Once the pipes of the system are bent for a well-connected family, it goes beyond a financial scandal. It's basically an attack on the rule of law itself.
Interesting to know about the parents’ role and the coordinated rehabilitation campaign. This isn't just about one reckless founder.
He stole billions and invested some of it. He went to jail. Now, 3-1/4 years later, he argues that the investments are now worth enough to repay everything he stole before Nov 11, 2022. But, what he leaves out is that he hasn’t been stealing for the past 3-1/4 years. If he had not been in jail, he just would have kept on stealing and the hole would have been much larger. What he would have done with that money and what his assets would be today, who knows. But it’s illogical to compare the 2025 NAV to the 2022 lliabilities.
A sharp, unflinching breakdown. The way you trace the fraud, the cover‑ups, and the ongoing narrative‑shaping makes the whole ecosystem around FTX impossible to ignore. A necessary piece on accountability.
Excellent reporting. Unfortunately these people a smart and cunning and probably still have huge resources salted away with which to influence. The parents effectively got away with it given Stanford didn't reject them immediately. I suspect, though he may not (notice the word "may") be pardoned and we will likely have to wait till Trump levels office and makes his "thank you" list to be sure, he will not serve out more than 50% of his sentence. Bit like Ghislane Maxwell, .... simply repeat the last sentence replacing "he" and "his" with "she" and "her".
Totally agree with the don’t touch the client money angle, such a foundational tenet in finance, that like many others it has become implicit and therefore forgotten by some in the fintech / crypto community. See Matt Levine re crypto is 250yrs of financial history / mistakes in fast forward.
The clawbacks are also a big deal legally speaking.
Citizens United & Dark money stuff ad nauseam - someone needs to attempt the spider diagram - bring back accountability to politics.
Amazing work Sir! At a minimum, let's hope some of the people at Stanford will come to their senses with regards to the continued employment of Bankman
The political corruption angle here is what really gets overlooked in all the "was FTX solvent" debates. Banking regulations exist partly because when financial institutions fail, it's not just about the direct victims - it's about systemic trust. What made this so much worse was using stolen customer funds to buy political influence, which means our entire regulatory system was potentially compromised by fraud. That's not just wire fraud, that's undermining the very institutions that are supposed to prevent this stuff in the first place.
Once the pipes of the system are bent for a well-connected family, it goes beyond a financial scandal. It's basically an attack on the rule of law itself.
Interesting to know about the parents’ role and the coordinated rehabilitation campaign. This isn't just about one reckless founder.
Once the pipes of the system are bent for a well-connected family, it goes beyond a financial scandal. It's basically an attack on the rule of law itself.
Interesting to know about the parents’ role and the coordinated rehabilitation campaign. This isn't just about one reckless founder.
Appreciate you doing a sidebar from the usual topics here. Drunk driver analogy is perfect.
He stole billions and invested some of it. He went to jail. Now, 3-1/4 years later, he argues that the investments are now worth enough to repay everything he stole before Nov 11, 2022. But, what he leaves out is that he hasn’t been stealing for the past 3-1/4 years. If he had not been in jail, he just would have kept on stealing and the hole would have been much larger. What he would have done with that money and what his assets would be today, who knows. But it’s illogical to compare the 2025 NAV to the 2022 lliabilities.
If there was ever any doubt of a 2 tier justice system in the US your outline of SBF parents dodging any and all accountability puts that to rest.
A sharp, unflinching breakdown. The way you trace the fraud, the cover‑ups, and the ongoing narrative‑shaping makes the whole ecosystem around FTX impossible to ignore. A necessary piece on accountability.
Excellent reporting. Unfortunately these people a smart and cunning and probably still have huge resources salted away with which to influence. The parents effectively got away with it given Stanford didn't reject them immediately. I suspect, though he may not (notice the word "may") be pardoned and we will likely have to wait till Trump levels office and makes his "thank you" list to be sure, he will not serve out more than 50% of his sentence. Bit like Ghislane Maxwell, .... simply repeat the last sentence replacing "he" and "his" with "she" and "her".
Totally agree with the don’t touch the client money angle, such a foundational tenet in finance, that like many others it has become implicit and therefore forgotten by some in the fintech / crypto community. See Matt Levine re crypto is 250yrs of financial history / mistakes in fast forward.
The clawbacks are also a big deal legally speaking.
Citizens United & Dark money stuff ad nauseam - someone needs to attempt the spider diagram - bring back accountability to politics.
This is a great piece of work. Thank you for shedding light on this murky scheme.
Sad to see Stanford looking the other way. Why were the co conspirators not indicted too?
Amazing work Sir! At a minimum, let's hope some of the people at Stanford will come to their senses with regards to the continued employment of Bankman
The political corruption angle here is what really gets overlooked in all the "was FTX solvent" debates. Banking regulations exist partly because when financial institutions fail, it's not just about the direct victims - it's about systemic trust. What made this so much worse was using stolen customer funds to buy political influence, which means our entire regulatory system was potentially compromised by fraud. That's not just wire fraud, that's undermining the very institutions that are supposed to prevent this stuff in the first place.
Proud of supporting your work. 🫡
What a crab basket. At least Kerviek had class.
Do you know how we call 5 billion euros in France ? A Kerviel (new financial unit).
100% agree that he committed fraud and should be behind bars for his full sentence. But those PE investments were incredible and likely not luck.
Outstanding work
Once the pipes of the system are bent for a well-connected family, it goes beyond a financial scandal. It's basically an attack on the rule of law itself.
Interesting to know about the parents’ role and the coordinated rehabilitation campaign. This isn't just about one reckless founder.