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The story of FTX's downfall is complicated, convoluted, and unbelievably stupid. And the only thing dumber than the people who fell for a 27-year-old tech bro’s promise of wealth and unimaginable riches has been the corporate press’s coverage of the crypto exchange’s implosion. The short of it is this: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is almost certainly a conman and a thief. He opened a “bank” (a crypto exchange), accepted deposits of real money, helped himself to customers' deposits without their knowledge, and then distributed mountains of cash to friends and, more importantly, Democratic coffers. Indeed, Bankman-Fried ranked as the Democratic...

According to new FEC documents, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell grabbed large sums of money from FTX and quietly pocketed it. The documents show McConnell’s Senate Leadership Fund receiving $2,500,000 from someone at FTX, the crypto company that collapsed last week. Thelibertydaily.com reports: The money goes from taxpayers, is sent as “aid” to Ukraine, which gives a good chunk of the laundered money to FTX, which contributes to the Uniparty Swamp. This prompts the Uniparty Swamp to repeat the process, and as we’ve seen over the past several months, it’s working wonders. Corporate media barely reports on all the money...

Why do people keep falling for it? ... Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, which was, until last week, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, is today facing prison time for allegedly defrauding his customers of billions of dollars. Bankman-Fried, 30, donated to many progressive causes allied with the “effective altruism movement,” including pandemic prevention and response. He spoke at, and presumably donated to, the World Economic Forum’s Davos conference last May and the Clinton Foundation’s Clinton Global Initiative in September. Bankman-Fried is similar to Bernie Madoff in that both men used philanthropic giving, and the veneer of humility, to create...

Disgraced Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison penned graphic blog posts about polyamory and masochism before the implosion of her FTX-linked cryptocurrency hedge fund. Ellison — who dated FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried — wrote candidly about her “‘foray into poly” on her now-deleted Tumblr account back in February 2020, according to the Daily Mail. The post — along with a series of other sexualized entries — was unearthed by the tabloid just days after CoinDesk claimed Ellison, 28, and Bankman-Fried, 30, were part of a 10-person “cabal of roommates” that managed operations for FTX and Alameda from a luxury penthouse in...

The DOJ had Bankman-Fried arrested, but the SEC release spills the beans. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested on the evening of Monday, December 12, by Bahamian authorities at the request of the US government. On Tuesday, December 13, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged him with violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Perhaps the most interesting item in the SEC announcement is that the Biden administration is, for the first, time revealing Bankman-Fried used embezzled funds to make political donations. He has been called the Democrats’ second biggest...

A grand jury indictment against Sam Bankman-Fried was unsealed Tuesday. Prosecutors in New York accused him of mixing the coffers of FTX and Alameda Research. The 8 criminal charges against him include wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to defraud the US and violate the campaign finance laws. US federal prosecutors in New York have formally charged former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried with 8 criminal charges, including fraud for allegedly using FTX funds to support the endeavors of his crypto hedge fund Alameda Research.

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the former CEO of failed cryptocurrency firm FTX with orchestrating a scheme to defraud investors. An SEC complaint filed Tuesday alleges that Sam Bankman-Fried raised more than $1.8 billion from equity investors since May 2019 by promoting FTX as a safe, responsible platform for trading crypto assets. The civil complaint says Bankman-Fried diverted customer funds to Alameda Research LLC, his privately-held crypto fund, without telling them. The complaint also says Bankman-Fried commingled FTX customers’ funds at Alameda to make undisclosed venture investments, lavish real estate purchases, and large...

The arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried yesterday was sudden and unexpected in light of Bankman-Fried’s plan to testify before Congress. As a criminal defense attorney, my reaction to the arrest last night remains unchanged: this is the first time that I can recall where prosecutors moved aggressively to stop a defendant from making self-incriminating statements. His testimony would have been entirely admissible and likely devastating at trial. I previously wrote how Bankman-Fried was doing harm to his case by speaking in the media and to Congress. So why would the Justice Department move to stop the self-inflicted damage? You have a...

With just weeks left in his final term, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey played a key role in blocking sweeping anti-money laundering legislation that was created to choke off the billions of dirty dollars pouring into the United States from shady operators, including drug traffickers, oligarchs and corrupt foreign leaders. The outgoing Pennsylvania Republican pushed last week to halt the reforms from being included in the nation’s annual defense spending bill in a blow to advocates who had gained bipartisan support to wage the most comprehensive crackdown on money laundering in a generation. Citing the flow of suspicious money into the...

Bahamian authorities have arrested Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, after he was indicted on criminal charges. News of Bankman-Fried's cuffing arrived in a tweet from the Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, at around 7:00PM local time on Monday night. ... No information has emerged regarding the charges Bankman-Fried will face, but it appears he will front a US court to defend them. ...

