FTX used to be the third-largest centralised exchange (CEX) in crypto markets, managing over \$10B in daily trading volume before its downfall. Such a giant, however, failed to avoid the fate of mania, panic, and crash. In this work, we revisit the FTX's crash by telling it as a Ponzi story. In regards to why FTX could not sustain this Ponzi game, we extract and demonstrate the three facilitators of the FTX collapse, namely, \textit{FTT}, \textit{leverage}, and \textit{diversion}. The unfunctionality in each factor can iteratively magnify the impact of damages when the panic is triggered. Rooted in the unstable ground, FTX eventually suffered insolvency and rapidly crashed in Nov. 2022. The crisis of FTX is not an isolated event; it consequently results in the collapse of a chain of associated companies in the entire crypto market. Recall this painful experience, we discuss possible paths for a way forward for both CeFi and DeFi services.
翻译:FTX曾经是加密市场的第三大集中交易(CEX),在日交易量下降前管理了10B美元以上。然而,这个巨人未能避免狂躁、恐慌和崩溃的命运。在这项工作中,我们用Ponzi故事来讲述FTX的崩溃。关于FTX为什么不能维持这个庞氏游戏,我们提取并展示FTX崩溃的三个促进者,即\ textit{FTT},\ textit{leverage}和\textit{diversion}。每个因素的不起作用都能够反复放大恐慌触发时的损害影响。在不稳定的地面上,FTX最终破产,在2022年11月迅速崩溃。FTX的危机不是孤立的事件;因此,它导致整个CeFi和DeFiel服务中连锁公司的崩溃。回顾这一痛苦的经历,我们讨论了前方的路径。