The FTX disaster is a stark reminder of the dangers of unchecked power and greed in the cryptocurrency space. It began on November 2, 2022, when CoinDesk published an article revealing the balance sheet of Alameda Research, a trading firm closely tied to FTX. The article showed that Alameda's balance sheet was largely composed of FTT, the native token of FTX, which raised concerns about the financial health of the company. Just a few days later, on November 6, CZ, the CEO of Binance, tweeted about selling FTT, citing concerns about the token's liquidity. This sparked a wave of withdrawal requests, with $6 billion being withdrawn from FTX in just 72 hours. On November 8, FTX halted trading, and the following day, Binance announced that it would be walking away from a potential deal to acquire FTX. The company filed for bankruptcy on November 11, and its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), was arrested on December 12. In November 2023, SBF was found guilty, and in March 2024, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Alameda had special API privileges on FTX, which allowed it to trade with fake money, resulting in $65 billion in fake trades. The company also made significant political donations and had celebrity endorsements, which helped to build a false sense of legitimacy. The FTX disaster is a cautionary tale about the importance of transparency and regulation in the cryptocurrency space.