Talking FTX Blues

Lyrics

Well, let me tell you a story 'bout a boy king, name of Sam.
Built himself a kingdom out in the Bahaman sand.
Wore a Patagonia vest, hair a holy mess,
Talkin' 'bout savin' the world... nothin' more, nothin' less.

Came out of MIT, parents taught law down at Stanford.
Said he was an altruist, had a new financial standard.
Called it FTX, a shiny crypto exchange,
Promised all the little guys a brand-new shootin' range.
He moved 'em all to Albany, a penthouse by the sea,
Ten of 'em in a polycule, for all the world to see.
Just a bunch of kids on beanbags, playin' League of Legends deep,
While a billion-dollar promise was gettin' hard to keep.

Oh, the numbers on the screen, they flicker and they gleam.
Just a digital mirage, a fever-headed dream.
When the tide goes out, you see who's swimmin' bare.
Eleven billion dollars just vanished in the air.
Yeah, vanished in the thin, thin air.

He was on the magazine covers, the new JP Morgan they said.
Had politicians in his pocket, puttin' crazy thoughts in their head.
Talkin' regulation, talkin' with a steady hand,
While the back-door to the treasury was open 'cross the land.
Alameda was the secret, the shadow-puppet queen,
Gamblin' with the customer's cash, a scene behind the scene.
The parameters were simple, if you only understood:
Take it from the trusting, for the so-called greater good.

Oh, the numbers on the screen, they flicker and they gleam.
Just a digital mirage, a fever-headed dream.
When the tide goes out, you see who's swimmin' bare.
Eleven billion dollars just vanished in the air.
Yeah, vanished in the thin, thin air.

Then a whisper turned to a rumor, a rumor to a run.
The digital bank was empty 'fore the rising of the sun.
The boy king kept on typin', said "It's all misunderstood."
But the code was on the blockchain, and it wasn't lookin' good.
From a penthouse to a jailhouse... it's a shorter trip than you think.
When your whole damn world is balanced on the cryptographic brink.

Well, they brought him back in shackles, put him in a suit and tie.
The Patagonia vest was gone, you could see it in his eye.
His mom and dad, the law professors, sittin' in the second row,
Watchin' their own lessons crumble, reapin' what they didn't sow.
The jury didn't take too long to read between the lines,
Of all the deleted messages and all the warning signs.

Now he's countin' out his future, in a cellblock gray and long.
Twenty-five years to figure out just where it all went wrong.
Was it greed? Was it genius? Was it just a simple lie?
The FTX blues keep blowin' 'neath a cold Bahaman sky.