Two years later, Bankman-Fried and his team launched FTX, a crypto exchange platform with perks like low trading fees and advanced options for traders.
At his peak, Bankman-Fried was worth $26 billion, though his net worth had dropped to $16 billion before this week.
In early November, crypto publication CoinDesk released a bombshell report that called into question just how stable Bankman-Fried's empire really was.
Now, the FTX drama is creating a ripple effect throughout the crypto industry.
Industry experts told Insider that the saga might encourage regulators to try to crack down on the crypto industry, or make big banks wary of letting customers trade crypto.