According to officials, Sam Bankman-Fried's rapid transformation from the crypto industry’s hero to villain has exposed a long-running fraud that dates back to FTX's founding in 2019. Authorities claim that in just one week in November, FTX went from one of the most reputable and trusted players in the cryptocurrency industry to a bankrupt disaster that lost more than $8 billion in customer funds.
Some customers suffered the loss of their entire life savings, retirement funds, and future home down payments. According to SBF’s own calculations, his alleged misdeeds impacted more than four million people. With that in mind, let’s examine what is considered one of the largest financial losses in history and compare those numbers to the average income of working Americans.
How Long for the Average American to Save $8 Billion?
According to the Statista Research Department, the average household income in the United States is $75,447. So even if every cent of that salary went directly into savings and stayed there, it would take a while to reach $8 billion.
The numbers show that if you divide $8 billion by the average annual income in the US, it will take the majority of Americans about 106,034 years to make up for the money FTX lost.
Or, if they managed to save $100,000 per year, it would still take them 80,000 years (not accounting for compound interest) to reach their target amount.
Jonathan Merry, CEO of Bankless Times, comments:
"Just a few months ago, FTX seemed to be a big cryptocurrency success story until it all came crashing down. There is no doubt that the fall of FTX has had a significant impact on cryptocurrency markets. Federal authorities are now working to recover FTX funds that may be returned to customers, although this process will likely take quite a while.
In terms of regulation, the FTX incident could be the big push the industry needs to create robust legislation to prevent another scandal of this magnitude in the future."
Below is a table showing the average salary for each job in the US and also how long it would take each worker to save $8 billion (again, assuming each worker saves every penny).
| Job | Average Salary | Years to Reach $8 Billion |
| Engineer | $93,956 | 85,146.23 |
| Retail Sales Representative | $31,166 | 256,689.98 |
| Carpenter | $60,969 | 131,214.22 |
| Office Worker | $41,003 | 195,907.67 |
Have you ever wondered what $8 billion dollars would look like if it just happened to appear in front of you? The length of eight billion $1 dollar bills laid end-to-end measures 775,200 miles. This would extend around the earth almost 32 times.
How Did FTX Make its Money Before Filing for Bankruptcy?
FTX benefited from the cryptocurrency boom, generating $1 billion in revenue last year while expanding its global reach through a series of acquisitions.
The cryptocurrency exchange's revenue grew nearly 1,000% from $89 million to $1.02 billion in 2021. Last year FTX increased its net profit from $17 million to $388 million.
However, given that cryptocurrency values fell during the recent bear market, it needs to be clarified how FTX managed in the second quarter.
Will FTX Investors Get Their Money Back?
FTX's creditors will await the opening of bankruptcy proceedings, during which administrators will seize, appraise, and eventually restructure or liquidate the company's assets.
Crypto traders will have to line up behind other parties who will receive lost money when assets are recovered. Unpaid taxes, unpaid employee wages, and other business expenses will be prioritized. At the end of the queue will be shareholders and other corporate investors.
Crypto traders may not get their money back for years, but it is likely that they will recover at least some of their lost funds. However, the exact duration of the bankruptcy proceedings is not yet known.
In the meantime, to keep perspective on FTX’s colossal loss, it is certainly interesting to learn how long it would take an average American worker to earn $8 billion.
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