Downfall of the Crypto King
Panorama explores the breakneck rise and sensational fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, the maths genius who set out to transform the world of crypto but ended up being its biggest loser.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the mop-haired, nerdy maths genius who set out to transform the world of crypto but ended up being its biggest loser, is facing the prospect of a lengthy prison sentence. On the eve of his trial for fraud and money laundering in New York, this programme reveals the breakneck rise and sensational fall of his $40 billion company, FTX, which he had boasted would take crypto into the mainstream but crashed, leaving more than a million customers with nothing. Through detailed research and interviews with his former associates, staffers and insiders, the film examines the numerous red flags that were overlooked, including how his scruffy image, celebrity hype and promises to give billions away to charity, blinded the world to alleged crimes that have plunged crypto into crisis.
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