How Solana, ‘Sam coins’, Bitcoin and Ethereum have fared after the FTX collapse
It’s no secret that the collapse of crypto exchange FTX – and the behavior of disgraced former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried – threw most of the crypto market into the sun. And the coins most associated with Bankman-Fried are, unsurprisingly, the hardest hit.
Such coins – including FTX exchange token (FTT), Solana (SOL), Serum (SRM), Maps.me (MAPS) and Oxygen (OXY) – were called “Sam coins” for obvious reasons: Most were derived from projects supported or created by Bankman-Fried, FTX or Alameda Research, also founded the Bankman-Fried trading firm.
“It’s pretty clear that the failure of FTX caused an increase in risk aversion, with investors stampeding like a herd of wildebeest to offload as much risk as they could, in whatever way they could – including the increase in self-storage,” Ryan Shea, crypto economist at Trakx, says Fortune.
FTT fell by 95% in the last 30 days, according to CoinGecko. It is currently trading at around $1.29, down 98% from its September 2021 record high of $84.
FTT, which was apparently abused by Bankman-Fried and Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, was at the center of the FTX collapse. Reporting by CoinDesk found that as of June 30, Alameda had $3.66 billion of “unlocked FTT” and $2.16 billion of “FTT security” on its balance sheet. For its part, the crash is not surprising, but it is devastating for investors.
SOL has been another victim of the FTX-Alameda-SBF mess. Solana, its ecosystem and token were heavily supported by the three. The exchange alone had $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 fallen 58% in the past month, and is now trading at around $13.60.
But “SOL was not completely dependent on Alameda [and] FTX, despite being a significant supporter, and the market seems to be pricing it as well, says Nansen’s Andrew Thurman. “While certain projects may be in limbo, the Solana ecosystem is already moving outside of Sam’s influence.”
SRM, the ticker symbol for Serum, a Solana-based “decentralized” exchange created by Bankman-Fried, has fallen 69% in the past 30 days.
MAPS and OXY, the tokens of two DeFi projects Alameda invested in, fell 78% and 46% respectively in the same time frame.
“It is unclear whether any of these projects will continue to operate without FTX [and] Alameda support, and their price action reflects that, Thurman said. “The market is still sifting through the wreckage here trying to figure out how to price these assets after the collapse of their biggest boosters.”
Along with the “Sam coins”, notable cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) have also suffered. Bitcoin is currently trading at around $16,000, while Ether is around $1,275.
“The most visible manifestation of risk aversion,” Shea said, “is the decline in crypto prices, with major tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum down 15 to 20%, meaning Crypto Winter was extended.”
“One thing that has weighed — and will continue to weigh — on sentiment,” Shea added, “is the fact that people have no real idea where the ‘bodies are buried’ — I mean those companies that are vulnerable given the downturn in crypto prices due to significant exposures, either directly or indirectly to FTX, and/or because they adopted similar practices.”
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