{"id":2061536,"date":"2023-10-10T03:14:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-10T07:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michael-lewis-sam-bankman-fried-book-certifies-the-crypto-kings-arrogance\/"},"modified":"2023-10-10T03:18:51","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T07:18:51","slug":"michael-lewis-sam-bankman-fried-book-certifies-the-crypto-kings-arrogance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michael-lewis-sam-bankman-fried-book-certifies-the-crypto-kings-arrogance\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Lewis&#8217; book on Sam Bankman-Fried confirms his crypto king&#8217;s arrogance."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmichael-lewis-sam-bankman-fried-book-certifies-the-crypto-kings-arrogance%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2061536&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>When Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) needed a Bahamas compound,\u200d he hired Alfia White and Ian Rosenfield. \u2063Neither had ever designed an office building, but they were given a budget\u2064 of \u200c$250-300 million and the direction: \u201cYou\u2019re the architects. I \u200ddon\u2019t have any idea.\u201d Rosenfield was actually an old classmate of SBF\u2019s. He was surprised to learn the kid who in high school \u200dhad almost no friends, used\u2063 a rolling backpack, and lived\u2062 for math camp had become one of the richest people in the world.\u200b When Bankman-Fried arrived for the groundbreaking ceremony with cargo shorts, a wrinkled T-shirt, and \u2062droopy white socks, Rosenfield realized, \u201cSame guy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Michael Lewis\u2019 latest book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Going-Infinite-Rise-Fall-Tycoon\/dp\/1324074337\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cGoing Infinite,\u201d<\/a> contains all sorts of these behind-the-scenes moments that show\u200c how a kid went from nothing \u200bto billionaire and back again without ever really growing up. Lewis hopes his book, which came out the same day Sam Bankman-Fried\u2019s trial began, will tell a better story than the one the lawyers \u200dtell in the courtroom. SBF stands accused of seven counts of fraud and\u200b conspiracy in connection with the collapse\u2062 of his crypto exchange\u2063 FTX, with prosecutors alleging he stole billions from FTX customers and used them for personal reasons and to cover losses at his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1919174445\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3af5054fdd53f6508e192d1a4b1e3315 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3af5054fdd53f6508e192d1a4b1e3315\"><\/div>\n<p>His defense team, and Michael \u2064Lewis to some extent, present SBF as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/10\/04\/1203691900\/sbf-trial-sam-bankman-fried-lawyers-opening-statements\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a math nerd who got in over his\u2062 head<\/a>. FTX\u200c was growing at an unimaginable pace, and he couldn\u2019t keep up. Of course, there\u2019s SBF\u2019s profligate spending to explain: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-political-donations-2022\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$40 million<\/a> in the 2022 election cycle and a <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/12\/01\/sam-bankman-fried-parents-16-4m-bahamas-home-meant-for-ftx-staff\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$16.4 million Bahamas mansion<\/a> for his parents, to name a couple. And there\u2019s his fellow \u2064executives Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison \u2064who have already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/story\/ftx-co-founder-gary-wang-ex-alameda-ceo-caroline-ellison-plead-guilty-to-federal-charges-11671676024?reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pled guilty<\/a> \u2063 and will likely be key witnesses in his trial. So while Lewis\u2019\u2063 book is entertaining and avoids an outright pronouncement of guilt, SBF\u2019s pattern of reckless\u2062 behavior makes his defense look dubious.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>From Phony Altruist to Undisputed Leader<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In the early days \u200cof Alameda Research,\u200b the first crypto company SBF founded, they set up a complex crypto program\u200d that made a quarter of\u200d a million trades a day. It moved money between Ripple and\u2062 Bitcoin \u200band the U.S. and South Korea to exploit \u2064a price discrepancy between the Korean\u200c and American crypto exchanges. At one point, $4 million \u200dworth of Ripple went missing. Shortly after, the gaps between the Asian and U.S. exchanges closed, leading to losses of \u200chalf a million dollars a day. SBF was sanguine, but his fellow managers panicked.