Once upon a time, there were two titans of the crypto industry: Sam Bankman-Fried, the child of Stanford professors and founder of FTX, and Changpeng Zhao, the nomadic founder of Binance. The pair were the faces of crypto, generating billion-dollar fortunes comparable to the likes of Elon Musk and Bill Gates. That is, until their rivalry threatened to burn the entire industry to the ground.
For years, the pair had waged a cold war as Sam fought to unseat Zhao, or CZ, and dominate the industry. Then, last year, CZ fired a warning shot: one that would send FTX into a downward spiral, and reveal what prosecutors describe as a staggering $8bn fraud at the heart of Sam’s empire. Now, as Sam potentially faces decades in prison, journalist Tom Wright has been investigating the hidden origins of his feud with CZ – starting with a key witness: CZ himself.
As another kingpin falls, what’s next for crypto?
At the start of November, Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted. After weeks of complex testimony, the jury took just four hours to find him guilty of defrauding customers and investors out of billions of dollars. Things looked like they couldn’t get anymore dramatic–- until they did. Just a few weeks later, with Sam awaiting sentencing, a second kingpin was also toppled. In a sweeping settlement with the Department of Justice, Changpeng Zhao, or CZ, pled guilty to failing to prevent money laundering and stepped down as CEO of Binance. In this episode, host Tom Wright delves into the downfall of two of the biggest names in crypto. With help from crypto investigator James Block, entrepreneur Margaux Avedisian, and Wall Street Journal reporter Angus Berwick, Tom unravels the details of CZ’s plea deal with regulators and the fate of Binance, and asks: what’s next for crypto?
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