I think most non-experts still have only a vague understanding of what cryptocurrency actually is, and just mentally lump together all related enterprises into one big category—which is reinforced by the fact that people involved in one kind of business will tend to get involved in others as well. FTX is an exchange, Alameda is a fund, and FTT is a currency, and each of these things could theoretically exist apart from the others, but a layperson will point at all of them and say “FTX” in the same way as one might refer to a PlayStation console as “the Nintendo.”
Legally speaking this is nonsense, but when we’re talking about “social context,” a lack of clarity in the common understanding of what exactly these businesses do might provide an opening for self-deception on the part of the people running them, regarding what illegal activities are “socially acceptable” in their field.
I think most non-experts still have only a vague understanding of what cryptocurrency actually is, and just mentally lump together all related enterprises into one big category—which is reinforced by the fact that people involved in one kind of business will tend to get involved in others as well. FTX is an exchange, Alameda is a fund, and FTT is a currency, and each of these things could theoretically exist apart from the others, but a layperson will point at all of them and say “FTX” in the same way as one might refer to a PlayStation console as “the Nintendo.”
Legally speaking this is nonsense, but when we’re talking about “social context,” a lack of clarity in the common understanding of what exactly these businesses do might provide an opening for self-deception on the part of the people running them, regarding what illegal activities are “socially acceptable” in their field.