FTX Collapse, feat Sam Bankman-Fraud

[Keebleman]

Haven't seen a thread for this, which is surprising cos it's a heck of a story.  The sheer scale of the thing is one reason for this, another is the odd cast of characters, including a lady CEO who literally looks 12 years old, another is its newness - it's happened in an industry that simply didn't exist a decade ago - and another is the complexity of it.  It's a little like trying to learn about quantum mechanics, or gravitational waves.  Sometimes I feel I have a real if tenuous grasp of what's going on, but then a few moments later understanding has slipped away.  But even when I'm completely lost, learning about it still gives me a sense of vertigo which I actually find quite pleasant.  But then, I haven't lost any money in the whole mess.

This video, posted just as the story was breaking, is pretty good at giving a clear and concise summary of what happened:

And this one, from the same time, is the first in a series on the topic from a very dogged, and much more flamboyant, YouTuber who calls himself CoffeeZilla:

[Keebleman]

Larry David was right though, albeit in a way he didn't expect:

Consequences: https://www.avclub.com/larry-david-ftx-ad-class-action-lawsuit-1849794031

[Keebleman]

Bizarrely, Sam Bankman-Fried has persisted in keeping himself in the public eye with a series of interviews with MSM but also online, where he has given some very incriminating statements.  The latest was just yesterday, when he was ambushed for a third time by the ever-persistent CoffeeZilla:

And despite title screen, another bizarre thing is that SBF doesn't really get angry.  He gets evasive, he gets a little testy, but it's not nearly the 'blow-up' a delighted CoffeeZilla claims it is.

[touchingcloth]

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dick head

[greenman]

Ultimately seems more evidence that the whole thing is just a pyramid scheme based on tech bro worship by alt right would be stemlords who actually have fuck all idea what's going on.

[seepage]

Apparently, he used to play League of Legends during business meetings, but the hedge fund managers still pushed loads of dosh his way [now safely squirreled away in the Bahamas]

[Mr Vegetables]

I knew about this because they sponsored a Magic cards podcast for a while and I am that sort of nerd. Part of the Magic card men's pitch for this was "FTX sponsor lots of stadiums, and that seems cool!" which to me might as well have just been the sound of an alarm bell ringing for many minutes. I almost invested in Icelandic banks, as well, but even I saw through this one

[Famous Mortimer]

Haven't seen a thread for this, which is surprising cos it's a heck of a story

Isn't it the same as every other fucking useless crypto / NFT story? Fraudster defrauds people with empty promises, the end.

[mjwilson]

My favourite part of this (based on what I have read - I didn't watch those videos) is that SBF sent round a spreadsheet of assets when he was trying to get someone to buy out his company. And when that leaked there was a bunch of discussion around the fact that they had a hidden, poorly internally labelled 'fiat@' account.

I assumed for some time that this was just how financial experts were describing this account after doing some analysis. But no, his own spreadsheet described it as hidden, poorly labelled account.

Amazing that no-one rushed in to save the company really.

[jobotic]

Pretty sure I know what a tech bro is and I know what the alt-right are but please what is a stemlord?

[Terry Torpid]

please what is a stemlord?

STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, ie "proper" university courses, not like a woman's degree like sociology or nursing like what a bloody woman would do. STEM is a real proper industry for proper smart men who ought to run the world because they're so smart and clever and smart. Good luck using your humanities degree in McDonald's you cuck!

Stemlords are basically utilitarian dickheads, wannabe technocrats who see no value in any field outside of "hard" nerd science.

[touchingcloth]

Pretty sure I know what a tech bro is and I know what the alt-right are but please what is a stemlord?

Someone who studied a STEM subject and thinks they therefore know more than liberal snowflake humanityarts grads.

[jobotic]

Okay, thanks both!

[touchingcloth]

Good job twitter doesn't need anyone who works in advertising or law.

[Terry Torpid]

I love that the two big social media sites are now run by awkward unsociable weirdos who don't seem to understand people at all.

[Jack Shaftoe]

Four crypto billionaires dying mysteriously in the last month, or not that mysteriously if you consider they found new ways of laundering money, scary bad people got involved, then a lot of that money evaporated, leaving those scary bad people feeling quite upset.

https://www.newsweek.com/crypto-ceos-founders-sudden-deathswhat-we-do-know-what-we-dont-1763586

[Blumf]

Isn't a big part of this story how the FTX guy managed to ingratiate himself with political and media groups quite tightly. Lots of puff pieces from press that should know better.

