The Rise and Fall of FTX - What Happened?

Overview

The past decade has seen the explosive growth in the cryptocurrency market and the exchange entities that have evolved to facilitate trading in cryptocurrencies. The sudden collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, as a result of alleged fraudulent activity at the highest levels in history, has exposed the impact of the lack of regulatory compliance in this evolving marketplace. This scenario has created an unprecedented opportunity and responsibility for the CPA profession to educate the public on this "buyer beware" world of digital assets. This presentation will help you understand the underpinnings of the collapse of the FTX exchange.

Highlights

The major topics covered in this course include:

Fundamentals of cryptocurrency technology
How cryptocurrency exchanges work
De-Fi (Decentralized Finance) - what does it mean
Bitcoin versus alt coins< />The FTX rise and fall timeline
Fundamental issues with the FTX business model that caused its collapse
Internal controls issues with cryptocurrency companies
Lack of standardized accounting rules in the cryptocurrency industry
Red flags in the FTX audit reports

Prerequisites

None

Designed For

Anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of the cryptocurrency marketplace from the perspective of what happened at FTX.

Objectives

After attending this presentation, you will be able to:

Recognize the fundamentals of how the cryptocurrency marketplace functions
Identify the fraudulent activities that led to the collapse of FTX
Identify the internal controls and accounting standards that are lacking in the cryptocurrency industry

Preparation

None

Notice

This course is offered by a 3rd party vendor and will not be accessible in the My CPE Tracker section of the ISCPA website. Course access information will be emailed directly to you by CPA Crossings.

Leader(s):

John Higgins
Tracy Coenen

Leader Bios

John Higgins

John Higgins is a strategic adviser to CPAs and the CPA profession in all aspects of leveraging technology. He has authored and presented CPE programs for thousands of CPAs over the past 25 years on technology and practice management issues. John is a pioneer in the development and delivery of web based CPE programs. He has presented “live” web CPE events for groups as large as 600+ participants, as well as many small groups. John assisted the Michigan Association of CPAs as an adviser in the development of their web based CPE model. John’s primary qualification is his passion for helping CPAs achieve greater success by leveraging technology. He has extensive knowledge and experience working with CPAs throughout the country. John resides in Rochester, Michigan with his wife Karen and their two children. Qualifications and Experience: •Actively involved in working with local, regional and national CPA firms over the past 25 years. •Facilitated hundreds of planning sessions and retreats to develop strategic plans, technology plans, paperless work flow design, innovative client services and more. •Nationally recognized speaker and author on technology issues impacting the CPA profession. •Monthly host of Document Management to Go (DMS2Go) pod cast sponsored by CPA Technology magazine. •Former national consulting partner with a top 10 CPA firm. •Former CEO of technology training & consulting firm. •Member of the AICPA Business & Industry Hall of Fame. •Past Chair of the Michigan Association of CPAs. •Past member of the AICPA Council and CPE Advisory Committee. •MACPA Innovative User of Technology award.

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