The Capitalist Investor - Episode 153 What’s going on with the recent crypto meltdown and specifically the FTX exchange? The traditional banking system works in a similar way, lending out assets to make money for themselves. What is to blame? The banks? The exchanges? Regulation? Or is this a culprit of low-interest rates and the changes in behavioral finance?Trump finally announced his presidential campaign for 2024. How is this going to impact the political sphere over the next few years? What is the takeaway from his speech on Tuesday?Inflation is running rampant, but the stock market seems to be cheering. How can the market cheer when you’re still paying higher prices at the gas pump? All of this and more is discussed on this week’s “The Capitalist Investor”.The Crypto Meltdown: What Really Happened – 0:01:45The FTX Cryptocurrency Exchange Scandal – 0:03:34FTX Exchange Under Fire After Client Money Goes Missing – 0:07:17The FTX hack and its implications for the cryptocurrency industry – 0:08:39The Aftermath of the Largest Ponzi Scheme in History: The Bernard Madoff Scandal – 0:10:08The Decentralized Finance Community’s Relationship with Regulation – 0:13:32Inflation: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly – 0:19:13The Impact of PPI on the Economy – 0:22:35The Federal Reserve’s Impact on Inflation and the Market – 0:25:19Excesses Will Change in the Next Two Years – 0:31:00FTX & Crypto Blows UpIn the traditional banking system, banks will take customer deposits and use them to invest in other products or services. However, this can be risky if the bank does not have enough liquid assets to meet customer demands for withdrawals. This is what happened with the crypto exchange FTX. The company had leveraged its customer assets to make other investments, but when the market crashed and customers tried to withdraw their money, FTX was unable to meet these demands. This caused the company to collapse, wiping out billions of dollars in assets.The FTX crisis was caused by the company’s use of client money for risky hedge fund leverage, which left the company unable to repay its debt obligations when clients began asking for their money back. But on top of that, it is absolutely possible that Fraud has occurred, but we don’t want to jump to conclusions until it is proven.On top of all of this news, there was a hack on FTX after the news dropped. Apparently, the person who hacked into FTX’s system is now the 35th largest owner of Ethereum in the world. This hack is a reminder that the banking system is the world is vulnerable and should be taken into consideration when companies are using leverage.Trump Announces Campaign for 2024Donald Trump announced on Tuesday his intentions to run for President of the United States in 2024. The speech he gave rubbed a lot of people the right way, but it also rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. What do the guys think about the speech and the impact on politics over the next few years?One of the big talking points that Donald Trump talked about during the speech was the rampant inflation and energy prices we are seeing. The stock market, however, over the past week has been cheering with lower than expected inflation numbers. Why would the stock market cheer when inflation is still rising in areas like energy & groceries? What is the impact inflation will have on both companies and consumers moving forward? Connect With Mark TepperTwitter: @MarkTepperSWPFollow Mark on LinkedInSend Mark a message hereThe SWP Connect YouTube ChannelConnect With Ryan DobrokaTwitter: @DobrokaRyanFollow Ryan on LinkedInSend Ryan a message hereThe SWP Connect YouTube ChannelConnect with Derek GabrielsenTwitter: @DerekGabrielsenFollow Derek on LinkedInSend Derek a message hereCheck out Derek’s YouTube channel!Connect With Luke LloydTwitter: @LloydBoyLukeFollow Luke on LinkedInSend Luke a message hereThe SWP Connect YouTube ChannelConnect with Tony ZabiegalaTwitter: @TonyZabiegalaFollow Tony on LinkedInSend Tony a message hereThe SWP Connect YouTube channel!Send your questions and comments to us at info@SWPConnect.com
