Wall Street's trust issues with crypto won't be easily repaired in the wake of the FTX blowup
TGIW! Dan DeFrancesco checking in for this quasi-Friday ahead of the long holiday weekend. (If you have to work on Friday, apologies.)
Quick programming note: The newsletter will be off on Thursday and Friday, returning (most likely a few pounds heavier) on Monday.
Lots of interesting stories today, including why a top Wall Street firm got a rare "sell" rating, KKR cancels its plans for a new office, and a fun "Where are they now?" for our first set of rising stars.
But first, where do we go from here?
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1. Trust me, I'm in crypto
FTX's list of creditors is a seemingly bottomless pit, growing from over 100,000 to more than a million to now "millions," according to a recent bankruptcy hearing.
It will take months, or even years, to sort through the wreckage and win back some of the billions of dollars that have gone missing, but there is one debt that is already long gone.
Trust in the crypto industry — be it with Wall Street firms, politicians, venture capitalists, or the general public — is destroyed thanks to FTX's downfall.
It's a bitter pill to swallow when one considers the hard-fought progress crypto had made on Wall Street in recent years.
But can one incident — albeit a big one — evaporate goodwill built up over all those years?
Insider's Morgan Chittum, Bianca Chan, Carter Johnson, Rebecca Ungarino, and Hayley Cuccinello (talk about a dream team!) canvassed more than a dozen Wall Street insiders to get a sense of where traditional firms stand on their crypto plans.
Their story, which you can read here, is an indication of how even those not financially impacted by the FTX blowup have still been battered and bruised.
Meanwhile, firms hoping to bridge the gap between Wall Street and crypto have been put in an impossible spot, answering for another's sins.
"Crypto has now fallen into what I would call a crisis of trust, a crisis of confidence. And that's directly because who was arguably ... the next J.P. Morgan, turned out to be an entire fraud. And so that has then had this unfortunate contagion that of course everybody else in crypto has to also be doing something nefarious, something untoward, etcetera," one crypto executive whose firm regularly deals with Wall Street recently told me.
It's a difficult position to be in, as crypto skeptics have been given the ultimate trump card. Like a toddler constantly asking their parent "Why?" those opposed to crypto have a simple rebuttal to any potential plans in the space.
"What about SBF and FTX?"
PS- If you ever want to chat, drop me a line. You can find me on Twitter or shoot me an email.
In other news:
2. Blackstone gets knocked. Credit Suisse research analyst Bill Katz assigned a rare "underperform" rating to the PE giant. Here's why.
3. Our rising stars have risen! It's been five years since our first class of rising stars on Wall Street. We checked in with 13 of them to see where they are at in their careers. From running high-profile hedge funds to retirement, here's what they're up to.
4. Meet the newest class of execs at Carlyle. The private-equity giant promoted 32 people to partner and 39 to managing director. Check out the full list here.
5. KKR is holding off on its new NYC digs. The firm is scrapping plans on a 300,000-square-foot space near Hudson Yards amid a broader slowing of hiring at the firm. Read more here.
6. When the FUD is for real. The FTX debacle has put crypto-focused media outlets in the spot. Here's how they navigated covering the industry's biggest story and how they deal with crypto evangelists who dismiss their coverage.
7. SocGen and Alliance Bernstein are teaming up. The joint venture between the French bank and the US investment firm is focused on global stocks and research, Reuters reports. Here's what we know about the tie up.
8. JPMorgan has reversed course on a potential investment in a UK fintech focused on open banking. The bank was in advanced stages to make a $25 million investment in Yapily, which helps companies facilitate payments, sources say. More on why the potential deal fell apart.
9. What does Bob Iger's return to Disney mean for ESPN? Experts break down three key takeaways about what the future holds for the so-called World Wide Leader in Sports.
10. An early investor in Robinhood with a new $300 million fund details what he looks for in young companies. Index Ventures' Jan Hammer shares thoughts on what stands out when it comes to early-stage startups and founders.
Keep updated with the latest business news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief. Listen here.
Edited by Jeffrey Cane (tweet @jeffrey_cane) in New York and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.