Chicago Tribune

Editorial: Cryptocurrency stars can flame out. But they can’t take their customers with them

Sam Bankman-Fried testifies during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee at Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill Dec. 8, 2021, in Washington, D.C..

Out of nowhere, 30-year-old Sam Bankman-Fried became a billionaire mover and shaker in the world of cryptocurrency. Careful to make friends of powerful Democrats and media columnists alike, he threw money around the halls of Congress — and everywhere else he went — while threatening to disrupt Chicago’s financial futures industry.

Known by his initials, “SBF” is a billionaire no more. The house of cards he built over the past several years came crashing down in a matter of days.

His FTX crypto exchange and the entangled Alameda Research hedge

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