From billions of mysterious Tethers to the apparent identity theft of Thai sex workers, many questions remain about what happened at Bankman-Fried's crypto empire.
This excellent piece begs the question: whose job is it to turn over these unturned stones? Criminal investigations should continue, of course, but their confidential nature means we're unlikely to know things unless charges are filed.
After the the Wall Street Crash of 1929, a Senate investigation led to the creation of the Pecora Commission (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecora_Commission) whose investigation led to the creation of the SEC. This all calls out for an independent group, authorized by Congress, with subpoena power, to unravel the remaining questions.
We all understand., I think, that crypto hasn't really been consigned to its grave quite yet and a failure to get to the heart of the grift will just facilitate its return.
very nice list! the one i am curious about that wasn't on your list is the hack that happened in the chaos of the crash. while there was recent activity, the perp is still out there and trying to finish the task:
Yes, rules of evidence etc limit what can be covered in a trial. I think we’ve seen too many movies/tv shows with Perry Mason moments and so forget that real trials never tell the whole story. The one time I was on a federal jury we were puzzled by large gaps in the narrative--we wanted to know more but we weren’t allowed to. We had to work with what we were given.
Because of the interest in this case, maybe some of these mysteries can be solved, but I suspect some will not be--the people involved may have no reason to explain or have every reason to stay silent to avoid more investigations and prosecutions.
Also--interesting that the jury has remained silent. Perhaps they agreed as a group not to speak. Perhaps because the verdict was not controversial, they felt no need to speak!
This is a beautiful summary of the unknowns still left after FTX collapse.
The only thing I've seen are reports on how his political donations we're ineffective. Which could be true or damage control by people who receive large donations from him.
But anyway a good summary peice that can get referenced back to.
Of the many unanswered questions, I will watch for more information about the tiny rural bank: "But the questions of how the Bahamas-based Jean Chalopin, Deltec, and Alameda Research managed to gain control of a US bank and achieve Federal Reserve approval remain open, as does the question of what they hoped to achieve with it under their control." The Protos article was interesting but as you say, the questions linger.
About the parents I will say if they were materially involved in the crimes related to 'one of the largest financial fraud cases in history', there should in my opinion be no different approach to them as to Bernie Madoff, who was 70 years old when, in contrast to SBF, he had at least the decency to plead guilty to a spree of 11 federal felonies.
Do you consider yourself a journalist at this point? I do! But maybe you just don't put much stock (tokenized of course) in what titles define your work.
It seems like all the political recipients of "shady" FTX/Alameda funding were Democrats -- do we know of any Republicans similarly implicated? It seems rare that political funding is quite that one-sided...
The stones left unturned in the Sam Bankman-Fried trial
This excellent piece begs the question: whose job is it to turn over these unturned stones? Criminal investigations should continue, of course, but their confidential nature means we're unlikely to know things unless charges are filed.
After the the Wall Street Crash of 1929, a Senate investigation led to the creation of the Pecora Commission (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecora_Commission) whose investigation led to the creation of the SEC. This all calls out for an independent group, authorized by Congress, with subpoena power, to unravel the remaining questions.
We all understand., I think, that crypto hasn't really been consigned to its grave quite yet and a failure to get to the heart of the grift will just facilitate its return.
Excellent round-up. For more details of what was going on at Tether, I recommend David Rosenthal's piece today: https://blog.dshr.org/2023/11/alamedas-on-ramp.html
very nice list! the one i am curious about that wasn't on your list is the hack that happened in the chaos of the crash. while there was recent activity, the perp is still out there and trying to finish the task:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/12/cybersecurity-202-curious-case-ftx-hacker-moving-funds-during-bankman-fried-trial/
Yes, rules of evidence etc limit what can be covered in a trial. I think we’ve seen too many movies/tv shows with Perry Mason moments and so forget that real trials never tell the whole story. The one time I was on a federal jury we were puzzled by large gaps in the narrative--we wanted to know more but we weren’t allowed to. We had to work with what we were given.
Because of the interest in this case, maybe some of these mysteries can be solved, but I suspect some will not be--the people involved may have no reason to explain or have every reason to stay silent to avoid more investigations and prosecutions.
Also--interesting that the jury has remained silent. Perhaps they agreed as a group not to speak. Perhaps because the verdict was not controversial, they felt no need to speak!
This is a beautiful summary of the unknowns still left after FTX collapse.
The only thing I've seen are reports on how his political donations we're ineffective. Which could be true or damage control by people who receive large donations from him.
But anyway a good summary peice that can get referenced back to.
Of the many unanswered questions, I will watch for more information about the tiny rural bank: "But the questions of how the Bahamas-based Jean Chalopin, Deltec, and Alameda Research managed to gain control of a US bank and achieve Federal Reserve approval remain open, as does the question of what they hoped to achieve with it under their control." The Protos article was interesting but as you say, the questions linger.
Thank you.
Further reading: Protos.
I am gonna need more popcorn...
I think the perfect end would be for SBF to ask prosecutors to lop 5 or 10 years off his sentence to testify against his parents.
About the parents I will say if they were materially involved in the crimes related to 'one of the largest financial fraud cases in history', there should in my opinion be no different approach to them as to Bernie Madoff, who was 70 years old when, in contrast to SBF, he had at least the decency to plead guilty to a spree of 11 federal felonies.
Excellent!
Do you consider yourself a journalist at this point? I do! But maybe you just don't put much stock (tokenized of course) in what titles define your work.
It seems like all the political recipients of "shady" FTX/Alameda funding were Democrats -- do we know of any Republicans similarly implicated? It seems rare that political funding is quite that one-sided...