<\/p>\n<p>They tried to force him\u2062 out, arguing that he\u200d had recruited Effective Altruists to his new firm \u2063but ended up wasting money and tarnishing the EA legacy. Since Effective Altruists sought to make money\u200b in order\u200b to give it\u200c away, financial losses \u2064had an\u2063 added moral dimension. Eventually, his entire\u200c management team and half his employees walked out the door with \u2063severance between $1 \u2062million \u200band $2 million. Shortly after, he \u200dfound the missing coins.<\/p>\n<p>A bug in \u2062the system had left the coins piling up in an exchange without any identification. When Bankman-Fried called the exchange to explain who the coins belonged to, \u2062he was transferred a few times\u200d before\u200c a voice came on, \u201cAre you the f-cker who sent us like twenty million Ripple tokens? How the f-ck are you only calling\u2063 us now?\u201d And suddenly, Sam\u2062 went from a phony effective altruist to a leader deserving \u2063of absolute trust, even when his \u2064methods seem irresponsible.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-852d1299eba3897956c5b4787d145b96 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-852d1299eba3897956c5b4787d145b96\"><\/div>\n<p>SBF treated everything as a math\u2064 problem, from trades, to people, to his career. Thus, he concluded: \u201cFault is just a construct of human society,\u201d people are a \u201cprobability distribution of their future behavior,\u201d \u200band his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michael-lewis-sam-bankman-fried-book-certifies-the-crypto-kings-arrogance\/\" title=\"Michael Lewis' book on Sam Bankman-Fried confirms his crypto king's arrogance.\">high-paying\u200c banking job<\/a> was likely not his maximal impact job since it was just his first\u200b one out of college. So he quit without any plan.<\/p>\n<p>His social skills bordered on \u2063sociopathic. He seldom feels happiness or empathy, so he taught himself to smile, forcing his mouth and eyes to move in ways \u2063they didn\u2019t naturally. Previously coming\u2064 across as callous, he began saying, \u201cYuuuuppp!\u201d to almost anything someone said, even when\u200b he usually found it idiotic. His assessment on the trade-off of faking niceness: \u201cIt \u2064comes\u2062 with a cost, but \u2062it\u2019s on balance worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>A Kid Over His Skis<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Although FTX <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/finance\/regulation\/sam-bankman-fried-trial-ftx-explained-17aaa89f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">couldn\u2019t \u200csurvive<\/a> a sudden run, Lewis argues that\u2019s \u2062because Alameda Research had various assets tied up in illiquid \u200ccrypto investments and FTT tokens, and Binance\u2019s\u200c liquidation of their FTT store led to a precipitous drop\u200c in the token\u2019s value. SBF\u2019s less the next Bernie \u200dMadoff than an undisciplined kid \u2064who got over his skis. To that point, it\u2019s worth noting that despite his fabulous wealth, he didn\u2019t really spend it on himself.<\/p>\n<p>His uniform of cargo shorts, a T-shirt, New Balance sneakers, and oversized white socks was only disrupted for trips to Washington, \u2063D.C.\u200c Even then, he prepared for a dinner meeting with Sen. Mitch McConnell by bringing a \u2062balled-up, wrinkled \u200bsuit and explaining to Lewis: \u201cYou need to call him \u2018Leader\u2019 or \u2018Leader McConnell\u2019 or \u2018Mister Leader.\u2019 I rehearsed\u2062 it to\u200d make sure I didn\u2019t f-ck it up.\u200c Especially since it\u2019s so tempting to say, \u2064\u2018Dear Leader.\u2019\u201d As he talked, he \u201ctossed popcorn in his mouth, in a herky-jerky motion that resembled a clumsy lay-up. He was shooting around 60 percent, and the popcorn was flying everywhere.\u201d This combination of ludicrous wealth and lack of sophistication went from his draw to his \u200bAchilles heel.