The BlockFi logo on a smartphone arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022.Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThere was supposedly one man who could save crypto — Sam Bankman-Fried. The former FTX CEO bailed out and took over crypto firms as cryptocurrency markets withered with Terra’s spring crash. In October, FTX won the bidding war for bankrupt crypto firm Voyager Digital in a highly advantageous deal.With the collapse of FTX, the firms which Bankman-Fried saved now find themselves in an uncertain state. Voyager put itself back up for auction last week. Today, BlockFi filed for bankruptcy in New Jersey, after weeks of speculation that the FTX collapse had fatally crippled it.The FTX “death spiral,” as BlockFi advisor Mark Renzi put it, has now spread to another crypto entity. BlockFi’s bankruptcy had been anticipated for some time, but in a detailed 41-page filing, Renzi walks creditors, investors, and the court through his perspective at the helm of BlockFi.According to Renzi, exposure to two successive hedge fund failures, the FTX rescue, and broader market uncertainty all conspired to force BlockFi into bankruptcy.Renzi is keen to underscore that from his point of view, BlockFi doesn’t “face the myriad issues apparently facing FTX.” Renzi pointed to a $30 million settlement with the SEC and the company’s corporate governance and risk management protocols, writing that BlockFi is “well-positioned to move forward despite the fact that 2022 has been a uniquely terrible year for the cryptocurrency industry.”The “issues” that Renzi refer to may include FTX’s well publicized lack of financial, risk, anti-money laundering (AML), or audit systems. In a court filing, newly appointed FTX CEO …
