美国国家公共电台 NPR--Cryptocurrency trading platform FTX's collapse spotlights doubt about the industry

Cryptocurrency trading platform FTX's collapse¹ spotlights² doubt about the industry

Transcript³

A look at how the collapse of one of the world's largest crypto exchanges is casting doubt on the decentralized finance model that so many early adopters of crypto embraced.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

There was a spectacular meltdown in the world of cryptocurrencies last week. One of the world's largest crypto exchanges, FTX, filed for bankruptcy⁴ on Friday. That sparked fears of contagion⁵ throughout the wider industry, which was recently trading at around $1 trillion. Darian Woods from NPR's podcast the Indicator⁶ is here with us to explain how the crash of the industry that calls itself decentralized finance has led some influential⁷ players to reconsider. Hi, Darian.

DARIAN WOODS, BYLINE⁸: Good morning.

FADEL: Good morning. So explain - what led to the bankruptcy of FTX?

WOODS: FTX is an exchange. So it's like a stock exchange but for crypto. And it matches buyers and sellers. And it takes a clip of the ticket along the way. And there is a separate sister company here. It's called Alameda Research. So this one borrows and invests. And it does more speculative⁹ deals. It's a bit more of a risky¹⁰ company. And in the normal financial world, these two companies should be separate. And this is where FTX got into trouble.

It used assets from its exchange company, including from everyday customer funds that it said it would not use to lend out like this, and it would fund bad bets for Alameda. So we're talking $10 billion here. That was reported by Reuters and Wall Street Journal. And when this got revealed, FTX suffered what was essentially¹¹ like a huge bank run early last week, meaning they had to declare bankruptcy by Friday.

FADEL: So was FTX a bad company? Or was this more like a panicked bank run bringing an otherwise legitimate¹² company under?

WOODS: FTX is now under investigations¹³ all over the world.

FADEL: OK.

WOODS: And it's clear if it was a regular exchange, like a stock exchange, it wouldn't have been allowed to put everyday users' money into such risky, speculative bets that Alameda Research was doing. And so we'll find out in coming months the exact extent to which the underlying¹⁴ business model was rotten. But what's clear is that other big crypto investors¹⁵ took a look at FTX's books early last week and said, no thanks. This suggests that there are real problems with FTX's business model.

FADEL: And what about the wider world of crypto? How is that responding?

WOODS: So Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency, saw about a 25% drop from the start of last week to its lowest point in the middle of the week. And of course, everyday crypto investors who bought crypto using FTX are very angry. But the people at the top of the crypto industry are trying to work out ways to calm the markets. Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, he runs the biggest crypto exchange called Binance. And on Monday, he tweeted, to reduce further cascading¹⁶ negative effects of FTX, Binance is forming an industry recovery fund to help projects who are otherwise strong but in a liquidity¹⁷ crisis.

FADEL: Sounds like a central bank to me.

WOODS: Yeah. So that's almost like a central bank-ish type of thing. So it's kind of ironic¹⁸ because this whole industry prides itself on being decentralized finance. But this is some kind of centralized entity¹⁹ to keep the system afloat.

FADEL: Darian Woods from the NPR podcast the Indicator. Thanks.

(SOUNDBITE OF TOM KALANI'S "BULL'S EYE")

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 spotlights   

n.聚光灯（的光）( spotlight的名词复数 )；公众注意的中心v.聚光照明( spotlight的第三人称单数 )；使公众注意，使突出醒目

参考例句：

• The room was lit by spotlights. 房间被聚光灯照亮。
• The dazzle of the spotlights made him ill at ease. 聚光灯的耀眼强光使他局促不安。 来自辞典例句

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

5 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

6 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

7 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 speculative   

adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的

参考例句：

• Much of our information is speculative.我们的许多信息是带推测性的。
• The report is highly speculative and should be ignored.那个报道推测的成分很大，不应理会。

10 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

13 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

14 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

15 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

16 cascading   

流注( cascade的现在分词 )； 大量落下； 大量垂悬； 梯流

参考例句：

• First of all, cascading menus are to be avoided at all costs. 首先，无论如何都要避免使用级联菜单。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Her sounds began cascading gently. 他的声音开始缓缓地低落下来。

17 liquidity   

n.流动性，偿债能力，流动资产

参考例句：

• The bank has progressively increased its liquidity.银行逐渐地增加其流动资产。
• The demand for and the supply of credit is closely linked to changes in liquidity.信用的供求和流动资金的变化有密切关系。

18 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

19 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。