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> like FTX was on paper FTX was high-growth in practice too. FTX was a phenomenal business. It wasn’t like most crypto projects that are scams; their business
by tyre 4y ago
> like FTX was on paper
FTX was high-growth in practice too. FTX was a phenomenal business. It wasn’t like most crypto projects that are scams; their business and profits were genuinely massive.
What they did was take consumer funds and loan them out without real collateral. That’s bad and dumb and illegal, but doesn’t change the fact that the growth and economics of FTX were real.
- zaphar 4y agoAhhhh yes, The this was a great business if only they hadn't thrown all the money out the window argument. If a business is throwing money out the window then it doesn't matter how good the rest of the business is. The company is a bad business. FTX was high growth but apparently 0 profit which does not make a business good. Claims that, if only they hadn't been crooks and/or incompetent, this would have been great doesn't change the fact that they were, in fact, either highly incompetent or crooks.
- pclmulqdq 4y agoCrypto exchanges, like other platforms, grow because there is capital that wants to trade there. This means that they have the same bootstrapping problem as a competitor to Uber or Facebook. FTX's solution to that problem was Alameda Research, which traded huge volumes on their exchange. That, in turn, made the exchange look big enough to be a serious player, which drove customers and more growth. The "phenomenal" part of FTX's business was the fraud.