FTX

How it happened

FTX was a major cryptocurrency exchange that peaked at a ~$32B valuation in early 2022. It collapsed in November 2022 after revelations that customer funds had been misused via affiliated trading firm Alameda Research, triggering a liquidity crisis and Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Employee reviews show no one inside saw the fraud: pre-collapse complaints centered on cult-like secrecy and a founder-only public voice, with glowing marks for the pay and Bahamas perks — then post-collapse reviews turned into rueful obituaries from staff who had lost their own savings held on the exchange. Founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud in 2023 and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Employee accounts paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor ↗. See our methodology.