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Miami's most recognizable businesses are seeing sales slump in the wake of the cryptocurrency market meltdown, per Insider.
According to a report from Financial Times, nightclub owners said their high-rolling crypto customers have "completely disappeared" after FTX, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, lost billions of dollars worth of customers' money. On top of that, the crypto market suffered a huge blow months before FTX's collapse, which added more fuel to the fire.
Gino LoPinto, an operating partner at club E11even, told reporters the club only got $10,000 in the past three months compared to the $6 million they made last year. At the beginning of the pandemic, these big spenders flocked to Miami venues for tables and bottle service worth thousands of dollars.
"Out of the blue, all these kids from crypto started coming down and spending a lot of money — like, an insane amount of money," Andrea Vimercati, director of food and beverage at Moxy Hotel group, told reporters. He also described the new demographic as "95 percent men, young ... with a kind of nerdy style."
Now that crypto enthusiasts are worried about their own wallets, Miami nightclubs are left scrambling over what to do next.
FTX, which is headquartered in the Bahamas, is under investigation by both criminal and civil authorities, Bahamian Attorney General Ryan Pinder confirmed on Sunday (November 27).
"We are in the early stages of an active and ongoing investigation," Pinder said. "It is a very complex investigation."