Sam Bankman-Fried was considered the king of crypto. He ran a top crypto exchange called FTX, counted NFL legend Tom Brady and NBA superstar Steph Curry as company ambassadors, donated millions to lawmakers and was featured on the cover of Fortune magazine.

Now his empire is scorched, investors are shellshocked and the entire crypto ecosystem is on edge. And three people who have dealt with FTX say this debacle is different from other crypto failures.