Where does crypto go from here?
You know that episode of The Simpsons, where Reverend Lovejoy's daughter (Jessica) steals from the church collection plate?
Then when she's caught, Lovejoy sends her back to boarding school?
While Jessica is plainly written as the villain in the story, you still feel for her a little, as it appears her dad cares more about the image she projects (and how it reflects on him) - than Jessica herself.
There's a weird parallel with that story, and the current call for a "Massive Regulatory Response," after FTX's collapse.
For years, many in the crypto community have been asking to work with lawmakers to draw up fair and balanced regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrency, to stop bad actors like Sam Bankman-Fried.
(Hell, even SBF was lobbying to enact his own warped form of regulation).
But nothing was done.
The only time we've seen real movement on the issue is now (after many politicians have started taking heat for accepting money from SBF).
The timing makes it feels less about consumer protection, and more about saving political face.
At the same time - we get it - they can't just ignore something like this.
So...what now?
Our Magic 8 Ball is on the fritz, so instead, we're looking back in time to balance our perspectives, and consuming memes to calm our nerves:
Looking back.
While this feels like it came out of nowhere, it turns out there's been an event like this in almost every bear market.
And each time, there's always some that want to call it 'the end of crypto.' (But that 'end' has never come to pass).
In 2014, the collapse of the Mt Gox exchange tanked the market by 92%.
In 2016, the Bitfinex hack punctuated the last big dip, before the 2017/18 bull run.
In 2018, the ETH DAO was hacked, and the Bitcoin community were at war with each other - driving the market down 83%.
In 2020, it was the pandemic panic sale.
In 2022, it's FTX.
Each event has brought changes, and no doubt this past week's events will do the same.
...but just like every other time - the only thing that's guaranteed is change.
Consuming memes.
Here's our favorite for the week so far (bravo, Joshua):