For example, the prominent collapse of the FTX crypto-asset trading platform has reportedly wiped out the holdings of a million people, costing them billions of dollars.6  U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, “Charges Samuel Bankman-Fried with Defrauding Investors in Crypto Asset Trading Platform FTX,” news release, December 13, 2022, https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-219. 6  -6Unfortunately, that is not the only example.
Since last summer, we saw the collapse of one crypto intermediary after another.7 As these cases are working their way through the bankruptcy courts, we are seeing indications of misuse of client funds, misrepresentations, obfuscation about availability of deposit insurance, and potential fraud. Crypto has also been implicated in numerous cases of illicit financing.