A mysterious but significant figure in the emergence and demise of the crypto-empire FTX has been Gary Wang. In December 2020, Wang admitted to engaging in fraudulent activity, and he is currently working with the prosecution. Wang, who holds degrees from MIT and formerly worked for Google, was FTX’s second-largest shareholder before the company’s collapse in mid-November.

How he met his cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried remains a mystery. They reportedly met while attending a math camp as youngsters and then joined forces at Alameda Research. Wang was appointed the company’s chief technology officer when FTX was introduced.

Wang’s responsibilities at FTX went beyond coding; in addition to overseeing some areas of their operations, he had access to sensitive data regarding their clients’ accounts. In his testimony, he said that between 2019 and 2022, Bankman-Fried had ordered him to change some code even though he was aware that doing so would provide Alameda extraordinary privileges.

Regrettably, Wang’s reliability looks to have been a major factor in FTX’s failure despite being a crucial component of its success. He was characterized by many who knew him as a trusting yet naive person who frequently put himself in risky situations without fully grasping the dangers involved.

One thing is certain as more information about Gary Wang’s participation with FTX comes to light: he played a significant role in both the company’s rise and failure. His tale teaches important lessons for anyone working in the cryptocurrency industry or outside of it, mainly that even those with the best of intentions may make terrible judgments if they are too trusting or lack discernment when acting on insufficient information.