Intro

Not too long ago, crypto was being trumpeted as the next big thing. Celebrities were getting in on it, including Kim Kardashian, Matt Damon and Tom Brady.

Now the former face of crypto, Sam Bankman-Fried, who ran the FTX exchange, is going on trial. He's accused of orchestrating one of the largest frauds in history.

As his case gets underway it's as if the whole crypto industry is on trial.

NPR's David Gura speaks with Bloomberg reporter Zeke Faux who wrote the book "Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall," and Sheelah Kolhatkar, a staff writer for The New Yorker who has a new article out on Bankman-Fried and his parents.

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