Making bank
I don't involve myself in the murky world of cryptocurrency. I don't understand it, and I don't trust it; it just seems spooky and volatile. So I'd never heard of FTX—one of the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchanges
—until news of its near collapse and bail-out by close rival Binance.
The only thing of note to me is the name of FTX's founder: Sam Bankman-Fried. Which I think is quite apt, since he's a bank man who's now fried. (LOL)
I do understand the basics of the blockchain and distributed authentication. But it doesn't seem to live up to the hype, this being a case in point. It's like real banking, but without the ability to withdraw real money from your account.
Bankman-Fried's name is apparently pronounced freed
, not fried
as it's spelt. That kinda ruins my joke, but I think he's doing an Onions to deflect the obvious piss-take.
Sam Bankman-Fried has been found guilty of fraud and money laundering. He won't be sentenced until next March, but is facing jail time of anything up to 110 years. So it doesn't look like he'll be freed anytime soon. BA-BOOM-TSCH!
A court sketch of his distraught parents, with their heads in their hands, is accompanied by a nicely-understated caption from the BBC:
Bankman-Fried's parents appeared to be upset as the guilty verdict was read out in court
Natalie Sherman and Peter Hoskins, business reporters, BBC News
I don't understand what made our intrepid reporters jump to that conclusion, I really don't.