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-956d38f7f448bcfaf03d8871dba9b3c9 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-956d38f7f448bcfaf03d8871dba9b3c9\"><\/div>\n<p>When the money was flowing, everyone wanted a piece of the most openhanded billionaire of all time. His sponsorships were laughably overpriced. For 20 hours of Tom Brady\u2019s time over three years, he paid $55 \u200cmillion. For \u2062a 60-second <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wUlE02RU1AE&#038;ab_channel=AnthonyKalamut\">Super Bowl spot<\/a>, he paid Larry David $10 million, and\u2063 he \u2062budgeted $25 \u200bmillion \u200bfor the ad itself. He signed Kevin O\u2019Leary to a $15.7 \u2062million deal for \u200d\u201ctwenty service hours, twenty social posts, one virtual lunch and fifty autographs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This\u2064 sort of spending might seem at odds with his EA principles.\u2064 Shouldn\u2019t he scrupulously penny-pinch since every dollar that doesn\u2019t go\u200d to Tom Brady could go to a needy child? Lewis is notably quiet on this obvious lapse in SBF\u2019s principles: He is reckless with money when wisely donating it \u200bis his sole ethical imperative.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/future-perfect\/23462333\/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-cryptocurrency-effective-altruism-crypto-bahamas-philanthropy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">interview<\/a> with Vox during his house arrest,\u200c SBF was asked whether his EA was a front since he seemed to really view life as more a game of winners and \u200blosers rather than right and wrong. With his\u200c trademark\u2063 bluntness, Bankman-Fried DM\u2019d back, \u201cya hehe \u200cI had to\u200b be. It\u2019s\u2064 what reputations are made of, to some extent. I feel bad for those who get f-cked by it. By this dumb game we \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/shameless-media-just-cant-quit-love-affair-with-crypto-creep-sbf\/\" title=\"Shameless Media Just Can\u2019t Quit Love Affair With Crypto Creep SBF\">woke westerners play<\/a> where\u200b we say\u200b all \u2064the\u200d right shibboleths and so\u2062 everyone likes us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bankman-Fried hit all the\u2062 marks: Never Trumper, vegan, rationalist EA poster boy, and he \u2063took in credulous elites.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>No Internal Controls<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>He was surrounded by adoring followers and \u200cventure capitalists. One notable holdout was Elon \u200cMusk. When SBF \u200bcalled Musk regarding a Twitter\u200c deal, Musk \u200dtold his biographer Walter\u2064 Isaacson, \u201cMy bullsh-t detector went\u200b off like red alert on a Geiger counter. He \u2063was talking \u200dlike he was \u200bon speed or Adderall, a mile a minute. \u200dI thought he was supposed to be asking me\u200b questions about the deal, but he kept\u200d telling me the things he was doing.\u201d The deal fell apart.<\/p>\n<p>Oddly, Elon Musk\u200b is one of the few adults you meet in the book. Most others, as one \u200cFTX employee put it, didn\u2019t ask questions because \u201cSam\u2019s oddness mixed with just how smart he was\u2062 allowed you to wave \u2063away a lot of the concerns.\u201d So when he was pitching Sequoia Capital\u2063 on investing in FTX and playing \u201cLeague of Legends\u201d throughout the meeting, rather than criticize\u2062 the rudeness and absurdity of \u200chis gaming,\u200d Sequoia <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221027180943\/https:\/www.sequoiacap.com\/article\/sam-bankman-fried-spotlight\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">touted<\/a> it in their\u200c profile \u200dof him. He had \u2062a board of directors, technically, but in\u2063 his words, it was \u201csomething \u2063with three people on it\u201d whose names he couldn\u2019t remember, whose main job is \u201cDocuSigning at three a.m.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sam Bankman-Fried stood for \u200ccrypto\u2019s burgeoning respectability, the triumph of rationalism, and a disruptor that some \u2062speculated might become the first trillionaire. His intelligence, oddness, \u200band wealth made him\u200d into something of a god, with no need for oversight\u2062 or\u200c adults. To look at the wreckage \u2064FTX \u200dwrought and now be told its\u2064 wunderkind founder simply \u201cgot in over\u200b his head,\u201d that\u2019s a tall tale, even\u200b for Michael Lewis.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What were some of the strategic partnerships\u2062 and acquisitions that FTX, \u2064the cryptocurrency exchange established \u200dby\u2063 SBF, made to expand its reach\u2063 and influence in the market?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Nd $3 \u2064million \u200beach. \u200cThis was \u2064just the first\u200d sign\u2064 of SBF&#8217;s ability\u2064 to inspire loyalty and \u200dtrust.