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After the 8 best days of my life got sick when I reached back home😞, I will be active in the forum like I use too from tomorrow

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The crypto exchange FTX collapsed into bankruptcy last week(opens in new tab), after a liquidity crisis exposed a financial black hole that no-one yet knows the full extent of. As the recriminations begin in the crypto world, the man who's been charged with overseeing FTX's bankruptcy, and working out just what this company has been up to, reckons this is even worse than Enron. And he should know. John Ray III has over 40 years' experience of legal restructuring, including being CEO of Enron during its liquidation, and working on huge corporate bankruptcies like Nortel, Residential Capital, and Overseas Shipholding. He's now filed a declaration to Delaware bankruptcy court(opens in new tab) about his initial findings with FTX, which begins with the assertion that "Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here." The filing goes on to outline FTX's "compromised systems integrity and faulty regulatory oversight abroad", and the concentration of power in the hands of "a very small group of inexperienced, unsophisticated and potentially compromised individuals", before adding "this situation is unprecedented".Let's just pause to fully put that in context. The Enron scandal was, in 2001, the largest bankruptcy in US history. It remains to this day the emblematic corporate scandal, the ultimate example of what can happen when regulators are asleep at the wheel. So when the guy who took charge of restructuring Enron is blanching at the state of FTX, you know this is incredible. There is a chart at the end of this filing that lists more than 100 companies associated with FTX spread across 27 countries(opens in new tab). This is how the firm's leaders were allegedly funneling money around and using customer cash to make financial bets, without it seeming to affect the balance sheet of FTX. Going hand-in-hand with this, Ray notes "the absence of lasting records of decision-making", and that former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried "often communicated by using applications that were set to auto-delete after a short period of time, and encouraged employees to do the same." Tell me you're up to no good without telling me you're up to no good. Other eyebrow raising moments include that company money was used "to purchase homes and other personal items for employees and advisors" in the Bahamas. There is no documentation suggesting that these were loans, and "certain real estate was recorded in the personal name of these employees and advisors" in Bahamian records. If only all jobs came with a free holiday home in the Bahamas, eh. Ray said a "substantial portion" of FTX's supposed assets are either "missing or stolen". The bankruptcy process has so far secured around $740 million of cryptocurrency, though the filing notes that "at least $372 million of unauthorized transfers" took place on the same day FTX filed for bankruptcy. These transfers are being investigated. Ray notes several times that he does not trust this company's accounts, now or historically, and warns creditors not to take FTX's information as accurate. The filing ends on a withering note as regards FTX's former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, the man more responsible than any other for this company, who's been giving interviews and saying he regrets filing for bankruptcy(opens in new tab). Ray emphasises that Bankman-Fried is no longer in control and doesn't speak for FTX. He says that Bankman-Fried is currently in the Bahamas (naturally), and "continues to make erratic and misleading public statements." Ray says Bankman-Fried's "connections and financial holdings in the Bahamas remain unclear to me", and that the former CEO "recently stated to a reporter on Twitter: 'F*** regulators they make everything worse' and suggested the next step for him was to 'win a jurisdictional battle vs. Delaware'." Which of course is exactly the kind of thing a Delaware court wants to hear. The collapse of FTX is another low point in what has been a terrible year for crypto, and cynics may well be wondering what's next. One of the things about these assets is how interconnected they all are, and the domino effect of FTX is still playing out. FTX is expected to have more than a million creditors (good luck to them) and, as well as the bankruptcy process, regulators globally are looking closely at the smoking ruins of what was until recently one of the biggest crypto exchanges on the planet. In case you're wondering, yes: the Bahamas does have an extradition treaty with the United States. https://www.pcgamer.com/never-in-my-career-have-i-seen-such-a-complete-failureman-in-charge-of-ftxs-bankruptcy-bewildered-by-unprecedented-mismanagement/

A panda given to Taiwan by China 14 years ago as a symbol of what were then warmer ties died on Saturday, after suffering seizures, Taipei zoo said. Tuan Tuan and his breeding mate Yuan Yuan were given to Taiwan by Beijing in late 2008, at a time when relations between the two were more cordial. China views Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to one day bring the self-ruled democratic island into its fold, by force if necessary. “Our medical team has confirmed that Tuan Tuan’s heart stopped beating at 13.48 (0548 GMT),” the zoo said in a short statement. The panda was put under deep anaesthesia for CT scans earlier on Saturday, and the team decided to “let Tuan Tuan continue to sleep” after the results indicated his condition was “irreversible” and that he could no longer “live a quality life”, zoo officials said.“It would have been extremely painful and risky for Tuan Tuan to resuscitate him from the anaesthesia,” said spokesperson Eric Tsao. Vets first noticed Tuan Tuan, 18, was ill in August, when he began suffering seizures and appeared increasingly unsteady and lethargic. Scans showed he had a brain lesion and he was placed on anti-seizure medication. The zoo suspected Tuan Tuan had a tumour and he was moved into palliative care last month. The seizures returned in the past few days, more frequent than before, and medicine could not ease the symptoms. Fans mourned Tuan Tuan’s death on social media, while the Taipei mayor, Ko Wen-je, thanked the panda in an Instagram post for “bringing happiness to Taiwanese people and making Taipei zoo more wonderful”. Taiwan’s top China policymaking body, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), hailed the panda’s role in improving ties with Beijing. Tuan Tuan “let everyone know more about giant pandas and help promote exchanges between the two sides … MAC is saddened that he has passed away”, it said. The panda couple – whose names combined mean “reunion” or “unity” – had become huge stars in Taiwan. Yuan Yuan has given birth to two female cubs. Advertisement China has long deployed “panda diplomacy” and the donation of Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan was seen as endorsing the presidency of then Beijing-friendly leader Ma Ying-jeou. Beijing usually only loans pandas to foreign zoos, which must usually return any offspring within a few years of their birth to join the country’s breeding programme. But Taiwan was granted an exception as part of a brief charm offensive China launched in the late 2000s, with Beijing fully gifting both Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan and any offspring. Relations between China and Taiwan have been on ice since 2016 with Beijing severing official communications and government visits between the two sides scrapped.The world’s oldest male giant panda in captivity has died in a Hong Kong zoo on Thursday. The panda, named An An, was euthanised at the age of 35, the equivalent of 105 years for humans. He was born in the wild in the south-western Chinese province of Sichuan in 1986. Ocean Park Hong Kong, where An An had lived since 1999, said on Thursday that his health had showed steady signs of deterioration over the past few weeks, with his food intake declining, until he finally stopped eating. “Ocean Park is deeply saddened to announce the loss of An An,” Ocean Park said in a statement. “An An is an indispensable member of our family and has grown together with the park. He has also built a strong bond of friendship with locals and tourists alike,” it added. Advertisement Ocean Park shared the news of An An’s death on Facebook and called on the public to send their condolences. Thousands have commented and posted photos. An An and Jia Jia, the world’s oldest female giant panda, who died in 2016 aged 38 years, were gifts from the Chinese mainland. Two more pandas – Ying Ying and Le Le – remain at the same Hong Kong zoo. In China, pandas are a symbol of harmony, friendship and peace. Outside China, they have been used as a part of Beijing’s international diplomacy since the 1950s. For many years, experts had worried that the animal was on the verge of extinction. Last year, Chinese officials said giant pandas were no longer endangered in the wild, but they were still vulnerable with a po[CENSORED]tion outside captivity of 1,800. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/19/beloved-giant-panda-given-to-taiwan-by-china-dies-aged-18-after-seizures-tuan-tuan