Mars Retro in Gemini + Lunar Eclipse in Taurus = FTX Collapse
Photo by Kanchanara on Unsplash
FTX was founded by Sam Bankman-Fried in 2019, a mere two months after Uranus, the planet that rules tech and crypto currencies, settled in Taurus, the sign of finance, for the first time since the Great Depression, that is 84 years ago.
Sam Bankman-Fried was worth 26B$ before Mars began his retrograde motion in the binary sign of Gemini. But Mars alone is not to blame, FTX was brought down to its knees a day after the fateful lunar eclipse of Nov 8, when the Sun in Scorpio (the sign of exchanges and other people’s money) was opposite to the Moon in Taurus (money, values, and self-worth). As I mentioned in my Astrology of 2023 book, eclipses quicken processes that are already taking place. In the case of FTX it was the irresponsible management of the company.
Mars retrograde, which would continue until mid-January, can reverse fortunes as well as turn the tables around, especially since Mars is the ruler of Scorpio, the sign under which this drama took place – the archetype charged with joint financial affairs, death, and transformation.
Right on the Day of the Dead (Nov 1-2), on the third day of Mars retrograde, CoinDesk released a damning report of FTX, suggesting that: “Divisions in Sam Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Empire Blur on His Trading Titan Alameda’s Balance Sheet. Alameda had $14.6 billion of assets…Much of it is the FTT token issued by FTX, another Bankman-Fried company.”
In other words, he was like a country printing its own worthless money.
Days later, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the old-school CEO of Binance, a competitor of FTX, decided to liquidate around half a billion dollars of these FTT. He was just the first of many who opted to pull out their “money” and within 3 days, 6B$ dollars were withdrawn from FTX accounts. The company value was reduced in a third, and then, right on Nov 8, on the day of the lunar eclipse, when the Moon was in perfect conjunction to Uranus, the planet that rules cryptocurrency as well as sudden changes and awakenings, Sam Bankman-Fried announced that Binance would bail out FTX. I am sure many took a deep breath and relaxed, only they forgot Uranus is the planet of twisted and turnabout plots.
The morning after the eclipse, Binance’s bosses must have consulted an astrologer since they retracted their offer, as one should, during Mars retrograde. In a single day Sam Bankman-Fried lost 94% of his assets. FTX filed for bankruptcy with close to 100,000 creditors wondering where had their money gone.
Let’s look at the astrological and symbolism behind it all. First, we start with Sam Bankman-Fried who is the soul, mind, and body of FTX. He is a 30-year-old Pisces, which means that this turmoil is happening while he is going through his Saturn Return. Saturn takes 29 ½ years to orbit the Sun, therefore, anyone who is between the ages of 27-30 goes through a challenging time of pressure, reckoning, and karma blowing up in the face. In addition, as a Pisces, it can be “Awfully confusing,” as Alice from Wonderland would argue. And indeed, Saturn will move into Pisces from March 7, 2023, for the first time since Sam Bankman-Fried drew his first breath in this lifetime and will stay there till 2026. Therefore, Sam can expect a great deal of pressure, scrutiny, and face the reactions to his actions. I am certain if you go back to the time you were 27-30, you would be able to detect your very own FTX moment, a crossroad in your life that had to do with commitment and a faceoff with Lord Karma.
Since time immemorial, names and their etymological meaning, shed a great deal of light over the person’s destiny, gifts, as well as their downfall. Think of King David, whose name means “beloved,” and an examination of the bible shows that his name appears next to the word “love” more than any other character. In addition, while the good book lists all those who loved the redhaired serial charmer, the bible never mention who David loves in return. Therefore, he is the beloved, not the lover.
Let’s examine Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and owner of FTX. Sam is short for Samuel which in Hebrew means “Lent by God.” Hannah, the prophet Samuel’s mother was barren, and since her prayed to God was so deep, the high priest assured her that her wish would be answered, however her son will be lent to her and that when he is older, she must bring the child back to the High Priest to serve God.
Samuel=borrow, lent from God.
Okay, that might be a bit on the nose, don’t you think? Sam made his fortune by conjuring an exchange and trading platform. His namesake, Samuel, being a prophet, also delt with predicting the future and tracing trends. The prophet Samuel was the one who put his chips on the table and anointed King Saul, and later chose and crowned King David.