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the setback, SBF quickly\u2064 rose \u2063to prominence in the crypto world. \u2062He established FTX, a cryptocurrency \u2064exchange that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/linkedin-allows-recruiters-to-filter-job-candidates-by-race\/\" title=\"LinkedIn enables hiring managers to screen applicants based on race.\">quickly gained popularity<\/a> among traders. Known \u200bfor its innovative features and user-friendly \u2062interface,\u2064 FTX attracted a large user base and became one\u200b of\u2064 the leading exchanges in the industry.<\/p>\n<p>But SBF&#8217;s success wasn&#8217;t\u200b solely based on his technical knowledge and entrepreneurial skills. He also mastered the art of \u200cstrategic partnerships and acquisitions. \u200cFTX acquired popular brands like Blockfolio and LedgerX, expanding its reach and \u200cinfluence in\u200d the market. \u2064SBF&#8217;s ability to identify opportunities and execute successful\u200b deals was recognized and admired by many.<\/p>\n<p>However, as Lewis&#8217; book reveals, SBF&#8217;s rise to power was \u200bnot without\u2064 controversy. The allegations of fraud and conspiracy surrounding FTX\u200b have \u2063cast a shadow\u200c over\u2064 his achievements. The prosecution argues that SBF\u200d knowingly \u200bmanipulated\u2063 the market and misused customer funds for personal gain. The guilty pleas of his \u2062former colleagues further fuel suspicions of his involvement\u200b in unethical practices.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these claims, SBF&#8217;s defense \u200bteam maintains\u2064 that he was simply overwhelmed by the rapid growth and complexity of FTX. They argue that his spending habits and eccentric behavior are reflective of a distracted genius rather than a criminal mastermind. Lewis&#8217; book portrays\u2064 SBF as a brilliant \u200dyet flawed \u200dindividual who struggled to balance his \u200cpersonal ambitions with the responsibilities of running \u200da successful\u200c business.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of the outcome of the trial, SBF&#8217;s story raises important questions about the\u200c role\u2062 of accountability \u2063and ethics in the crypto industry. As cryptocurrencies continue to gain mainstream adoption, it is crucial for regulators and \u2064investors to \u2062ensure transparency and integrity in the\u200b market. The case of \u2064SBF serves as a reminder that even the most \u200dsuccessful and celebrated figures\u200c can \u2063fall from grace, highlighting \u200dthe need for robust oversight and regulation.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis&#8217; book\u200c offers a \u200bcaptivating insight into the world of crypto and the rise and fall of a prominent figure. Whether SBF is ultimately found guilty or acquitted, his story will undoubtedly have a \u200clasting impact on the industry \u2064and serve as a cautionary tale for aspiring entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n<p>As \u200cfor SBF\u200b himself, only time will tell whether he\u2062 will be remembered\u200d as a visionary pioneer or a \u200ccautionary example of the pitfalls of unchecked power and \u2062ambition.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1744678324\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-5\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3af5054fdd53f6508e192d1a4b1e3315 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3af5054fdd53f6508e192d1a4b1e3315\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-28ee22e4fdf4-b85cc267ab8643a473receipts\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-254f0c0402d9e901-343<byteOffset>emptyreservedMarqueead&#8221; style=&#8221;margin-top:auto<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>that SBF entrusted him and Alfia White, both inexperienced in office building design, with a $250-300 million budget to create a Bahamas compound. SBF admitted, &#8220;You&#8217;re the architects. I don&#8217;t have any idea.&#8221; Interestingly, Rosenfield was SBF&#8217;s former classmate, making his selection even more unexpected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1418,"featured_media":2061537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2061536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2061536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2061536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2061536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2061537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2061536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2061536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2061536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}