The failure of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried will leave deep scars

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Everyone in FTX’s orbit has suffered financially, but the real wound cuts deeper. Sam Bankman­-Fried has let down supporters, embarrassed investors and made fools of politicians and regulators

Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskIn other words, they are places that now reek of despair—not just about the billions of dollars that are trapped on a defunct exchange, but about the architect of the mess. Mr Bankman-Fried was crypto’s golden boy. He studied physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was supposed to have learned the craft of marketmaking and trading at Jane Street, an elite financial firm.

Astute readers may notice this is not how an exchange should work. Normal ones hold customer deposits, not a mix of venture investments and tokens. Then there is an apparent hole in the accounts. In a grovelling note left in them seemingly by Mr Bankman-Fried, the writer claims not to have realised $8bn was missing, an amount worth more than half that deposited in the firm’s care. This is put down to a “poorly labelled” internal account.

The only way out would have been to bet big or raise money. According to reports, Mr Bankman-Fried has been trying to raise capital since the summer. He flew to Abu Dhabi two weeks ago in an apparent attempt to drum up interest. When his problems became acute, he called Sequoia and other early investors. He even tried Binance, owned by his great rival, Mr Zhao.

It is this kind of public theorising that has made some even more suspicious. Regulators and law-enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating, along with authorities in the Bahamas. Mr Bankman-Fried may be flown to America for questioning; Congress plans to force him to testify in December about what went wrong. In crypto-forums, thousands of conspiracy theories are being traded.

 

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Fraudulent behavior? Simple questions from investors? Delusional power gambits? Insufficient mega-donations to Biden campaign? Insufficient millions to the Democratic party to corner the crypto market? Insufficient bribes to Chinese officials in cryptocurrency? corruption FTX

Insufficient bribes?

The walls keep caving in

Have all the US politicians that also received money from him returned that money so can be distributed back to the owners?

Crypto is a fundamental fraud at its heart. No regulation can compensate for the contradiction it implies. Spinning gold from straw belongs to the realm of fairytales.

you mean his 'criminal empire' mainstream media days are numbered the truth will come out eventually bitcoin

It's called shining a 💩

the sooner the crypto pyramid scam burts, the better, and there should be a wall of shame where all the famous people are listed who made free advertising for this bullshit

The DNC will need to replace $40b in donations

👎🏾

🤡

But but

That time when crypto was a deep state operation and sbf was an operative. Move currency government can track to the forefront via counter culture and a deprecating dollar, then collapse it and move cbdc into it's place as the savior. Genius plan to get dystopian control of labor

Not your wallet not your crypto.

I have seen the future and it is GOP GreedOverPeople without regulation = Tea Party = Libertarians = Anarchy! elonmusk nytimes WSJ FT

Entonces la CBCD también son un casino manejado por una mafia fiduciaria de parásitos inútiles!!!

Where is he?

All crypto is a ponzi, your revenue is determined by your place in the pyramid not chance.

A ponzi scheme

Well, rich people are bad people.

The question is , where is the money ?

Nice strong conclusion about the state of crypto: “The bigger Q … is whether crypto is a cause for which it is worth fighting. FTX is just the latest and biggest in a long line of multi-billion dollar projects, businesses and funds that have gone spectacularly bust.” -/2

Run by liberal/democrat supporter

It is not a failure Economist, FRAUD!

No

Nobody has explained satisfactorily why cryptocurrency is better than a credit card or a bank account. Some say it is cheaper and more efficient, but once crypto gets regulation and safeguards it will have the same cost structure.

every industry goes through a clean up after the initial euphory. Crypto is a technology. For many it is also a vision. That's why it doesn't make any sense to ask if it is 'worth fighting for' after the FTX R&R.

Caribintelligen Crypto is an investment scam and/or a front for money laundering / tax evasion. A currency has to be useable, stable and trusted. Crypto is not. It is also wide open to manipulation, as can seen when a celebrity announces they have bought into it on a large scale. Let it die.

As nothing when the cryptos collapse. As these Ponzis surely shall.

Let's take a look at the track record of executive and biz publications thinking over the last few decades on tech 1. Fax machine won't improve business 2. The internet 1.0 won't make money 2. Email is a security threat to companies and nations Yea, you're absolutely right

Can we lock this MFer up already? Exchanges should have to show a 1:1 asset ratio either to a regulatory body or publicly.

I think today’s FT pretty much nails it.

Learn what decentrallised and non-custodial means, and stop trusting someone else to hold your funds.

FTX was a criminal cartel, not a legitimate business. They specialized in money laundering for politicians. Both sides of the aisle are guilty as sin. Its treason.

There is no shortcut to make large amount money… it sounds good but it is just a story that people wants to hear!! Hard work ladies and gentlemen is the only remedy to make the magical green load 💴!!! Remember, you heard it here first !

