When there’s a disaster – a warehouse goes up in flames – then the claims of what had been lent into that warehouse just the day before – no, really! – mount. To the extent that they wouldn’t have all fitted into the warehouse. But it does aid the books in all the other warehouses in balancing.
African web3 startup Nestcoin has laid off some employees as FTX’s demise impacted its business. This information was shared by the startup’s CEO, Yele Bademosi, who, in a tweet, said FTX’s fall from grace affected his one-year-old startup, which held assets (cash and stablecoins) in the now-defunct crypto exchange to manage operational expenses.
Since Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire — made up of FTX, Alameda Research, and FTX Ventures — collapsed last week, there have been various reports of companies whose money are stuck on FTX, its crypto exchange platform.
For those of a certain age, we may remember the way that MV Atlantic Conveyor was carrying over thirty million tons of cargo when she was sunk near the Falklands in May 1982.
Or the combination of the enormous loss of various stocks and stores in the Donington fire – which led to years of storemen being able to refuse to issue kit (remember, it says ‘stores’ not ‘issues’ on the door?) with the immortal phrase “F*** Off, Fire At Donington” as an alternative to “I’ve only got one left and if I issued it I’d be out of stock”.
Various events, real and fictional, where this happened: Bob Mason’s Vietnam book Chickenhawk described how a helicopter, lost in action, must have crashed because it was carrying over five tons of assorted items aboard, and ‘Viktor Suvorov’ in The Liberators told the tale of how a motorcycle burned out in an unfortunate accident, became a prototype all-terrain combat vehicle and mobile supply depot that was, unfortunately, incinerated in a sneak attack by Czech paramilitaries.
There should be some sort of prize for the person in the crypto universe who is neither a knave nor a gull.
(The prize should be recoverable as more information emerges, of course.)
I immediately thought of Atlantic Conveyor, too – one of the classic examples.
Not only was “FOFAD” used by our Q bloke for years but all the effort he went through to get stuff on to Atlantic Conveyor was hilarious when Donington went up the year after (and twice I think).8
My great-grandad was variously company quartermaster sergeant and company sergeant major. Worked his way up from cookhouse boy at 15 (which became 18 on his B217 form…).
I love his hand-written recipe notes. “1ct potatoes, 5st onions….”
Re-reading his B217, I notice the warning “if you give false answers to the following….” is three lines *after* the question as to age. !
jgh. It’s from a day and age where pragmatism figured heavily…
As for the quartermaster primciple… It’s a non-bet it gets complained about in Cuneiform and in Hieroglyphs..
Along with the price/quality comparison of the local Ladies of Negotiable Affection, and their disinclination to provide the Brave Civil Servants of Importance with their Forbidden Fruits for free…
As with Atlantic Conveyor, still utterly prevalent in my day. Even with US supplied “special equipment” stores that were clearly subject to neither location (“triether” – yes, two fires at Donnington)- event.
Jason Lynch,
I was an Engineer in the merchant navy and in my office being made redundant, as the taskforce to the Falklands was being put together. My mate had been called back off leave early to help crew one of two vessels my company sent down to the Falklands, the Laertes and Lycaon. I told them in the office that I would be quite happy to take his place rather than be made redundant and he could have the rest of his leave. They still made me redundant! My mate told me that they stored for 4 months including alcohol. They ran out of alcohol within 4 weeks. I’m glad I didn’t go.