FTX Collapse Is ‘Golden Opportunity’ for Developers, Says Tezos Co-Founder

Tezos’ Kathleen Breitman sees the collapse of FTX bringing down to Earth expectations for crypto-based platforms. The blockchain protocol platform co-founder contends this will make room for hiring more developers within the ecosystem.

She told CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover” the FTX collapse took place at a time of “mass layoffs from really well-run companies,” so that from a recruitment perspective “this is actually a pretty golden opportunity.”

“A lot of what FTX was doing through its venture arm [FTX Ventures] was increasing the valuations of companies and creating extremely outsized expectations,” Breitman said. “Having expectations pulled down to Earth while a lot of challenges [are] coming into the market is actually pretty great, from a [developer's] perspective.”

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Breitman said that while blockchain technology isn’t to blame for FTX’s downfall, that downfall has been a “massive distraction” for the industry, especially for those unfamiliar with crypto.

FTX, based in the Bahamas, imploded and filed for bankruptcy protection not long after a CoinDesk report detailed how its corporate sibling, Alameda Research, had a substantial amount of FTX’s native token, FTT, on its balance sheet. FTX and Alameda Research founder Sam Bankman-Fried is currently awaiting extradition to the United States from the Bahamas for misleading investors. He faces charges including intent to commit wire fraud, money laundering and other criminal charges.

According to Breitman, the industry can recover from the dark shadow cast by the collapse of FTX. She added that FTX’s wrongdoings “could have happened in pretty much any industry.”

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Breitman said that, in future, investors should be more “discerning” about the projects that interest them and examine who will be running them.

Tezos, a public and open-source blockchain protocol that uses a proof-of-stake (PoS) model, underwent its 12th upgrade Sunday night, which Breitman said made no headlines and veered toward the “boring” side of things.

“We're starting to see the value of being kind of boring and reliable and focusing on shipping great technology over giving eye-melting headlines and valuations for yet-built products,” Breitman said.

CORRECTION (Dec. 19 19:50): Removes references to Kathleen Breitman, the co-founder of Tezos, also being the CEO.