[gandalfian]

Do you think really $43 billion lost? Or rather that was the theoretical peak valuation? It just seems a staggering amount of money to be available for a new startup crypto project.

Hmm, wonder if Do Kwon is reading this :)

[55555]

Money was not lost, it either changed owners or it never actually existed.

[hailwren]

It's just the peak market cap. Not the amount of $ invested.

[ChicagoBoy11]

Your point is obviously correct and a good reality check, but it sparked a curiosity: Why don't we routinely treat financials reported in this way in the same manner? It seems we do take these "peak valuation" projections a bit on face value and compare potentially high-illiquid assets which are priced at that number with straight up cash in ways that (like this example beautifully illustrates) are , if not outright incorrect, probably very misleading in terms of being an accurate representation of reality. Why is that?

[gandalfian]

I guess the simple answer is the largest number makes for a more exciting artical. And how many journalists actually know and understand the details anyway. I do wonder what the actual amount of hard cash that was lost was. I guess five hundred million dollors lost in confusing crypto project in a land far away is not as snappy as $43 billion lost.