Bankman-Fried claims to only have 100,000 left in his bank account from an initial fortune that reached as much as $26.5 billion. He is currently facing eight counts of fraud and conspiracy as well as separate civil charges from the SEC and Commodities FuturesTrading Commission. However, the collapse of FTX is only a small part of the overall cryptocurrency market’s sizable fall. In 2022, crypto’s total market capitalization fell 1.46 trillion dollars with Coinbase stock taking an 86% dive as well.
Crypto’s rough 2022 is further demonstrated through the more than 3 billion dollars worth of crypto stolen by hackers and fraudsters. Hackers specifically targeted portals between blockchains that allow users to transfer assets from one platform to another.
As we head into 2023, it’s important to remember how there are opportunities for crypto and other markets to recover, as none of the fallouts have come as a result of the blockchain technology by itself and there have been many technological advancements. However, with the amount of fraud and theft surrounding blockchain technology, the current macro environment, lack of regulation and confidence in crypto, and unclear regulatory frameworks will continue to put pressure on crypto and make it a fairly unstable investment.
