Sam Bankman-Fried Tried to Stabilize the Fallout from the Crypto Winter

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

II. BACKGROUND TO ALL MOTIONS

C. 2022: The Crypto Winter

But in 2022, global economic conditions deteriorated and publicly-traded technology stocks fell roughly 33%.[5] The cryptocurrency market fell off even more dramatically. Bitcoin (the flagship cryptocurrency) saw its price drop by more than 65%, from a high of approximately $67,000 in late 2021 to about $20,000 in the summer of 2022.[6] During this prolonged market downturn, much of the cryptocurrency ecosystem became insolvent, with a series of companies– –exchanges, banks, lenders and hedge funds––collapsing and filing for bankruptcy in the spring and summer of 2022.[7] In fact, Mr. Bankman-Fried tried to step in and stabilize the collapse.