Our family names’ meaning hold space to the nature of the tribe or clan we belong to. As mentioned, our names can point at our gifts and talents, as well as our undoing and downfall. In the case of King David, his obsession with Bathsheba caused him to break 4 of Moses’ 10 commandments and culminated with the rape of his wives and only daughter, a rebellion orchestrated by his favorite son, and eventually dying loveless. Sam’s last name, Bankman, is once again rather explicit. He is a man that banks. It would be interesting to investigate if there is a correlation between our last name’s meaning and our genetic makeup. His last name suggests he comes from a family that once or maybe still deals with assets, money, and digital tokens.
As for Fried, well, the obvious meaning is the past form of fry, meaning – toasted, charred, caput, done. He fired his contacts, his assets, his FTT, his connections, his good name, all frying in boiling hot oil, in other words, crypto-fries. But in Yiddish, Fried (from Frid) means “peace.” Maybe it means that eventually after the lessons of his Saturn Return fully mastered, he might finally find peace.
A 30-Year-Old Crypto Billionaire Wants to Give His Fortune Away. Sam Bankman-Fried drives a Corolla, sleeps on a beanbag, and has a Robin Hood-like philosophy.” The article goes to say, “He’ll keep enough money to maintain a comfortable life: 1% of his earnings or, at minimum, $100,000 a year. Other than that, he still plans to give it all away—every dollar, or Bitcoin, as the case may be. He’s a kind of crypto Robin Hood, beating the rich at their own game to win money for capitalism’s losers.
Bloomberg Markets, April 2022
Reading Sam’s astrology chart, I do believe that’s what he was planning. Maybe a Pisces fantasy, yes, but it could also be a Pisces ideology. I do believe he would one day become this altruistic person he strives to embody. Since Fried, or peace, is the last part of his name, maybe he will attain this goal, later in life, perhaps on his second Saturn Return, when he is 56-60. You might have noticed the headlines dominating the news in the last few days, comparing FTX collapse to the 2008 Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy. Cointelegraph exclaimed: “FTX Collapse, the Industries Lehman Brother Moment.” Business Insider argues: “The Lehman Brothers of Crypto.” There is no doubt that comparison has astrological merits. Here is an excerpt from my Astrology of 2023, which I wrote back in June:
As Above so Below and in 2023 we have a great deal of changes taking place in the heavenly realm that would reflect in transitions and shifts here on earth. Pluto, the Lord of Transformation, is transiting into Aquarius after being in Capricorn since 2008, when he instigated the Great Recession. Since Pluto rules investments and financial institutions, he threatens once again to herald a major financial and economic challenges in 2023–2024.
The Astrology of 2023: Traversing the Bridge
So yes, Sam Backman-Fried, being an intuitive Pisces, must be the herald, a precursor, of the once in 250 years transit, officially beginning in early 2023.
When Pluto moved into Capricorn (2008), he shook the traditional financial institution, forcing governments around the world to bailout all the bankman (and bankwoman). Now, as Pluto is about to move for the first time in 250 years into Aquarius (the sign of technology and revolutions), the digital financial system is going through a similar shakeup.
In 2008, another schemer was caught in the net of Pluto, the Lord of the Underworld, as he entered Capricorn – Mr. Bernie Madoff. He was responsible for the largest Ponzi scheme in history. He is serving a sentence of 150 years in prison (some will have to be deferred to future lifetimes). He too was a financial wizard, and served as the chairman of Nasdaq the last time Saturn was in the same place it is transiting now (yes, it means a Saturn Return). He was also a pioneer of electronic trading which eventually made it possible for companies like FTX to exist and thrive.
The volatility of the cryptocurrency will continue as long as Uranus (tech) is in Taurus (money), which is 2026. We can expect regulations, investigation, and scrutiny to continue for a while, maybe a few years of crypto ice-age?
On a personal level, take heed until January 20, 2023, since Mars retrograde can misdirect not only the billionaires but everybody. Take heed from making impulsive or impetuous decisions, start any conflict, shoot the first bullet, and in general mind your action, direction in life, how you are driving, your intimate connections, joint financial affairs, investments, and how you lead others. The good news: we are out of eclipse season, so things should get a bit less murky.
Happy second part of November
gahl