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Crypto Confidence Soars After CEO Defrauds Customers Just Like Real Bank

128 points by dotcoma 4y ago

zen21 4y ago
- cinntaile 4y ago
  I thought the title was pretty funny, I haven't read the article itself.
FeistySkink 4y ago
The original Sequoia profile on SBF reals like the Onion article as well: https://archive.ph/GQkCp https://archive.ph/GQkCp Patrick Boyle made a brilliant summary of the FTX situation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTFhnpf-IE0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTFhnpf-IE0
- kwertyoowiyop 4y ago
  Was the Sequoia article really published just six weeks ago? I figured it must have been a few years at least.
  - FeistySkink 4y ago
    FTX is (or was) barely 3 years old. And Sequoia invested just last year.
- jinto36 4y ago
  That Sequoia letter aged amazingly poorly in just two months. "...FTX—a company that may very well end up creating the dominant all-in-one financial super-app of the future. Nothing is a sure bet in crypto, but just the possibility that FTX could join—or even eclipse—the big four of American banking (JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citibank) means it’s already valued at $32 billion." More emphasis should have been on the "nothing is a sure bet".
  - FeistySkink 4y ago
    It's strange that you bring the super app point up. Having worked in one the Sequoia-backed companies with a similar valuation in the past and following a few of their other investments, I could never understand the pressure to make a super app. Yes, I know about WeChat. But I just don't see these types of apps having a success where I live at the moment (not China).
    - pas 4y ago
      WhatsApp at this point is basic infrastructure in India (even has money transfer) and Brazil. I have no idea how profitable it is, but probably that's why everyone wants a superapp.
      - FeistySkink 4y ago
        I mean something else by a super app: it's an app that has different unrelated parts that can be split into separate ones. Like banking groceries, taxi, etc. Perhaps I misunderstand the term.
memish 4y ago
Inaccurate. A real bank would get bailed out by taxpayers and the execs given bonuses.
- oldgradstudent 4y ago
  Only large and connected banks. Small bank are unceremoniously taken over by the FDIC.
shusaku 4y ago
TheOnion submissions to hacker news are rare, which makes this a nice opportunity to look at past ones: https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=theonion.com https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=theonion.com

128 points by dotcoma 4y ago

cinntaile 4y ago
I thought the title was pretty funny, I haven't read the article itself.

The original Sequoia profile on SBF reals like the Onion article as well: https://archive.ph/GQkCp https://archive.ph/GQkCp Patrick Boyle made a brilliant summary of the FTX situation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTFhnpf-IE0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTFhnpf-IE0

kwertyoowiyop 4y ago
Was the Sequoia article really published just six weeks ago? I figured it must have been a few years at least.
- FeistySkink 4y ago
  FTX is (or was) barely 3 years old. And Sequoia invested just last year.
jinto36 4y ago
That Sequoia letter aged amazingly poorly in just two months. "...FTX—a company that may very well end up creating the dominant all-in-one financial super-app of the future. Nothing is a sure bet in crypto, but just the possibility that FTX could join—or even eclipse—the big four of American banking (JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citibank) means it’s already valued at $32 billion." More emphasis should have been on the "nothing is a sure bet".
- FeistySkink 4y ago
  It's strange that you bring the super app point up. Having worked in one the Sequoia-backed companies with a similar valuation in the past and following a few of their other investments, I could never understand the pressure to make a super app. Yes, I know about WeChat. But I just don't see these types of apps having a success where I live at the moment (not China).
  - pas 4y ago
    WhatsApp at this point is basic infrastructure in India (even has money transfer) and Brazil. I have no idea how profitable it is, but probably that's why everyone wants a superapp.
    - FeistySkink 4y ago
      I mean something else by a super app: it's an app that has different unrelated parts that can be split into separate ones. Like banking groceries, taxi, etc. Perhaps I misunderstand the term.

memish 4y ago

Inaccurate. A real bank would get bailed out by taxpayers and the execs given bonuses.

oldgradstudent 4y ago
Only large and connected banks. Small bank are unceremoniously taken over by the FDIC.

shusaku 4y ago

TheOnion submissions to hacker news are rare, which makes this a nice opportunity to look at past ones: https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=theonion.com https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=theonion.com