Luna, FTX, and the Gap
Impact
$90B+ in investor losses across two events
What happened
Terra/Luna ($60B) and FTX ($32B) collapsed in the same calendar year. A comprehensive federal crypto framework remained under negotiation. Victims were left to state-by-state enforcement, which cannot deliver uniform recovery.
Context
The FIT21 market-structure bill passed the House in 2024 but stalled in the Senate. The regulatory choice by default has been enforcement-by-litigation, which is slow, uneven, and unable to prevent the next collapse.
Era
07 · Crypto
Bitcoin launched in January 2009. As of 2026, the United States still has no comprehensive federal framework for digital assets — only a fragmented enforcement regime spanning the SEC, CFTC, Treasury, and a dozen state regulators. Billions have been lost, refunded, or quietly written off in the meantime.
Read the full era →Also see across timelines
Other events in this era
← Earlier in era
Bitcoin Genesis Block
Later in era →
Spot Bitcoin ETFs approved