IMO, it’s because crypto still has an aura around it and journalists hesitate to call crypto a fraud. Nothing FTX was doing is any different than what’s going on in tether, yet that still has defenders. Virtually all crypto is a ponzi, but covering crypto like that as a journalist would’ve earned you nothing but scorn for the longest time.

Give this scandal some time to percolate. I think the scale of the failure/criminality here is still under appreciated by journalists.

Also helps that SBF is still in his 20s. He’s getting more benefit of the doubt than he would otherwise. Whether that offers any legal protection remains to be seen…