Looking at Sam Bankman-Fried's wiki page, I'm seeing some Stanford Law professors as parents. So I'm thinking a dimwit (and sociopathic?) son being propped up by mummy and daddy's connections.

[Psybro]

Is crypto like the dot-com boom, where it is the future but dickheads have piled into it to deservedly lose their cash, or like snake oil where it'll be a by-word for scamming for generations, or do we not know yet?

[Cuellar]

Crypto in general is just gambling, a few insiders controlling the supply and price of crypto and using venal celebs and dimwitted politicians to legitimise it and get ordinary people to believe it's a way of making money but the whole thing is rigged from the start.

So sadly, while you'd obviously have to be a complete and utter cretin to put any significant amount of money anywhere near a crypto 'exchange', a lot of ordinary people did and are now fucked.

[greenman]

Someone who studied a STEM subject and thinks they therefore know more than liberal snowflake humanityarts grads.

Really though in this context I think more someone who values STEM for the politics involved without really having much knowledge beyond what can be gleened from 10 min Youtube videos.

Seems like Crypto really prays on that market and the idea that investing in it makes you smart, dumb people who nod along as some conman throws out a load of financial jargon at them.

I'd guess as well this helps sustain crypto as well as such people are not going to admit they've lost money on it as that would be an affront to their ego.

[mjwilson]

Is crypto like the dot-com boom, where it is the future but dickheads have piled into it to deservedly lose their cash, or like snake oil where it'll be a by-word for scamming for generations, or do we not know yet?

dickheads have piled into it to deservedly lose their cash: yes

a by-word for scamming for generations: also yes

[touchingcloth]

Really though in this context I think more someone who values STEM for the politics involved without really having much knowledge beyond what can be gleened from 10 min Youtube videos.

Seems like Crypto really prays on that market and the idea that investing in it makes you smart, dumb people who nod along as some conman throws out a load of financial jargon at them.

I'd guess as well this helps sustain crypto as well as such people are not going to admit they've lost money on it as that would be an affront to their ego.

Agreed, it's what the people who joined I FUCKING LOVE SCIENCE did ten years later.

[Dex Sawash]

What happened to all the CaBbers who were holding crypt?
Those threads have gone quiet.

[idunnosomename]

Crypto in general is just gambling, a few insiders controlling the supply and price of crypto and using venal celebs and dimwitted politicians to legitimise it and get ordinary people to believe it's a way of making money but the whole thing is rigged from the start.

So sadly, while you'd obviously have to be a complete and utter cretin to put any significant amount of money anywhere near a crypto 'exchange', a lot of ordinary people did and are now fucked.

i mean i absolutely despise gambling (I know some people reading this may enjoy a punt and will disagree, okay) but crypto is way fucking dumber than gambling. it's a pyramid scheme you can't even luck a win on.

I think no one posted about this because no one understands it beyond "it's a load of shit: for cunts". To get a little bit beyond that (but not much, because there's not that more to know except that it's a massive scam) I really enjoyed this podcast in a car journey recently: https://tenthousandposts.podbean.com/e/tales-from-the-crypto-ft-jacob-silverman/

[Keebleman]

SBF is far closer to Woke warriors than he is to the alt-right.

I'm more interested in the way his downfall has been used to discredit Effective Altruism, which is not related to the disaster, rather than cryptocurrency, which of course is (although, in fairness, only tangentially: the - alleged - crime is simple fraud; that it involved a cryptocurrency company is essentially irrelevant).

https://unherd.com/2022/11/the-evils-of-elitist-altruism/

Of course there are plenty of grounds for critiquing this movement, many of which come from its adherents, but dismissing it out of hand because of SBF's crimes makes as much sense as scoffing at the very idea of long-distance lorry driving because it was how Peter Sutcliffe earned a living.

[The Dog]

snake oil

Cryptocurrency is absolutely useless, but you never hear a squeaky snake, do you?

[first skeleton on mars]

Apparently, he used to play League of Legends during business meetings, but the hedge fund managers still pushed loads of dosh his way [now safely squirreled away in the Bahamas]

An article by the Financial Times characterized Bankman-Fried's "win ratios" in League of Legends as "average-to-bad".^[99]

[Jack Shaftoe]

What happened to all the CaBbers who were holding crypt?
Those threads have gone quiet.

Sick as a pike couldn't find his password and then he died (sorry).

[touchingcloth]

:(

[Cuellar]

My 20 quid of dogecoin is on my old phone and I can't be arsed turning it on and transferring it