>> reporter: this is "nightline." >> tonight, crypto mania crash. inside the fall. >> it's a lot like people buying and trading smoke. >> of the once-hot ftx, endorsed by celebrities like tom brady and steph curry. >> with ftx, i have everything i need to buy, sell, and trade crypto safely. >> the young mastermind under investigation. >> it was worth $32 billion only 21 days ago. >> what's next for cryptocurrency? plus weekend with weezy. rare exclusive asking to rapper lil wayne. ♪ as he returns to his home of new orleans. >> i am who i've always been.

and that's what works for me. >> opening up like never before about his triumphs and struggles. >> it is time you came out on the other side, that helps a person, period. >> and his brush with death. and taylor swift. ♪ why fans of the "shake it off" singer can't shake off the ticket fiasco for her upcoming tour. ♪ shake it off shake it off ♪

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♪ good evening. thank you for joining us. tonight, we take a deep dive inside the crash of ftx, the once-soaring crypto exchange filing for bankruptcy, now facing two investigations. will it have a domino effect? and celebrities like tom brady, gisele bundchen, and steph curry among those being sued for their endorsement. here's rebecca jarvis. >> it's ftx, the safe and easy way to get into crypto. >> ahh, i don't think so. and i'm never wrong about this stuff. never. >> reporter: from running commercials on the world's biggest stage, the super bowl -- >> with ftx, i have everything i need to buy, sell, and trade crypto safely. >> not bad, this is big. >> reporter: to snagging big

celeb endorsements. >> it's the best way to get into the game. >> reporter: to being the name and brand behind the miami heat's 20,000 seat arena. ftx seemed to be making investing in cryptocurrencies as approachable as buying a cup of coffee. >> ftx attracted the who's who of large financial institutions to finance it, it was worth $32 billion only 21 day go. this is one of the most interesting human stories in our times. >> reporter: at the top, 30-year-old sam bank man freed, or sbf, fronting magazine covers, headlining conferences, even testifying before the u.s. congress in the name of crypto transparency. >> one of the really innovative properties of cryptocurrency markets are 24/7 risk monitoring engines. >> he's clearly a savant. >> reporter: it was all part of the crypto mania that's taken hold over the last few years. the price of digital currency bitcoin alone soaring to nearly

70,000 at its peak in 2021. >> i think people get excited about any sort of new technology with this much potential to improve the world. >> reporter: but all that changed in march of this year when cryptocurrency prices started plunging. suddenly, many of the biggest players who seemed to defy gravity during crypto's climb were facing imminent death during its collapse. including ftx and crypto lender celsius, both going bankrupt, leaving many investors in the cold. >> i was thinking not so much what can i do with my money now, as what can i do with my money in 50 years? >> reporter: after researching a number of investments, daniel frischberg decided to move several thousand dollars, what he says was most of his life-savings, into celsius. a platform that was supposed to operate like a kind of bank for crypto, where users could deposit their cryptocurrency in an account and get paid high-yields on the savings. >> i thought it was more of a

safe approach because i was buying what are considered the blue chips of crypto, bitcoin and ethereum. >> reporter: when bitcoin currency started crashing, dominos began to drop. in july, celsius filed for bankruptcy. the company releasing a series of statements at the time saying in part, acting in the best interest of our stakeholders, including our entire customer community, is our top priority. >> i was a bit numb. i was first worried, oh my god, did i lose all my money? >> reporter: the 18-year-old eventually took legal action, including lawsuits and motions to claw back funds. but he said he still hasn't been able to get his money. representatives for celsius did not reply to "nightline's" request for comment. and it's far from the only major crypto company affected in recent months. one of the largest, ftx, until recently the poster child for a safer crypto world, because of its founder sam bankman freed.

