The unbearable uselessness of crypto

FORGIVE the appalling cash management (or was it fraud?) that caught FTX with less than US$1 billion on hand at a time when short-term liabilities were US$9 billion. That sort of thing has also been known to happen to banks.

Forgive the opaque accounting, the incestuous loans with fictitious collateral, and the US$8 billion that someone “accidentally” misplaced. Such mishaps occur as well in Russia’s Bratva, Italy’s Camorra, and Japan’s Yakuza.

Forgive the hyped-up database technology, for many purposes slower, more expensive, and more cumbersome than established, 30-year-old ways of doing things. Someone will someday find a use for all those blockchains.