Crypto Kingpins

4.8 (39)
TRUE CRIME
DAILY SERIES

Once upon a time, there were two titans of the crypto industry: Sam Bankman-Fried, the child of Stanford professors and founder of FTX, and Changpeng Zhao, the nomadic founder of Binance. The pair were the faces of crypto, generating billion-dollar fortunes comparable to the likes of Elon Musk and Bill Gates. That is, until their rivalry threatened to burn the entire industry to the ground. For years, the pair had waged a cold war as Sam fought to unseat Zhao, or CZ, and dominate the industry. Then, last year, CZ fired a warning shot: one that would send FTX into a downward spiral, and reveal what prosecutors describe as a staggering $8bn fraud at the heart of Sam’s empire. Now, as Sam potentially faces decades in prison, journalist Tom Wright has been investigating the hidden origins of his feud with CZ – starting with a key witness: CZ himself.

TRAILER

Introducing: Crypto Kingpins

Premieres September 19.

09/14/2023

•

2 min

4.8

out of 5

39 Ratings

Awesome!

Jun 16

KSEMBHI

Awesome podcast!
Loved it

Nov 8

AronJA

Okay so I knew about this story from the news but I appreciated the additional information from the obvious research that was done. Excellent podcast.
Outstanding!

10/08/2023

LJ N

Loved the podcast!
Interesting but seems conflicted

11/10/2023

IEM1967

This is a very interesting podcast with what appears to be good reporting. However, there is one line in one of the episodes regarding the narrator and his connection to CZ (the Binance Founder). The individual says, without much clarification, that he speaks regularly to this day to CZ. This alone is enough to call into question some of the reporting about Sam Bankman-Fried, in comparison to coverage of Binance and CZ. There seems to be more than a bit of armchair, psychology, being employed, when discussing SBF and his veganism polyamorous, and other matters that seem intended more as a smear campaign than as journalism. There is no mention of the problems with finance, or the fact that it like FTX is also engaged in what may in the end also amount to a sophisticated Ponzi Scheme.

Once upon a time, there were two titans of the crypto industry: Sam Bankman-Fried, the child of Stanford professors and founder of FTX, and Changpeng Zhao, the nomadic founder of Binance. The pair were the faces of crypto, generating billion-dollar fortunes comparable to the likes of Elon Musk and Bill Gates. That is, until their rivalry threatened to burn the entire industry to the ground. For years, the pair had waged a cold war as Sam fought to unseat Zhao, or CZ, and dominate the industry. Then, last year, CZ fired a warning shot: one that would send FTX into a downward spiral, and reveal what prosecutors describe as a staggering $8bn fraud at the heart of Sam’s empire. Now, as Sam potentially faces decades in prison, journalist Tom Wright has been investigating the hidden origins of his feud with CZ – starting with a key witness: CZ himself.