#ftx founder

[fitmintwear]

FTX Fiasco: Rise and Fall of Bankman-Fried

The cryptocurrency market has experienced a whirlwind of activity over the last week, which will be remembered for a great many years. Unquestionably, 2022 will be remembered as one of the key and pivotal years in the development of the cryptocurrency market. This is due to the fact that the cryptocurrency industry was finally taken seriously and discussed on a global scale for the first time since the creation of Bitcoin back in 2008–2009. Terms like cryptography and Web 3.0 were becoming more widely used by non-technical people as well.

The Axie Infinity Ronin bridge attack, the Terra LUNA crash, and the collapse of the FTX exchange, one of the second-largest cryptocurrency exchanges by volume in the world, were among the worst crashes of 2022. In this article, we will be taking a closer look at the timeline of events and understand what led to the collapse of the FTX exchange and the fall of the man who was once hailed as the savior of the crypto world- SBF.

Who is SBF- Sam Bankman-Fried?

SBF, also known as Bankman-Fried, was, until recently, the up-and-coming star of the cryptocurrency world with a net worth of $26 billion as he quickly joined the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Bankman-Fried was raised in California by his parents who were Stanford Law professors. He completed his undergraduate work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in math and physics before working on Wall Street. He started FTX two years after founding Alameda Research in 2017.

What is FTX?

FTX (short for “Futures Exchange”) was a platform where users can purchase and sell digital assets like bitcoin, ether, and Dogecoin. Platforms like FTX rose in popularity in recent times as more and more people sought to invest in cryptocurrencies without having to deal with the technical aspects of it.

The rise of FTX

The exchange paid for flashy television commercials with A-list celebrities to promote itself as a secure and simple way to invest in cryptocurrencies. In addition to this, Bankman-Fried also purchased the advertising space in uniforms and sporting venues for Major League Baseball officials. The 2019-founded business gained international notoriety very quickly thanks to a number of aggressive marketing tactics, high-profile acquisitions, and low trading fees.

With the promise that they could invest their money in accounts and earn significantly higher yields than at conventional banks, even those who were unfamiliar with the technology were seduced by FTX. Major venture capital firms joined in and invested nearly $2 billion in the business. The 30-year-old founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, rose to prominence as the face of the business and, to some, of cryptocurrency in general. FTX was difficult to miss due to celebrity endorsements and significant sports sponsorships.

The Fall of FTX

It was only a matter of moments how the cryptocurrency market boomed after SBF launched FTX. Bitcoin’s price, which had previously fluctuated around $10,000, skyrocketed in 2021 and reached a high of more than $64,000. Venture capital funds poured into everything blockchain-related and digital currency-related, and crypto platforms shifted to draw users beyond the technologists and blockchain enthusiasts who had previously propelled its rise.

From its late 2021 highs, when it was generally considered to be a leading indicator of the larger cryptocurrency market, the price of bitcoin has fallen sharply. It currently trades for about $16,000. While it strongly affected the value of other cryptocurrencies and tokens, many significant platforms had already closed due to the general decline in the crypto industry. However, FTX appeared to be immune, even going so far as to acquire some of its faltering rivals.

But when CoinDesk, a cryptocurrency-focused digital media website, published the balance sheet of Alameda Research, a crypto investing company that also belonged to Bankman-Fried, things started to change. It revealed that Alameda had a sizable amount of FTT, a virtual currency developed by FTX. Even though the FTT had a certain market value, Alameda would be in danger of going bankrupt if the price dropped.

CZ (Changpeng Zhao), CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, a competitor of FTX, declared on November 6 that his business would offload all of its FTT tokens as a result of the leak of Alameda’s balance sheet. FTT’s cost dropped significantly. Many FTX users moved to remove their funds from the platform as the price fell.

The crypto community was already on edge despite the fact that the full extent of the connections between Alameda and FTX was not yet known. In the end, several billion dollars were poured out of FTX by people who rushed to withdraw their money before it ran out of funds. On November 8, FTX barred users from withdrawing funds from the system, which marked the fall of FTX. Not only did it shake the volatile crypto market, declining its overall market capitalization below $1 trillion, but also left some deep scars on the whole international crypto community that will have repercussions for years to come.

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[wauln]

[ FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Found Guilty ]

[cryptonewsupdate]

Decoding Crypto Market Turbulence: Vitalik Buterin's Analysis in the Aftermath of FTX's Collapse

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has recently offered profound insights into the rapidly changing landscape of the cryptocurrency market, particularly in the aftermath of the collapse of FTX. In a reflective post on X, Buterin recounted his experiences with the next generation of innovators, moving away from his earlier perception as a "fancy young wunderkind" to embrace a new era of transformative leadership in the dynamic crypto industry.

