera to discuss this.

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Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested in the Bahamas and US authorities have unleashed some truly stunning charges against him, essentially accusing him of having his entire crypto empire as a personal piggy bank and defrauding customers who put money on FTX.

Bankman-Fried himself has said it was all down to sloppy accounting and mismanagement. Which is all the more surprising given that he spent three years at one of the Wall Street shops famous for its level of caution - namely Jane Street. Bloomberg’s Hannah Miller has been reporting on this and she joins this episode. 

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Just a mere month ago, disgraced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was the undisputed king of the digital asset industry. Now the 30-year-old is under arrest, facing criminal charges from the U.S. The Department of Justice, and civil charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. FTX has declared bankruptcy, and almost a million FTX creditors are unlikely to get their money back.

Meanwhile contagion continues to spread through the ecosystem, with all eyes on crypto exchange Binance, that’s faced more than $1 billion in withdrawals in recent days. And some market watchers fear the stablecoin Tether could be the next crypto domino to fall. 

Bloomberg crypto editor Anna Irrera and Bloomberg reporter Misyrlena Egkolfopoulo join the show.

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Bitcoin ATMs could be considered symbolic of the state of crypto’s popularity. During the digital asset boom they kept on appearing in what could reasonably be considered unusual locations. Such as Amherst County, Virginia, a place that has no hospital but does have a Bitcoin ATM. Just in case.

The number of crypto ATMs in the US peaked in August at just over 34,000 but has begun to fall, according to Coin ATM Radar, a site that tracks global locations of Bitcoin ATMs. Will these makeshift monuments to digital assets withstand the FTX bankruptcy and subsequent decline of digital assets.  Bloomberg reporter Carly Wanna joins the episode to consider the future of Bitcoin ATMs.

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