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  • The so-called King of Crypto has been charged with fraud.

  • This is News Review from BBC

  • Learning English. I'm Neil. And I'm Beth.

  • Make sure you watch to the end to learn vocabulary to talk about this story.

  • Don't forget to subscribe to this channel,

  • like this video, and try the quiz on our website.

  • Now, the story.

  • 3.1 billion dollars.

  • That's how much the cryptocurrency exchange company,

  • FTX, owes to its 50 largest investors.

  • Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and CEO,

  • has been arrested and charged with fraud.

  • He's accused of transferring FTX

  • money into his own hedge fund.

  • You have been looking at the headlines,

  • Beth. What's the vocabulary?

  • We have 'file',

  • 'rise and fall', and 'white knight'. This is News Review from BBC

  • Learning English.

  • Let's have a look at our

  • first headline. This is from the New York Times:

  • So US prosecutors have filed charges,

  • and a charge is an accusation that means he needs to go to court.

  • He needs to go on trial. But the word

  • we're looking at is 'file' - 'to file something'.

  • When I do this at home, it means that I take an important document like a passport,

  • and I put it somewhere safe that I know -

  • I know where it is. Is that the same sense?

  • Well, this is 'file' as well, it's also a verb

  • but it is a little bit different.

  • So, here we're talking about making something official in terms of the law.

  • Yeah, and this man has been arrested, and the headline says

  • that prosecutors have filed charges.

  • So, it's all very official,

  • because the prosecutors have legally confirmed that he has been

  • charged. Yeah, exactly.

  • And there are other words that we can put after 'file' just to show

  • that something is official in law.

  • Yes. So, a company could file for bankruptcy.

  • That means officially declare or say that they have no money.

  • Yeah. That's right, or a couple might file for divorce.

  • If you're self employed, then you might file your taxes online.

  • OK, let's take a look at that again.

  • Let's have a look at our next headline.

  • This one is from Al Jazeera:

  • So, the headline talks about FTX -

  • the crypto currency exchange, which has gone bankrupt,

  • and talks about the rise and fall of this company.

  • Well, I know what 'rise' means: 'go up', and 'fall': 'go down'.

  • But, this is a set expression.

  • What's the sense? Yeah.

  • So, when we talk about the rise of something like a company,

  • it means it's getting better and better.

  • But then we get the fall.

  • There are some problems.

  • Maybe a loss of reputation.

  • OK. So, this expression, 'rise and fall', is that

  • just for companies? Financial stuff like that.

  • No. So, it can also be used for people or teams - regimes is another one.

  • Anything really that has a period of success and then becomes unsuccessful,

  • they lose their success. Yeah.

  • And that's really important that when they are successful, this expression

  • 'rise and fall' means that they're really successful, really dominant,

  • and then that goes away quickly.

  • Yeah. Now, we do often see this in headlines,

  • as we have here, we see it to talk about products.

  • Book titles. For example, there's that book:

  • The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs.

  • I also saw a headline about the rise and fall of DVDs.

  • Yeah. DVDs used to be everywhere.

  • They were dominant. Now, they're less popular because of streaming. A word

  • on pronunciation.

  • We've got the expression:

  • 'the rise and fall of', but said together,

  • there's a lot of linking and some of the vowel sounds change.

  • So, let's listen to that: 'the rise and fall of'.

  • Yeah. 'The rise and fall of'. The rise and fall of the dinosaurs.

  • Let's look at that one more time.

  • Let's have a look at our next headline. This is from Reuters.

  • So, the headline is saying that Sam Bankman-Fried

  • has taken a sudden turn - that means he has changed

  • from being a white knight to a detainee.

  • A 'detainee' is someone who's being held, often by the police like

  • in this case, and a 'white knight' is what we're looking at. Now,

  • Knight. We all know a knight from myths and fiction - the person

  • on a horse with the armour and the sword.

  • Saving people.

  • Is that what we're talking about?

  • Yeah, kind of, that is a knight.

  • So, we're looking at 'white knights'.

  • It's a fictional, literary character that can be a person or a thing.

  • And it rescues or helps people, and

  • importantly, a white knight can also be someone that gives financial help.

  • OK. So, we have the literal knight on the horse with the armour

  • and we've got the metaphorical 'white knight' -

  • helping people, helping companies financially.

  • Why is the headline calling Sam Bankman-Fried a white knight?

  • Well, before the collapse of FTX,

  • he said that he was going to give money to fund science and help others.

  • He also had a lot of respect from people in the financial world.

  • So, people thought he was going to be really helpful to society

  • Is this expression -

  • 'white knight' - is it used very often in an average conversation?

  • No, not really.

  • So, if someone helps you,

  • you're more likely to call them 'helpful', or you might say they are 'generous',

  • but we do hear 'white knight' in fictional stories and in headlines.

  • OK, let's look at that again.

  • We've had 'file' -

  • make something official by law.

  • 'Rise and fall' - something does

  • well, and then does badly'. And 'white knight' - someone

  • or something that helps others.

  • Don't forget there's a quiz on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.

  • Thank you for joining us, and goodbye. Bye.

The so-called King of Crypto has been charged with fraud.

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