Buterin's journey also extends beyond blockchain technology, as he shared his advocacy for life extension and offered a nuanced perspective on the meaning of life. He emphasized the inevitability of change, highlighting his shift from a mathematical-centric worldview to an appreciation of the complexity of social systems and the limitations of attempting to create foolproof governance mechanisms.

The Ethereum co-founder discussed the transformations he underwent, moving from deep immersion in mathematics, coding, and cryptographic protocols to a more balanced approach that uses mathematics to offer initial insights into social mechanisms. He reflected on global events, specifically the Ukrainian crisis in 2022, and observed the public downfall of influential figures like Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX. This prompted Buterin to reevaluate figures he once admired in the crypto space, recognizing that the community was undergoing a transformation with many influential figures facing challenges.

In response to these realizations, Buterin emphasized the importance of intentional action, departing from his past inclination to follow others' plans. Whether confronting geopolitical issues or shaping the future of the crypto space, he stressed the need for a high-agency approach, recognizing the imperative to actively contribute to positive developments. Overall, Buterin's reflections provide valuable insights into the evolving nature of the cryptocurrency industry and the role of transformative leadership in navigating its complexities.

[wilwheaton]

The tech industry is getting increasingly scammy. True innovation has slowed down drastically in recent years, threatening to shrink the staggering profits from the earlier parts of the century. To replace that income, tech leaders have increasingly turned to overhyped products or even outright fraud, as evidenced by the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange and imprisonment of its founder. Joe Biden's administration has made shutting down consumer fraud a majority priority. Rather than dial back the shady behavior, the tech industry is turning to Donald Trump, a man whose entire business career was built on fraud, to save them.

A viral blog post from a bureaucrat exposes why tech billionaires fear Biden — and fund Trump

[dostoyevsky-official]

Billion dollar squirrel: Trump effect fuels crypto’s ‘memecoin’ boom

Cryptocurrencies representing a euthanised grey squirrel, a Thai pygmy hippopotamus and a cartoon dog have exploded in value since last month’s US presidential election, as Donald Trump’s victory triggers a surge in speculation in so-called memecoins. The market for tokens representing online viral moments has expanded rapidly since early November as traders bet that Trump’s administration will usher in more crypto-friendly attitudes and regulation in Washington. “They have no value, they never will have value,” Charles Hoskinson, co-founder of the Cardano blockchain, said about memecoins recently. “There’s no utility behind them, nobody wants them — when they lose their lustre they go to zero.” The total market value of CHILLGUY has reached $466mn since it was created two weeks ago. It received a boost when MrBeast, the world’s most popular YouTuber, wrote on X last week that it was the “biggest meme of our lifetimes”. The memecoin frenzy has inspired others to get involved. Haliey Welch, who went viral this year as Hawk Tuah Girl, said last week she would soon launch a token “to unite her entire community”. The market size of PNUT has hit $1.2bn, while PEPE, referencing a comic frog character, has a market cap of $8.2bn — more than that of British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s. BONK, a cartoon dog made after the collapse of exchange FTX in an effort to cheer up traders using the Solana blockchain, has a market cap of $3bn. “Most of these fail and have no liquidity,” said Adam Morgan McCarthy, research analyst at Kaiko. But “these things are like Lazarus if a community gets behind them in force”. [...] “It’s got a little bit silly and it feels . . . like what happened towards the end of the NFT market,” said Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered. “At some point, something will happen which will unleash the house of cards and it’ll collapse.”

[sarkos]

The disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, who founded the FTX exchange, had planned to purchase the small Pacific island nation of Nauru in case the world came to an end, according to a new lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed on Thursday by FTX against its 31-year-old founder and three other former executives, and seeking $1bn, included a memo created by Bankman-Fried’s younger brother Gabriel and an FTX Foundation executive. The memo detailed plans to buy Nauru. The plan was to “purchase the sovereign nation of Nauru in order to construct a ‘bunker/shelter’ that would be used for ‘some event where 50-99.99% of people die [to] ensure that most EAs survive’” the memo said, referring to “effective altruism”, a philosophical and social movement championed by Bankman-Fried that tries to maximize the impact of charitable giving. The memo also noted plans to develop “sensible regulation around human genetic enhancement, and build a lab there”. It also said “probably there are other things it’s useful to do with a sovereign country, too”.

