This is an excerpt from Incoming, BuzzFeed News’ morning newsletter dedicated to making sense of this chaotic world we live in. Join the club here.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of the FTX crypto exchange, has been arrested in the Bahamas and will face criminal charges in the US.
Established in 2019, FTX was one of the world’s fastest-growing cryptocurrency exchanges. At the time, Bankman-Fried was hailed as crypto’s “golden boy” and known as an adherent of the “effective altruism” movement — which asks adherents to choose their careers and actions to best advance humanity. He defied typical CEO behavior, playing League of Legends during business calls and allegedly living in a polyamorous group with 10 colleagues in the Bahamas.
In November, the FTX exchange, which had run splashy Super Bowl ads with Larry David and Tom Brady, collapsed. A report in Coindesk reported that Alameda Research held billions of dollars of a cryptocurrency created by FTX, leading people to question how much money was really in Alameda, and whether money held in FTX was safe. Customers began withdrawing their money from the exchange, sending FTX into bankruptcy. An estimated $1 billion worth of customer funds were lost, and ripples of the collapse threaten the entire crypto ecosystem.
Bankman-Fried was supposed to appear before Congress on Tuesday to testify to the House Financial Services Committee. More information on the charges is expected Tuesday, and officials in the Bahamas, where FTX was based, are also pursuing a criminal and regulatory investigation.
After a year of war, Putin skips his typical year-end press event
Russian President Vladimir Putin skipped his year-end news conference tradition this year, the New York Times reported. The conference is usually a rare opportunity for non-Kremlin-affiliated journalists to speak with Putin. It may be rescheduled in the new year.
SNAPSHOTS
The 2023 Golden Globe nominations are out. The Banshees of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All at Once were the films that received the most nods, while on the TV side Abbott Elementary reigned supreme.
A man accused in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 has been taken into US custody. The jet’s crash in Lockerbie, Scotland, was the deadliest attack on UK soil in history, and families of the 270 victims have sought accountability for decades.
Tory Lanez allegedly shot Megan Thee Stallion after she criticized his "musical skills," prosecutors said. Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, faces charges including assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. His trial began Monday.
The lawsuit that accused Taylor Swift of copying some lyrics in her 2014 hit "Shake It Off" has been dropped after five years. This lawsuit wasn't the first for "Shake It Off."
Twitter is auctioning off hundreds of office supplies from its headquarters
Twitter is clearing house and auctioning off office items from its San Francisco headquarters to the public, starting in the new year. Two months after Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion, he’s made many abrupt cost-cutting measures. Twitter’s layoffs in November have since resulted in a class action lawsuit claiming that the company violated a law mandating that workers need to get 60 days' notice before mass layoffs.
Some items featured on the auction are two stationary bikes that will allow you to charge your phone while pedaling, a 6-foot sculpture of the @ symbol decorated with plants, and, of course, a 3-foot blue bird sculpture of the Twitter logo. The auction also includes common office supplies, such as chairs, desks, and computers, perfect for anyone who wants to furnish their work-from-home space. Opening bids for all items range between $25 and $50.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
We’re not over The White Lotus
The White Lotus Season 2 finale review. Give Meghann Fahy an Emmy! Also did ****** and ******* actually bone? We unpack the explosive final episode.
I wish The White Lotus weren't a murder mystery. A traditional murder mystery’s pleasure derives from establishing the crime scene and encouraging the viewer to guess how the victim died. The White Lotus merely wants you to ask: Who died?
We finally know who died in Season 2 of The White Lotus and the memes are killing me. “Do you know these gays?”
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