The catastrophic meltdown of crypto titans FTX and Alameda Research has rocked the cryptocurrency world over the past fortnight. The rumour that the pair had blurred the lines between user deposits and their investments soon became a cascade of events that sent shockwaves through the industry. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been sent into a downward spiral following the implosion, earning November 2022 a place in the history books as one of the worst months in crypto’s history.
But, what really caused the downfall of FTX, what has the impact been and why is Bitcoin falling?
The final quarter of 2021 proved to be the beginning of what has turned out to be a savage downtrend for Bitcoin and crypto markets ever since. Despite reaching an eye-watering US$69,000 almost precisely one year ago, Bitcoin sits nearly 75% down from its record high. The entire cryptocurrency market peaked at a total value of $US3 trillion at around the same time in November of last year but has shed almost $US2.2 billion in value over the past year.
2022 has proven to be a challenging year for investors globally, with both Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and massive fiscal stimulus by governments during Covid-19 lockdowns, causing high inflation for countries worldwide. To drive down the inflation rate to acceptable levels, central banks have raised interest rates, negatively impacting investment markets, such as stocks and crypto.
Since the start of the year, cryptocurrencies across the board have generally trended downward in value, exposing vulnerabilities for some players in the industry. The Terra Luna collapse in May caused significant fallout for the entire crypto space, wiping out almost $US60 billion from the crypto markets in a matter of days. Numerous companies were directly affected; most notably, Celsius, Voyager and 3 Arrows Capital filed for bankruptcy following the incident.
By October, the crypto markets had finally begun to shake the dust off from the Terra…