Bankman-Fried planned to buy Nauru and build apocalypse bunker – lawsuit | Sam Bankman-Fried | The Guardian

“The Boys from Nauru” just doesn’t have the same ring

[collapsedsquid]

The ex-FTX CEO’s diet sees him get vegan meals that fellow inmates think “literally [smell] like shit” so he lives on beans and rice — the latter has “become one of the currencies of the realm inside MDC.” The alum of trading house Jane Street Capital and co-founder of trading firm Alameda Research reportedly joked about how much better the arbitrage opportunities are in jail compared to his former life as a high-frequency trader.

confused by this story, is he the only one that gets rice? Is it the rice that smells like shit? Tell me your prison rice-trading business secrets SBF!

[mariacallous]

A US judge has cleared the way for billions of dollars to be refunded to former customers of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.

At a court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday, judge John Dorsey gave final approval to FTX’s reorganization plan, the terms of which had previously been put to creditors and voted through by a landslide.

“I think this is a model case for how to deal with a very complex Chapter 11 proceeding,” said Dorsey. “I applaud everyone involved in the negotiation process.”

FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 after running out of funds to process customer withdrawals. Billions of dollars’ worth of FTX customer deposits were missing. The money, a jury later found, had been swept into a sibling company and spent on high-risk trading, venture bets, debt repayments, personal loans, political donations, luxury real estate, and other illegitimate dealings.

A year later, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy, then sentenced to 25 years in prison. In September, coconspirator Caroline Ellison received a two-year prison term after testifying against Bankman-Fried at trial.

First proposed in May, the FTX bankruptcy plan charts a path to a full refund, plus interest, for former FTX customers—a level of recovery rarely seen in bankruptcies. “Generally, anything over 100 cents on the dollar is close to miraculous,” says Yesha Yadav, associate dean and a bankruptcy specialist at Vanderbilt University Law School. “What tends to happen is that unsecured creditors get cents on the dollar, if they’re lucky. The expectation is that it is a process of scarcity.”

In this case, though, the administrators of the FTX estate were able to recover billions of dollars by liquidating investments made by the exchange’s venture capital arm, FTX Ventures, and its sister company, Alameda Research, along with other assets. A rise in the price of cryptocurrencies in the period since FTX filed for bankruptcy, meanwhile, raised the value of the coins left in exchange coffers.

Under the plan, government bodies in the United States—including the Internal Revenue Service and the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission—have agreed to suspend high-value claims against FTX until creditors had been repaid (although the IRS will receive a $200 million upfront payment as part of the settlement).

Even FTX equity holders, typically the last to be repaid in a bankruptcy, stand to make back a portion of their initial investment—a maximum of $230 million between them—paid for using funds recovered by the Department of Justice through the prosecution of FTX insiders.

But despite the abnormally high expected recovery, some creditors believe they are still getting a raw deal by virtue of the way their claims have been valued.

Many customers held crypto assets like bitcoin on the FTX platform, but through a process called dollarization common to bankruptcies, their claims have instead been assigned a dollar value based on the price of those assets on the date of the bankruptcy filing. When FTX fell, the crypto market was in the doldrums, but it has since lurched to new all-time highs, meaning some customer claims would be far more valuable if the refund were mapped to the present value of crypto assets. Therefore, though dollarization is proper under the bankruptcy code, “saying [the return] is over 100 percent is just wrong,” says Yadav. “For the average person, it’s very far from that.”

Among the parties that stand to gain the most from the approval of the plan, meanwhile, are investment firms that spent millions of dollars purchasing claims from people with assets stuck in FTX, who either preferred to take a haircut and reinvest the money or had urgent need of the funds. Those claims were typically purchased at a cut-price rate before a handsome recovery was considered likely—some for less than 10 cents on the dollar—but are now worth multiples of that.

“In terms of internal rate of return—holy shit. It’s the best trade I’ve seen in my lifetime,” says Thomas Braziel, cofounder of 507 Capital, an investment firm that specializes in buying up bankruptcy claims and took a large position in FTX, and 117 Partners, which brokers claim sales. (In July, Braziel was ordered by a Delaware court to repay $1.9 million that he misappropriated as receiver of failed financial services company Fund.com to make investments and luxury purchases.)

In August, a number of former FTX customers filed formal objections to the plan with the bankruptcy court. The customers objected, variously, to the legal immunity provided under the plan to those that have administered the bankruptcy, the likelihood that cash payments would trigger costly taxable events for creditors, and other elements of the plan. “I felt vindicated when Bankman-Fried went to jail—and I believed that would flow through to bankruptcy court,” says Sunil Kavuri, one FTX customer to cosign an objection. “I’ve been unpleasantly surprised.”

