Class Debate | 10%

Due: Week 12

Assignment description:

You are being asked to critically assess the following:

a) Is Should social media influencers owe a duty of care to their audience to both do and present their due diligence during the lifetime of their promotion of a financial product or service?

b) How do/should finance leaders balance a duty to warn stakeholders in a marketplace when their action(s) may precipitate harm in the short-term to said marketplace while making them increasingly more wealthy?

c) How do corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in the financial sector influence regulation? To what degree should CSR matter to regulators?

The lens for your analysis can be any of the ethical philosophies we have examined thus far: Kant's Categorical Imperative, Utilitarianism, Ethical Anti-Realism, Contractarianism, Rawl's view on Justice. As we established and discussed in our last class, each has its limitations. This is okay. We can still use them to try to understand the reasoning behind the actions of different individuals or groups.

Our focus:

For our class discussion, we will be examining the evolving situation in the crypto ecosystem.

FTX, the second largest crypto exchange, declared bankruptcy. This development has had a deleterious effect on the crypto ecosystem as a whole. We will examine the role of different industry actors including influencers, finance leaders, and would-be regulators, and opine on their ethical reasoning and obligations.

You are being asked to watch the following content to understand the general contours of the issue(s) at hand. These videos do not (re)present the full case/situation. For instance, I have not included a video on the role of would-be regulators, which will form part of our discussion. You must read at least 2 articles to get a better grasp of the situation and prepare for our discussion.

Recommended starter resources:

FTX Collapsed...Here's Why - utube

Sorry You're Bankrupt - uTube

The FTX Situation - Promoters Should Have Known Better - uTube

Crypto Collapse Just Got Worse - uTube

Let's talk about FTX. - uTube

Consider the following questions in preparation for the discussion:

What responsibilities do actors who profit from a business ecosystem have to that ecosystem?

Are YouTubers allowed to give financial advice? When does YouTuber financial commentary become financial advice?

Did the [Binance] CEO's actions help the crypto ecosystem or [Binance], specifically? What happened to BNBs (Binance coin) valuation earlier in the week?

With specific reference to the video, "Crypto Collapse Just Got Worse," assess the inferences and implications of the arguments made by the speaker.

Might corporate social responsibility have factored into regulators' prior approach to FTX?