Before it all came crumbling down, FTX had some eye-opening connections to strong entities and individuals all across the world.
FTX’s remarkable fall
Within a few days, FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, sometimes known as “SBF” in the business, lost virtually all of his $16 billion fortune in what Bloomberg dubbed “one of history’s greatest-ever destructions of wealth.”
On Friday, the Bahamas-based FTX filed for bankruptcy after $473 million of its cash were stolen in a bitcoin exchange attack. Customers scrambled to withdraw their money, but it was too late.
According to Reuters, between $1 billion and $2 billion in client assets were stolen from the FTX bitcoin exchange. According to the site, FTX surreptitiously channeled $10 billion in consumer cash into his trading firm, Alameda Research. SBF’s accused girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, operated the sister trade firm.
According to the New York Times, “Despite raising $2 billion, he retained control of the corporation. There were no investors on FTX’s board of directors, which consisted of Mr. Bankman-Fried, an FTX employee, and a lawyer.”
Sam Bankman-Fried contributes millions of dollars to the Democratic Party.
Bankman-Fried was a key Democratic Party financier prior to the bankruptcy of his bitcoin exchange.
According to MarketWatch, During his 2020 presidential campaign, SBF gave more than $5 million to Joe Biden and organisations supporting him. He cited Biden’s “generic stability and decision-making process as motivation.”
According to OpenSecrets, Bankman-Fried donated over $37 million to Democrats during the 2021-2022 election cycle. SBF was the Democrats’ second-largest individual donor, after only George Soros’ $128 million.
In May, Bankman-Fried stated that he anticipated to contribute “north of $100 million” to Democrats in the 2024 presidential election, but promised a “soft cap” of $1 billion in political expenditure if former Pres. Donald Trump ran again.
The FTX link to the Ukrainian government and the WEF
Surprisingly, the Ukrainian government created a bitcoin contribution platform funded by FTX in March.
In March, CoinDesk stated, “‘Aid for Ukraine,’ which is supported by cryptocurrency exchange FTX, staking the platform Everstake, and Ukraine’s exchange called Kuna, would route donated bitcoin to the National Bank of Ukraine, according to Everstake’s Leader of Growth Vlad Likhuta. The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine is also participating.”
According to an Everstake news release, “Aid For Ukraine works with the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which transforms cryptocurrency donations into cash and distributes them to the National Bank of Ukraine. This is the first time a cryptocurrency exchange has worked directly with a public financial organization to establish a channel for crypto contributions. FTX already converted $1 million in SOL and delivered it to the National Bank of Ukraine earlier this month.”
At the time, Bankman-Fried stated:
“When the war in Ukraine began, FTX felt compelled to support in any way it could. We have offered the National Bank of Ukraine the opportunity to distribute relief and resources to those in need by collaborating with the Ministry of Digital Transformation to set up payment rails and allow the conversion of crypto contributions into fiat cash. We are happy for the chance to collaborate with Sergey and the Everstake team as they continue to support Ukrainians affected by the conflict.”
The World Economic Forum (WEF) recognizes FTX as a partner and links to the exchange’s website.
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