In the course of the five-hour hearing, Brian Glueckstein, an attorney at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell and counsel to FTX, responded to each objection in turn. “There is no evidence on the record that somehow these debtors are not providing maximum value—none,” said Glueckstein.

In providing his approval, the judge rejected the pending objections and cleared the way for FTX administrators to begin to execute the plan.

It remains possible to lodge an appeal against the plan after its confirmation in limited circumstances. Logistical complications may also delay repayments to creditors, expected to begin late this year at the earliest. But few realistic options now remain for parties hoping to change the course of the FTX bankruptcy.

The confirmation hearing “is the last chance in a practical sense for changes to be made,” says Yadav. “This is the defining day.”

[karagin22]

Wonder how sooner before he is telling names or we hear about....

[posttexasstressdisorder]

[azspot]

The defense is requesting a 12-hour extended release 20mg dosage of Adderall, for Bankman-Fried. If the requested dose is not provided, or fails to have the desired effect, the defense is asking that the trial be adjourned on Tuesday, October 17, to address this issue.

[keepingitcountryon]

FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried has $250 million bail revoked https://mol.im/a/12397893 via https://dailym.ai/android

[beardedmrbean]

Sam Bankman-Fried, once hailed as a genius in cryptocurrency, was found guilty Thursday of all fraud counts against him, a year after his exchange, FTX, imploded and practically wiped out thousands of customers.

The verdict was reached around 7:40 p.m. ET, about four hours after the federal jury in Manhattan began deliberations.

Bankman-Fried, a co-founder of the digital currency exchange FTX, was charged with seven counts of wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering that swindled customers of FTX and lenders to its affiliated hedge fund, Alameda Research.

Bankman-Fried “perpetrated one of the biggest financial frauds in American history,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said after the verdict.

“The cryptocurrency industry might be new; the players like Bankman-Fried might be new,” Williams said. “But this kind of fraud, this kind of corruption, is as old as time.”

Bankman-Fried faces up to 110 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for March 28.

FTX and Alameda quickly collapsed in November 2022 after some of their financial liabilities were exposed. The fact that Alameda had taken billions of dollars from FTX's customers and that much of Alameda's balance sheet comprised digital currency assets it had created, was central to the case against Bankman-Fried.

Unnerved by disclosures about the firm's financial position, many of FTX’s customers tried to get their money back. That set off the equivalent of a bank run.

The value of Alameda's investments crashed, and FTX couldn’t return much of that money because it had been given to Alameda. Some went to the fund’s lenders, and billions were spent on sponsorships, commercials and loans to top executives. That, too, was a major part of the case against Bankman-Fried.

Many of FTX and Alameda's leaders were also charged after the firms went under. Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, FTX co-founder Gary Wang and FTX head of engineering Nishad Singh all pleaded guilty. They agreed to cooperate with the prosecution and testify against Bankman-Fried in exchange for lighter sentences.

While Bankman-Fried testified in his own defense, it didn’t appear to have the same weight as the insider testimony against him. The prosecution, in its closing argument, said Bankman-Fried had answered “I can’t recall” 140 times while he was being cross-examined.

Bankman-Fried’s lawyers contended that he did not intend to defraud anyone and that the government was looking for someone to blame after the failures of FTX and Alameda.

Bankman-Fried was asked to rise and face the jury as the verdicts were read Thursday, and he did so. He showed little emotion as each verdict was read.

His father slumped in his seat, hunched over as each guilty verdict came in. His mother was visibly emotional.

Mark S. Cohen, Bankman-Fried’s counsel, said in an emailed statement Thursday that Bankman-Fried’s legal team respects the jury’s decision but that they are disappointed.

“Mr. Bankman Fried maintains his innocence and will continue to vigorously fight the charges against him,” he said.

Forbes had once estimated that Bankman-Fried's stakes in Alameda and FTXwere worth $26 billion. He was 29 at the time. But after the bankruptcies, that was gone. Criminal charges followed weeks later.

He also faces another trial on charges of bribing foreign officials and other counts. That trial is scheduled to begin in March, and he has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

On Thursday, Bankman-Fried was found guilty of two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, one count of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud.

Williams, the prosecutor, said Bankman-Fried’s conviction should send a message to others.

“It’s a warning, this case, to every single fraudster out there who thinks that they’re untouchable or that their crimes are too complex for us to catch or that they’re too powerful for us to prosecute or that they could try to talk their way out of it when they get caught,” he said. “Those folks should think again.”

[collapsedsquid]

If only FTX had stayed active a little longer, Trump could have conned him out of $5 billion

[mediamonarchy]

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