Written by: Blockchain Knight
The popularity of Crypto is a resonance of technological revolution, financial demand, and social psychology. The "phoenix" phenomenon after the collapse reveals humanity's eternal desire for financial freedom and distrust of authority.
Regardless of the future, it has profoundly changed the narrative logic of finance, technology, and culture—just as Amazon and Google remained after the internet bubble burst. Crypto's legacy may not lie in its coin price, but in forcing the world to rethink the boundaries of currency, trust, and power.
The rise and fall of Crypto heavyweight Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is one of the most dramatic cases in business history. His story not only reveals the wildness and risks of the Crypto industry but also provides profound warnings and insights for entrepreneurs and managers.
Sam is one of the most contradictory tragic figures in Crypto history. He possessed the mathematical mind of a genius quantitative trader and the grand narrative of an idealist, yet completely corrupted in the expansion of power.
On the surface, he was a devout believer in "effective altruism"—promising to use 99% of his wealth for public welfare, living in a modest apartment, driving an old Toyota, and crafting a saint-like anti-capitalist image. But behind the scenes, he built a systematic fraud machine: misappropriating $16 billion in customer funds from FTX through related transactions, providing blood transfusions for high-risk bets of his hedge fund Alameda Research, and fabricating accounts to conceal billions in liabilities.
This split reveals a deeper human allegory: when the mission to "change the world" is detached from ethical constraints, when tech elites believe they are above rules, idealism becomes a fig leaf for crime.
The seven felony charges in the New York court (with a maximum sentence of 115 years) announced the collapse of his "Crypto savior" persona. However, his legacy far exceeds personal fate—he is the ultimate symbol of the blockchain wild era, condensing the industry's resistance to regulation, indifference to risk, collective obsession with the "get rich quick" philosophy, and the irreconcilable conflict between technological utopia and human greed.
But SBF's story is far from over. His criminal appeal, $13 billion user compensation lawsuit, and the U.S. Department of Justice's investigation into Crypto political donations continue. Yet he has left humanity a digital age "Faust" allegory: when tech geniuses believe they can reinvent rules, when the creed of "Move Fast and Break Things" crosses ethical boundaries, destruction becomes inevitable.
On the ruins of FTX, the Crypto industry is forced to transition from adolescence to adulthood. Surviving projects are learning to find balance between transparency and innovation, decentralization and real-world responsibility. For the entire technological civilization, SBF's fall is a moment that reminds us: algorithms can optimize the world, but only reverence can protect humanity.
Bestselling author Michael Lewis, after "Liar's Poker" and "The Big Short", once again delves into the scene. Through in-depth investigation and understanding, combined with his professional expertise and keen thinking, he reveals the "inside story" of the FTX event. He unravels the most sensational and dramatic financial technology event in recent global history for readers. Michael Lewis's work is not just a story, but the truth.
"Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Crypto Empire"
Author: [USA] Michael Lewis
Currently, FTX has begun asset compensation for some users, and the Chinese version of "Going Infinite" arrives at just the right time. In 2025, a year of global seeking breakthrough, with constantly changing international trading rules and the gradual rise of "stablecoins", Michael Lewis's in-depth analysis of the Crypto empire FTX's rise and fall is not just a dissection of a business myth, but a lens reflecting technological fervor and human weakness, forcing the world to rethink the boundaries of currency, trust, and power.
The ultimate charm of a "genius/madman/grand fraudster":
Sam Bankman-Fried is an MIT genius, spokesperson for effective altruism, billionaire, and now a prisoner. He didn't like money or women but craved the sense of achievement from winning strategic games. He made money serve to make the world better for all humanity, building a large Crypto empire that ultimately collapsed (bankrupt within 72 hours), also leading to his imprisonment.
Sam is a top-tier intelligent person full of contradictions, whom no one could truly understand—a figure who created a massive wealth myth and continues to influence today.
Exclusive insider perspective, an "entry-level" deep dive into the Crypto world:
Lewis is not a post-event reporter but a witness before the storm! He gained incredible access, deeply embedded in SBF's core circle months before FTX's collapse, conducting long-term close observation and interviews. This is an "God's perspective" unmatched by any other related reporting, providing the closest first-hand insider information.
Lewis excels at presenting complex financial concepts and technical issues in a vivid, understandable, and story-driven manner. This book allows even readers unfamiliar with Crypto to understand the game's rules, risks, and human nature.
Super-hot event + profound era issues and reflections:
The most sensational and dramatic financial technology event globally in recent years—the collapse of the FTX empire and SBF's fall. This book goes beyond financial gossip, touching on deep contemporary issues like technological ethics, idealism's dilemmas, regulatory gaps, trust mechanisms, human greed and arrogance, capable of triggering broad social discussion. The brilliance and weakness of human nature are vividly displayed in the face of wealth, ideals, rules, and temptation.
Crypto's global popularity and continued pursuit is the result of technology, economics, social psychology, and speculative demand. Even after multiple collapses (like FTX, LUNA, Mt.Gox), people still hold belief in it. After each crisis, new concepts restart market enthusiasm, repeatedly cycling through "winter-recovery" in history.
Crypto's rules are humanity's experiment in "trustless trust", its effect depends on how it's used. The measure of technological progress ultimately depends on whether it benefits most people, not just makes a few wealthy. Just as the telegraph was once used for market manipulation, and the early internet was full of scams, Crypto may need a "reshaping" to return to rational value.
