Former FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven fraud and conspiracy counts. His sentencing awaits. It remains to be seen if the legal system allows SBF to keep any of the wealth he likely stashed around the globe.
Decades ago former Junk Bond King Micheal Milken was allowed to keep most of his ill generated riches. Milken later used those funds to rehabilitate his reputation and regain his outsized influence.
Protecting the U.S. political class is step number one in the future image rehab of SBF. That appears to be in play given the lead prosecutor's decision to not try Bankman-Fried for campaign finance violations.
...prosecutors said the "strong public interest" in a prompt resolution of their case against the 31-year-old former billionaire outweighed the benefits of a second trial.SBF was the face of cryptocurrency regulation in Washington, D.C. FTX employed my former Congressman and Mike Conaway's lobbying firm. Conaway is a CPA and is known for fleshing out fraud at the National Republican Congressional Committee.
I believe its is in the public's interest that SBF be prosecuted for breaking campaign finance laws and for the public to learn how Bankman-Fried skirted those laws. Crimes are tried in part to deter future criminal behavior.
It appears we are in a two part effort to sweep cryptocurrency fraud under the rug. The first is to characterize SBF as the last in a line of crypto frausters. Once he is locked up the new regulatory format will arise to clean up the industry. Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein is leading that charge given his significant investment in Paxos (through his family office-Declaration Partners).
The second is to bury information regarding crypto's political sponsors, current and former politicians. SBF had President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Tony Blair on a Bahamas stage in May 2022. Both men aided a nascent private equity industry while in office. The return has been outsized speaking fees for Clinton and Blair.
The public deserves to know who aided SBF's criminal enterprise before November 2024. That information would be important to consider in the voting booth. Cryto is the currency of knaves and any "investor" should hold that front and center as it is reintroduced to the world.
It's a new year and there are new marks to fleece.
Update 1-4-24: Fourteen firms hope the SEC approves their applications to offer Bitcoin ETFs.
Update 1-6-24: Is seems digital PEU and serial liar George Santos has a rival. ARS Technica picked up a Guardian story:
For years, rumors spread on social media that Steven Reece Lewis, the chief executive officer of a now-shuttered cryptocurrency hedge fund called HyperVerse, was a "fake person" who "doesn't exist." After its investigation, The Guardian has confirmed that no organization cited on his resume "can find any record of him."
According to The Guardian, Reece Lewis's qualifications all appear to be falsified in an effort to woo investors to sink money into HyperVerse. After HyperVerse collapsed, accused of operating as a pyramid scheme, the company suspended withdrawals. According to blockchain analysts, Chainalysis consumer losses in 2022 were estimated to exceed $1.3 billion. Thousands of consumers lost millions.
After concluding its investigation, The Guardian agreed that "Reece Lewis’s identity could not be verified."
Matt Stoller's BIG reported:
Crypto is obviously a scam. But as we’re finding out, our faith in the rule of law is so feeble that it’s hard to shut down an ‘industry’ that has been operating illegally for over a decade.
His piece noted a recent ruling that concluded crypto is a security and under the purview of the SEC.
Update 1-7-24: Better Markets called for the SEC to reject all Bitcoin ETF applications. Bitcoin.com reported BlackRock has $2 billion lined up should their Bitcoin ETF be approved. The money is from existing Bitcoin holders. Pump.....
Update 1-11-24: The SEC green lit Bitcoin ETF's. One commissioner gave a stark warning on making these products available. Better Markets panned the approval as well:
“With the flagrantly lawless crypto industry crashing and burning due to a mountain of arrests, criminal convictions, bankruptcies, lawsuits, scandals, massive losses, and millions of investor and customer victims, who would have thought that the SEC would come to its rescue by approving a trusted and familiar investment vehicle that will enable the mass marketing of a known worthless, volatile, and fraud-filled financial product to Main Street Americans. Bitcoin and crypto are worse than the chips you can buy at a casino because at least the casino is regulated; the spot Bitcoin market is not and that’s what the ETF is going to be pricing. There will be no SEC regulation or policing of Bitcoin.
Update 1-15-24: The United Nations reported cryptocurrency Tether is used by criminals around the globe. Wasn't SBF's conviction supposed to clean up the industry?
Update 1-23-24: A Colorado online pastor fleeced his flock of millions with his INDX cryptocurrency. He is charged with securities fraud, unlicensed broker-dealer activity, selling unregistered securities and imposition of constructive trust.
God told him people would become wealthy if they invested. Those "people" were the pastor and his wife. Similar to SBF and his family.