I asked Sam this question and instead of an answer, he promptly blocked me 👉 'What's your role in this scam, Sam'? FTXScam FTXCRASH SamHarris SamBankmanFried

first crypto was a currency, then it became an asset, now it's a cause? It's a scam. A grift. A gambling platform.

Fraud and theft not bust

*fraud

Fighting for?

Criminal Leftists will go down.

The cut can not be deep enough. People obviously are not learning. If it is too good to be true..it probably is!!

'The FRAUD of FTX and Sam BANKman-Fried will leave deep scars' Fixed the title for you. Now fix the article.

There is a big difference between failure and crime, something MSM seem to help sweep under the rug for political purposes.

Too many companies and individuals got burned too hard. It’s hard to think that the crypto world will recover swiftly from this incident. There’s still a lot of uncertainty about what’s going to happen next.

He’s an ordinary criminal and should be treated as such,- it’s not failure…it’s fraud

Failure? You mean crime? $10B of customer funds stolen. MSM on full damage control on behalf of Democrats past few days.

Bankster-Fraud Madoff with mah crypto, yo.

What about the failure of Gensler and the SEC? Oh wait, Gensler is friends with Sam's father so Bankman-Fried gets a solid from his daddy's friends and the public (and rule of law) get screwed. BananaRepublic

Failure? Is that what you call it.

I’m thinking a lot of folks who lost a lot of money via FTX are going to find out that their money ended up in the campaign funds of Democrats.

Capitalism is humanities biggest failure because if we don't stop it, humanity will no longer be.

Well, the 'crupto' world just entered a deep recession! But there isn't an Uncle Sam to bail them out!

One begs the question. What is the function of regulators? To pick up the pieces or to mitigate it happening in the first instance?

decentralised is the future bitcoin

failure? IT WAS A SCAM

Failure should be fraud …

Only if you invested in that garbage

Why isn't he SBF_FTX in jail right now? Doesn't seem kosher to me.

The media is pretending it’s over already

Netflix has boots on the ground

Anyone find Do Kwon yet?

It was a scam from day one!!

It is not a “failure”. It was a scam.

How do you pronounce Fried? I pronounce it like Fried Chicken. If investors would understand the English language like I do and not like the news media does (Freed) I could have save Billionaires billions. BANK MAN FRIED!!!

he also laundered money for the democrats

...

This was intentional…Central banks are trying to create fear.

Crypto did not fail, FTX was a centralized exchange and its failure just shows the need for decentralized finance

How about that 40 million dumped into USA federal elections! And another 20 for the White House Covid relief! How so tied up with Ukraine in midst of a war! Insanity ,calls for serious investigations SuspiciousActivity Activity Transactions reports at the least. MegaDemDonor

It was always a scam

SBF-Sam Bankman-Fraud

Hahaha blame it on one guy, not the kooky idea that the whole thing is. If it wasn't him, it would be someone else blowing up this bro-fest ponzi scheme. When something is fundamentally and structurally unsound, guess what? It doesn't work. The real world test is a harsh one.

Alas, ignoring physiognomy & eschewing pattern recognition never lead to anything good

Nothing like that. 85 Milken and others. 99-01 dot on scam, Enron, WorldCom, Tyco. 08 too big to fail, madoff. 22 Bitcoin. Apart from the ritualistic Media Death wails and biz schools offering crypto-ethics - a cycle that repeats every decade- nothing will change

democrat uncle Sam the Bankman has just Fried the people

Here’s a warm towel, Wipe off your face, You’re embarrassing

The Tie has gone Down now we know who did not have a swimsuit Math and Gravity are Real.

Dear John Jacob, tell us about the family Bankman-Fried, what origins do they have... 🤔🤔💡💡🇮🇱

Hopefullt the beginning of the end of cryptocurrency

The only fools are those that think the politicians were not in on it.

By believing in these Ponzis the believers disgraced themselves. This is a criminal enterprise. Crypto has no value beyond the folly of its purchasers continued investment. You still in?

NarrativesAreCollapsing

Bitcoin has become the biggest sucker-hunting game in history.

Bankman fried everybody

Sam Bankman­-Fried has let down supporters, embarrassed investors and made fools of politicians and regulators ..... LATE-TERM CAPITALISM 😆

maybe start with 'he stole from customers...'

I love the last part

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What happened at FTX?Our podcast on markets, the economy and business. This week, we chart the rise and fall of crypto’s poster child, Sam Bankman-Fried, and ask whether the industry can survive “Poster child” 😂🤦‍♂️😂🤦‍♂️😂 He is a full-grown man. Nothing childlike about this dude. The clue was always in his name
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Bahamas could not have prevented FTX collapse, prime minister saysPhilip Davis indicates country has ‘not identified any deficiencies’ in crypto regulatory framework hmmm, what else are they supposed to say? Whoops?
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