>> venture capital firms were literally gushing in profiles over him being a genius and how completely mesmerized they were by his intellect and insights. >> reporter: in 2017, bankman freed created hedge fund alameda research, reportedly using $1 million in savings and loans from friends and family. two years later, he created crypto exchange ftx. famed "shark tank" star and investor kevin o'leary was immediately intrigued. >> i had lunch with sam. it was going to be a half hour lunch. ended up being three hours. one of the most fascinating individuals i've ever met. >> and after that meeting, what did you do? >> they were looking for paid spokespersons to represent the brand. sam was impressive, but i met other people there. when i get involved in a brand, i mean, i want to understand the depth of it and obviously who else is involved.

and i saw the cap table. i was proud to invest beside some of those investors. >> reporter: but last week, it all came crashing down after a report of financial instability sent ftx customers attempting to withdraw billions, money ftx didn't have available, leading the platform to temporarily halt withdrawals. and now ftx's collapse under investigation bit department of justice and the s.e.c. lawyers for a class action lawsuit now alleging bankman freed used customer money from ftx to fund risky bets at his other company, the alameda hedge fund. can you ball pork for us how much you invested, how much you're losing on this? >> double-digit millions is what i'm saying. we had assets sitting in an account. tens of millions of dollars that just evaporated. now it says zero with a spinning wheel beside it. >> reporter: on november 11th, ftx filed for bankruptcy. and bankman freed stepped down as ceo.

tweeting in part, "i'm really sorry that things ended up as they did, and as i said, i'm going to do everything i can to make it more right." ftx's new ceo writing in a scathing bankruptcy court filing today, "never in my career have i seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here." >> there is very little regulation of the crypto tokens and the crypto exchanges, to the point where there are almost no investors, consumer, or financial stability protections associated with this relatively new but very high-risk and highly volatile financial instrument. >> reporter: ftx investors filing a class action lawsuit against many of the company's brand ambassadors, including tom brady, gisele, steph curry, shaq, and kevin o'leary, claiming they deceptively encouraged customers to invest in the company. >> i've been a celebrity a long

time. people sue you for all kinds of reasons. i had no knowledge, nor did any of the other celebrities, of what occurred here. obviously we didn't. we were investors also. we lost. >> now that you've gone through this experience, will you think twice before being a spokesperson for other financial companies? will it make you stoop and knew questions? >> i'm a tireless supporter of entrepreneurship and innovation and disruption. i can't get it right every time. i can't. and i make mistakes. >> reporter: the question now, where does crypto go from here? brian armstrong is the founder and ceo of coinbase, the largest block chain company in the world. >> in the short-term, it's created a lot of attention and scrutiny, probably a little bit of panic and fear. you know? rightfully so. it's created a little bit of contagion risk. so other firms which may have had financial exposure to ftx are now kind of coming under

more scrutiny. crypto's been through many up and down cycles, this is just going to be one more of them on a long, long journey. >> whether or not crypto has a future remains to be seen. the problem here is that we product or service that people can touch and use in the real world. its viability and even the near term, never mind the long-term, should be viewed with extreme skepticism. >> reporter: daniel remains undeterred. >> i will most definitely be buying crypto again. the advice i got, which i should have followed better, was only invest what you can afford to lose. >> our thanks to rebecca. coming up, weekend with weezy. behind the scenes in a rare interview with rapper lil wayne. ♪ ♪ bring on another way to help protect from hiv. i prep without pills.

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♪ lil wayne is widely regarded as one of the best rappers of all-time.pwe go behind the scen weezy for a rare interview as he returns to his hometown of new orleans. here's megan wright. >> [ bleep ] light this place up! louder, louder! animals! ♪ >> reporter: this is the lil wayne the world already knows.

artist, performer, legend. and this is his homecoming. weezy finally making a return to new orleans for the first time in three years. ♪ the man considered by many to be the greatest rapper of all-time. ♪ >> thank you! >> reporter: backed by a chorus of special guests. now the man we know as weezy -- ♪ come on mama ♪ >> reporter: and mr. carter opening up. for the first time in years, exclusive access. a rare weekend with the superstar in his hometown.

