Coming soon: When nerdy gamer Sam Bankman-Fried rocketed to fame as the world’s richest 29-year-old, he pledged to donate his billions to good causes. But then his crypto exchange FTX collapsed Billions of dollars were missing, and Sam was in handcuffs. Those who knew him were left wondering — who was Sam really? A well-meaning billionaire who made a mistake? Or a calculating con man? From Wondery and Bloomberg, the makers of The Shrink Next Door, comes a new story of incredible wealth, betrayal and what happens when “doing good” goes really really bad. Learn more here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spellcaster-the-fall-of-sam-bankman-fried/id1685258534

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It’s been another wild week of financial mayhem connected to crypto. But this time the crisis focused on banks.

It started earlier this month [March], when Silvergate Capital shut down operations. The California-based bank serviced various crypto companies like Coinbase and Gemini. But its most notorious clients included the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and its sister firm Alameda. As these two giants faltered, Silvergate suffered a series of financial difficulties and fell under intense regulatory scrutiny, leading to its eventual shut down.

Then, last Friday, one week ago now, the tech and startup-focused Silicon Valley Bank collapsed. It was the largest bank failure since 2008, and incited investor panic.

By late last Sunday, another domino had fallen: New York State regulators announced they were taking possession of Signature Bank. It was moving to retreat from crypto, but was still known for having some ties to the digital asset industry, at one point even launching a crypto-payments platform. This was the third-largest bank failure in the US to date. Bloomberg reported that regulators took action after they “lost faith in management.”

This trio of recent closures is another blow to crypto - leaving the industry nearly cut off from the fiat banking sector. All the while a Bitcoin rally ensued, but has since cooled a bit.

So. In the aftermath of one of the biggest weeks in finance so far this year, how has the crypto industry fared? And how does it move forward?

Bloomberg senior executive editor Chris Nagi joins this episode.

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Subscribe to the Bloomberg Crypto Newsletter at https://bloom.bg/cryptonewsletter

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Listen to Bloomberg Crypto on the iHeartRadio App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Last year, just before the crypto winter had hit in earnest, Princeton University opened up “The Center for the Decentralization of Power Through Blockchain Technology”.

The Center was funded in part by a $20 million gift from prominent Princeton alumni including Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners, and Joe Lubin, co-founder of the Ethereum crypto platform.

The university says the Center focuses on the software engineering that makes blockchain technology work, finds innovative uses for decentralized systems and considers how it might affect our collective future.

One year on, as the crypto winter persists, what’s the Center up to these days?

Bloomberg reporter Francesca Maglione joins this episode to discuss the role universities are playing in studying blockchain.

Subscribe to the Bloomberg Crypto Newsletter at https://bloom.bg/cryptonewsletter

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