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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Business
Michael Hiltzik

Michael Hiltzik: A cryptocurrency billionaire implodes, showing that the whole field is built on quicksand

For a while there, Sam Bankman-Fried looked like the real thing.

Now 30, the MIT graduate had become the cryptocurrency ecosystem’s most visible and credible billionaire, with a fortune estimated at more than $26 billion at its peak.

Bankman-Fried looked like a political kingmaker, contributing nearly $900,000 to the Democratic National Committee in May 2022 alone.

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