>> i'm ready. >> if you're a fan of lil wayne, you've been introduced to you at different stages, right? who is lil wayne in 2022? >> who is lil wayne in 2022? the same exact wayne from september 27, 1982. that's who i am. i am who i've always been. and that's what works for me. so just being me. just having to wake up. >> just be yourself. ♪ >> reporter: as wayne raps, being himself equals success. to date, lil wayne has sold more than 120 million records worldwide. including 20 million albums. he has five grammys, 11 b.e.t. awards, eight bmi awards. in 2012, lil wayne became the first male artist to surpass elvis with the most entries on the billboard hot 100.

but at one point, a future in music almost didn't happen. wayne struggled with mental health as a child. he recently opened up on an episode of "uncomfortable conversations with emmanuel acho" about attempting suicide at 12 years old. >> that's what scared me. i pulled trigger. >> where did you shoot? >> my chest. aimed for the heart. didn't feel a thing. i wasn't in any pain. it was a shot. i woke up to the police knocking. and i was -- that's what woke me up. >> saying, i tried to commit suicide, there's power in that. was it hard for you to do? >> no, not at all, it was my truth. it's who i am. it's me. it's just now i'm telling the truth. >> do you go to therapy? >> no. >> have you ever thought about it? >> no. >> okay. >> no. no, someone actually asked me

before, they're like, do you ever think about -- would you ever consider talking to someone to help them out with therapy? and i was like, well, you know -- like, i don't know what to tell them. do you give advice? hoy was talking to, they was telling me, from your personal experiences in life, period. just tell them, you came out on the other side, that helps a person, period. which is another thing that led me to doing the interview. at the time, i didn't know how. how does this help? >> because seeing you, because especially in black homes, you know, it's not something people -- you don't talk about how you feel. >> exactly, yeah. >> you may know someone's going through something, they kind of skate over it. >> exactly. >> to see somebody like you being open and talking about it. >> yeah, okay. >> it means a lot. ♪ >> reporter: these days, wayne is focused on music. from recording to performing. ♪ for the first time in three years, wayne headlined his louisiana fest in new orleans, a concert benefiting the city's youth.

♪ and this year, it had a very special guest. this kid, deejay fitzpatrick. deejay is battling a heart condition. the make a fish foundation, which helps kids with serious, not just fatal illnesses, flew d.j. and his family in from texas to meet wayne. >> i think lil wayne -- i like his music and i wanted to -- i've always wanted to meet a celebrity or something. and this was my favorite rapper and artist. i just chose to meet him. >> why is he your favorite? >> his songs is better than, like, anybody out there. >> who's better than lil wayne? >> no one. >> y'all, my people, please. and before i go any further, i want to let you know about somebody special. i have a 10-year-old with me tonight. he's a make a wish kid.

he's done than fitzpatrick. hypoplastic syndrome. but he's here. this next song is for him. ♪ ♪ d.j. d.j. ♪ >> i've never been -- i've never been a part of a, you know, a make a wish situation. i know all about them, those kids. their days are so important. their days are so vital. and so for wanting -- you want to spend -- you want one of your days with me? you know? like, that is -- after the show, i was able to look him in his eyes and tell him, "no matter how many people are out in the crowd tonight, no matter how many people are standing to my left and my right on the stage, it was you." >> enjoy the show? >> yes, sir. >> "it was you that made me feel

like this whole show was worth it, this whole day was worth it." >> the "go d.j." part was the best part. i was like, you've got to bring him on. he wasn't even thinking about that. i appreciate you coming. for real, for real. nice seeing you, buddy. >> ain't nobody's age. wanting to spend that time with me -- there's no words for that. >> our thanks to megan. for more of "weekend with weezy," stream "impact" by "nightline" on hulu. new episodes of "impact" drop every thursday. taylor swift. the bad blood between swifties and ticket master. ♪ ♪ ♪ we got bad blood ♪

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♪ finally tonight, the ticketmaster disaster that has

taylor swift fans fuming. the bad blood is real between swifties and ticketmaster. ♪ we got bad blood ♪ >> the company canceling ticket sales to the general public tomorrow due to a lack of inventory. this after a presale debacle earlier this week. but it wasn't bad news for everyone. after a long wait, some lucky fans were able to score the coveted tickets. ♪ the worst is over uh-huh ♪ >> that's "nightline" for this evening. catch our full episodes on on hulu. we'll see you right