Upon hearing that Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas today, I realized that this man has too much on too many people (Waters, McConnell, ALL sorts of people). There is no way they permit him to live. So, being as I like to be ahead of the curve, let me state: 𝗦𝗔𝗠 𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗞𝗠𝗔𝗡-𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗗 𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗧 𝗦𝗨𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗧 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗛!

'European democracy is under attack': Roberta Metsola addresses EU Parliament corruption scandal By Euronews • Updated: 13/12/2022 - 11:31 Roberta Metsola address the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg, France. Roberta Metsola address the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg, France. - Copyright Philippe BUISSIN/ European Union 2022 - Source : EP Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Parliament, warned on Monday that there would be "no impunity" for those found guilty of corruption as she addressed what is perhaps the gravest graft scandal to hit the hemicycle in recent years. "Make no mistake, the European Parliament, dear colleague, is under...

Today on the CNBC program "Squalkbox", Representative Patrick McHenry, R NC, was interviewed on the FTX debacle. Rep. McHenry is chairman was recently selected as Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. He was asked be Andrew Ross Sorkin "what should politicians do with the contributions received from Sam Bankman Fried"? Representative McHenry's reply: "that is up to those politicians".

CLAIM: President Joe Biden signed an executive order in March 2022 that will introduce a cashless society, make paper money worthless, give government new power to inhibit purchases and create a social credit score system like the one in China, which would punish people financially for certain behaviors. AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The executive order doesn’t do any of these things. It urged Federal Reserve to explore whether central bank should create its own digital currency and directed Treasury Department and other federal agencies to study the impact of cryptocurrency on financial stability and national security. THE FACTS: In March, Biden...

First, Sam Bankman-Fried agreed to testify in the House Financial Services Committee meeting on December 13, 2021. Then Bankman-Fried said he would testify remotely. Then ,,, he was arrested by the Bahama’s police. How convenient! Does this mean that SBF will testify from behind closed doors? According to Reuters, FTX’s Bankman-Fried says he will testify remotely at congressional hearing. WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) – Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, on Monday said he would testify remotely at Tuesday’s U.S. House Financial Services Committee hearing to examine the collapse of the company. FTX filed...

Bahamian authorities have arrested Sam Bankman-Fried after U.S. law enforcement filed charges against the former crypto billionaire. Bahamas Attorney General Ryan Pinder said that the United States had filed unspecified criminal charges against Bankman-Fried and was "likely to request his extradition." In a statement, Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis said "The Bahamas and the United States have a shared interest in holding accountable all individuals associated with FTX who may have betrayed the public trust and broken the law. While the United States is pursuing criminal charges against SBF individually, The Bahamas will continue its own regulatory and criminal investigations...

Tonight in the Balkans tensions high where Serbs have set up barricades in northern Kosovo... An axe attack tonight in France... In the Australian state of Queensland six killed including two police officers in a siege... Police in the Bahamas arresting Sam Bankman-Fried... In Germany the "Walk" protests (Spaziergang) continue against government COVID, Economic and Russia policies... In Israel today opposition forces fiercely opposing the attempt of Benjamin Netanyahu's majority in Parliament to name a new Speaker... Meanwhile the Religious Zionist parliament member and National Security Minister Designate Itamar Ben-Gvir is demanding a key post on a committee that advances...

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has revealed plans to start a new business venture just weeks after his cryptocurrency exchange spectacularly collapsed. In an interview with the BBC published on Saturday, the 30-year-old—who is facing a number of civil lawsuits brought against both him and his failed company—said he would “give anything” to be able to set up a new business in an effort to pay back investors. “I would give anything to be able to do that. And I’m going to try if I can,” Bankman-Fried said when asked if he planned to launch a new company to recoup the...

Ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried says he will testify remotely before House committeeFormer crypto exchange leader says he has no plans to appear before the Senate this week "Sam Bankman-Fried says he will appear before a House Financial Services Committee hearing set for Tuesday, but the former FTX CEO will not be attending in person.""I'm quite overbooked and was not planning to be testifying until, like, very recently," Bankman-Fried explained, adding that he did not want to leave the Bahamas "from a security standpoint" because currently "the paparazzi effect is quite large" when he tries to venture out. When asked whether...

n 1636, according to an 1841 account by Scottish author Charles MacKay, the entirety of Dutch society went crazy over exotic tulips. As Mackay wrote in his wildly popular, Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, as prices rose, people got swept up in a speculative fever, spending a year’s salary on rare bulbs in hopes of reselling them for a profit. Mackay dubbed the phenomenon “The Tulipomania.”