The Bitcoin Hype Is Back and About Just as Hollow as Before
Yes, crypto has surged since Sam Bankman-Fried went down. And sure, ETFs have made Bitcoin easier to buy than ever before. But the basic story—buyer beware—remains the same.
Photo illustration: 731; Photo: Getty Images
Bitcoin mania seemed pretty much cooked last fall. Sam Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive officer of crypto exchange FTX, was convicted in November of orchestrating a massive fraud, and a few weeks later, Changpeng Zhao, co-founder of FTX rival Binance, pleaded guilty to federal money laundering charges and stepped down as CEO. With two of the wealthiest and most admired figures in the industry likely on their way to prison for crimes related to the basic operation of their respective company, the notion that any sane person would still choose the crypto roller coaster over the conventional financial system seemed close to unimaginable.
“Is this the end game for crypto?” the New York Times’ Paul Krugman asked in a column in November, predicting the currency was “headed for oblivion.”