Find Out Why Cryptocurrency Collapsed

SAN ANGELO – Dr. Joshua Hendrickson, chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Mississippi, will give a special guest presentation at Angelo State University on Tuesday, May 2, at 5:30 p.m. in Room 100 of the Cavness Science Building, 2460 Dena Drive.

In November 2022, the cryptocurrency exchange known as FTX collapsed. The speed with which it collapsed was shocking, especially given the meteoric rise of the company and the reputation of its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, as an eccentric financial genius.

In his presentation titled "Scam, Bank Run, and Fraud," Hendrickson will explore the cause of the collapse of FTX. Was it a scam? A bank run? Fraud? After answering these questions, he will contrast the recent turmoil in cryptocurrency markets with the original cypherpunk vision for a private, electronic form of cash.

Sponsored by the Texas Tech University Free Market Institute at Angelo State University, Hendrickson's presentation is free and open to the public.

Also an associate professor of economics at Ole Miss, Hendrickson's research interests are at the intersection of monetary economics, public finance, political economy and historical economic development.

Within monetary economics, he studies everything from historical monetary institutions to modern monetary policy to Bitcoin. Within political economy, he has used the tools of economics to understand revolutions, the decision to go to war, and how the national defense motive shapes the state and its policies and institutions.

Hendrickson's work has appeared in the Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Macroeconomic Dynamics, the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Economics & Politics, Economic Inquiry, the Journal of Macroeconomics and the Southern Economic Journal. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Wayne State University and his M.A. and B.A. in economics from the University of Toledo.

The Texas Tech University Free Market Institute at Angelo State University aims to advance research and teaching related to the free enterprise system and the institutional environment necessary for it to function well, and to support the missions of the ASU Norris-Vincent College of Business. The institute also develops and operates student and public programming for the benefit of ASU students and the San Angelo community.