By Muyao Shen, Bloomberg

Compiled by: Yangz, Techub News

It seems that whenever there is a scandal in the cryptocurrency industry, the suspects often have degrees from Ivy League universities or other prestigious schools. This article briefly sorts through the "dirty laundry basket" of the cryptocurrency industry and turns up a lot of prestigious school T-shirts.

Just this week, Princeton graduate Nader Al-Naji was arrested on suspicion of wire fraud related to the BitClout encrypted social media platform he founded. In May, brothers Anton and James Peraire-Bueno, both MIT graduates, were arrested for allegedly exploiting an Ethereum vulnerability to steal $25 million in cryptocurrency.

Stanford graduate Do Kwon is in prison in Montenegro for his leading role in the 2022 TerraUSD stablecoin collapse. And the hedge fund created by Columbia University students Su Zhu and Kyle Davies has bankrupted several crypto lending companies.

Of course, we can’t forget Sam Bankman-Fried, an MIT alumnus who founded FTX, a cryptocurrency team comprised of professionals from other prestigious schools including Stanford University.

Why are so many scandals in the industry related to prestigious schools? Is the industry hungry for talent and habitually issuing "passes" directly to graduates from prestigious schools? Or do these prestigious schools encourage their alumni to take radical risks, even breaking the law in some cases? Perhaps, as one of my friends (a Princeton University alumnus) said, these cryptocurrency entrepreneurs from prestigious schools usually regard themselves as "geniuses" and think they will not fail.

Yes, when it comes to prestigious universities, there is actually a lot of criticism from all walks of life. Generally speaking, such institutions are often seen as ivory towers that are out of touch with reality. The overemphasis on prestige can cause students to overestimate their status and think they are superior to others.

MIT graduate SBF; Photographer: Angus Mordant/Bloomberg

Is the cryptocurrency industry culture responsible for this phenomenon? The cryptocurrency industry seems to be very inclined to promote those with perfect resumes, often from top universities. It is true that the cryptocurrency industry faces many technical challenges and requires talents from prestigious universities. However, for a large part of the industry, cryptocurrency is not entirely equal to technology. It is also finance, games, art and culture.

The industry’s appeal to elite schools also highlights the dramatic shift in the industry’s culture since Bitcoin was created in 2008. The original cypherpunk roots and libertarian, anarchist ideals have morphed into a culture increasingly dominated by elites and Wall Street.

Even those influential figures who haven’t been accused of wrongdoing have industry resumes that smack of Silicon Valley or Wall Street, not the grassroots culture of crypto’s early days. Galaxy Digital’s Michael Novogratz, ConsenSys’ Joseph Lubin, and Pantera Capital’s Dan Morehead all attended Princeton. Gemini founders Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss graduated from Harvard, while Ripple Labs’ Brad Garlinghouse also earned a master’s degree from Harvard. Scandal, Paradigm’s Matt Huang and MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor attended MIT, while Arthur Hayes attended the University of Pennsylvania… The list goes on.

However, perhaps the fault lies not with prestigious schools but with the industry itself and its often lazy approach to due diligence.

Shuyao Kong, co-founder of blockchain startup MegaETH and a Harvard Business School graduate, said the problem is that “there is a general lack of due diligence in the cryptocurrency industry.” “During the bull market, founders of all backgrounds can easily obtain funds, and those founders from prestigious schools will naturally attract more attention and obtain more liquidity. However, when they screw up, the damage to the industry will naturally not be small.”