A Meta Look at FTX Collapse Coverage

CoinDesk played a role in the meltdown, but for good reason |

My message to them: try, maybe, to step outside the narrow confines of your financial interests and look at the bigger picture. It is not the crypto press's role to protect or promote the participants in an NFT project, the short-term financial interests of FTT investors or bitcoin HODLers. It is to bring transparency to the companies and other institutions that hold influence over how this industry and its markets function, regardless of price impact. 

 

"Don't trust, verify"

 

Now for our own introspection. The thinking behind this Reagan-era coinage is something all journalists should embrace as a matter of course. It's the "show me the money" idea. You don't necessarily assume your source is untrustworthy, but, without some other independent means of verification, you simply can't run with the information they provide. 

 

The good news: although it's difficult to obtain independent verification – since all means of communication around the relevant topic are controlled by the party journalists are covering – blockchain proofs, along with other cryptographic tools to protect identities, could help. Already, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao is declaring that his exchange is embracing a "proof of reserves" model based on the cryptographic instrument of Merkle Trees and calling on others to follow suit. This would presumably offer anyone, including an investigating journalist, a tamper-proof source of information on a company's assets. 

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