The FTX collapse was bad, but how bad? Almost from the moment that the Bahamas-based exchange suspended cryptocurrency withdrawals in early November — and three days before it filed for bankruptcy — the historic comparisons started flying.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire tweeted on Nov. 8 that FTX was “Lehman’s moment,” referencing the 2008 collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers, which sparked a global financial panic. This analogy stuck, at least over the past four weeks. Even United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen employed it last week, telling DealBook: