Structural failure
No Proof Of Reserves
Failure to publish independently verifiable proof of customer asset backing. A structural condition that hides solvency until a bank run reveals it.
Records exhibiting this pattern
FTX Collapse — November 2022
The world's second-largest crypto exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy within nine days of a leaked Alameda balance sheet that revealed commingled customer funds.
$8.00B affectedVoyager Digital Collapse and Bankruptcy in 2022
After Three Arrows Capital defaulted on a roughly $670 million loan, Voyager froze customer activity, entered Chapter 11, and later liquidated, returning about 35.7% of customer claim value.
$670.0M affectedQuadrigaCX Collapse — January 2019
Canada's largest crypto exchange collapsed after its 30-year-old founder Gerald Cotten was pronounced dead in India in December 2018, leaving sole access to ~$190M in customer funds. Forensic investigation later concluded the exchange had been a Ponzi scheme.
$190.0M affectedBitGrail NANO Hack — February 2018
The Italian exchange disclosed approximately $170M in losses of NANO tokens. Founder Francesco Firano was later found liable by Italian courts and BitGrail entered bankruptcy proceedings.
$170.0M affected