It’s no secret that the collapse of crypto exchange FTX—and the behavior of disgraced former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried—catapulted most of the crypto market into the sun. And the coins most closely associated with Bankman-Fried are, unsurprisingly, getting hit the hardest.
Such coins—including FTX exchange token (FTT), Solana (SOL), Serum (SRM), Maps.me (MAPS) and Oxygen (OXY)—were dubbed “Sam coins” for obvious reasons: Most were derived from projects backed or created by Bankman-Fried, FTX, or Alameda Research, the trading firm Bankman-Fried also founded.
“It is pretty clear that the failure of FTX caused a surge in risk aversion, with investors stampeding like a herd of wildebeest to off-load as much risk as they could, in whatever way they could—including the surge in self-custody,” Ryan Shea, crypto economist at Trakx, tells Fortune.
FTT tanked 95% in the last 30 days, according to CoinGecko. It’s currently trading at around $1.29, down 98% from its September 2021 all-time high of $84.
FTT, which was apparently misused by Bankman-Fried and Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, was at the center of the FTX collapse. Reporting from CoinDesk found that as of June 30 Alameda had $3.66 billion of “unlocked FTT” and $2.16 billion of “FTT collateral” on its balance sheet. In turn, its crash isn’t surprising, but it is devastating for investors.
SOL has been another casualty of the FTX-Alameda-SBF-mess. Solana, its ecosystem, and token were heavily supported by the three. The exchange alone held $982 million in SOL, according to an FTX balance sheet shared with investors just before the firm filed for bankruptcy in November.
The cryptocurrency has dropped 58% over the last month, now trading at around $13.60.
But “SOL was not entirely reliant on Alameda [and] FTX, despite them being a significant backer, and the market appears to be pricing that in as well,” said Nansen’s Andrew Thurman. “While certain projects…
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