Also, I don’t think it makes sense to characterize FTX’s theft of customer funds as “EA defrauding people”. SBF spent around $100 million on charitable causes and billions on VC investments, celebrity promotions, interest payments to crypto lenders, bahamas real estate, and a bunch of other random crap. And Alameda lost a bunch more buying shitcoins that crashed.
To say that EA defrauded people because FTX lost money is to say that of the 8 billion or whatever Alameda was short, the $100 million spent on EA priorities is somehow responsible for the other 7.9 billion. It just doesn’t make any sense.
I think it makes sense to say “EAs defrauded people”. Sam was clearly an EA, and he mostly defrauded people in pursuit of an EA mission, which he thought was best optimized by increasing the valuation of FTX.
Virtually no one in EA would have approved of the manner by which Sam sought to make FTX more valuable. So I guess I don’t really see it as a failure of the EA movement or its morals. If someone is part of a movement and does something that the movement is explicitly against, is it the movements fault?
I also don’t think people put their money in FTX because they wanted to help EA. They mostly put money in FTX because they believed it was a reputable exchange (whether that was because it was endorsed by Tom Brady or Steph Curry or any number of other people) and because they wanted to make money on Crypto.
Virtually no one in EA would have approved of the manner by which Sam sought to make FTX more valuable.
I talked to many people about Sam doing shady things before FTX collapsed. Many people definitely endorsed those things. I don’t think they endorsed stealing customer deposits, though honestly, my guess is a good chunk of people would have endorsed it if that wouldn’t have resulted in everything exploding (and if it was just like a temporary dip into customer deposits).
I don’t understand the second paragraph. Yes, Sam tricked people into depositing money onto his exchange, which he then used to fund a bunch of schemes, mostly motivated via EA and with the leadership team being substantially populated by EA people. Of course the customers didn’t want to help EA, that’s what made it a fraud. My guess is I am misunderstanding something you are trying to communicate.
Well, it’s more “you steal 8 billion dollars and gamble them on all-or-nothing bets where if you win you are planning to spend them on EA”. I think that totally counts as EA.
Like, Sam spent that money in the hopes of growing FTX, and the was building FTX for earning to give reasons.
Also, I don’t think it makes sense to characterize FTX’s theft of customer funds as “EA defrauding people”. SBF spent around $100 million on charitable causes and billions on VC investments, celebrity promotions, interest payments to crypto lenders, bahamas real estate, and a bunch of other random crap. And Alameda lost a bunch more buying shitcoins that crashed.
To say that EA defrauded people because FTX lost money is to say that of the 8 billion or whatever Alameda was short, the $100 million spent on EA priorities is somehow responsible for the other 7.9 billion. It just doesn’t make any sense.
I think it makes sense to say “EAs defrauded people”. Sam was clearly an EA, and he mostly defrauded people in pursuit of an EA mission, which he thought was best optimized by increasing the valuation of FTX.
Virtually no one in EA would have approved of the manner by which Sam sought to make FTX more valuable. So I guess I don’t really see it as a failure of the EA movement or its morals. If someone is part of a movement and does something that the movement is explicitly against, is it the movements fault?
I also don’t think people put their money in FTX because they wanted to help EA. They mostly put money in FTX because they believed it was a reputable exchange (whether that was because it was endorsed by Tom Brady or Steph Curry or any number of other people) and because they wanted to make money on Crypto.
I talked to many people about Sam doing shady things before FTX collapsed. Many people definitely endorsed those things. I don’t think they endorsed stealing customer deposits, though honestly, my guess is a good chunk of people would have endorsed it if that wouldn’t have resulted in everything exploding (and if it was just like a temporary dip into customer deposits).
I don’t understand the second paragraph. Yes, Sam tricked people into depositing money onto his exchange, which he then used to fund a bunch of schemes, mostly motivated via EA and with the leadership team being substantially populated by EA people. Of course the customers didn’t want to help EA, that’s what made it a fraud. My guess is I am misunderstanding something you are trying to communicate.
A simpler way to phrase my question is “If you steal 8 billion and spend 7.9 billion on non-EA things, did you really do it for EA?”
Well, it’s more “you steal 8 billion dollars and gamble them on all-or-nothing bets where if you win you are planning to spend them on EA”. I think that totally counts as EA.
Like, Sam spent that money in the hopes of growing FTX, and the was building FTX for earning to give reasons.