What do you do when 90% of your fund’s assets disappear overnight?

In this talk, I recount the moment the FTX collapse unfolded—when my hedge fund, with 300 investors around the world, suddenly became the 18th largest creditor in the bankruptcy. It was a devastating moment, but also a defining one.

Faced with crisis, I drew on my military training: do the right thing when no one’s watching, and when the world feels like it’s crumbling around you. We took responsibility, owned the failure, and told investors the truth. And then—we lifted our heads and pressed forward.

Key takeaways:

• True leadership means accountability, even when it hurts.

• Your worth is not a bank balance or a LinkedIn title—it’s who you are, and what you value.

• Failures forge strength; the other side of collapse can bring the deepest confidence.

• Centralized institutions failed investors in FTX—not blockchain itself.

• Decentralization allows strangers to “shake hands” through technology, ensuring trust without blind reliance on flawed institutions.

This is a story of loss, resilience, and a renewed belief in distributed trust over centralized power.