Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson compared former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried to notorious American fraudster Bernie Madoff and accused the media of giving the former FTX CEO a “free pass.”
Bernard Lawrence Madoff was the mastermind of the largest known Ponzi scheme in history, estimated to be worth $64.8 billion. Madoff served as chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange for a time.
Hoskinson said that despite public evidence that SBF and FTX were involved in misappropriating and stealing customer funds, the media focus on SBF showed how corrupt the entire system had become.
On October 9, Hoskinson slammed the media frenzy surrounding SBF following the collapse of FTX in an X (formerly Twitter) post. Hoskinson first named author Michael Lewis, whose book about SBF received widespread media attention in the days before the former FTX CEO’s trial, calling it an “apology tour.”
The Cardano founder noted that there appears to be “a group of people who want a public acquittal” for SBF. Add to:
“We’ve seen the New York Times tiptoeing around and now a book of apology tours. To me, it’s extraordinary that our generation’s Bernie Madoff gets a free pass from the media.” Ordinary things. It really shows you how corrupt things have become, especially if you have the right friends.”
FTX was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange when it crashed in November 2022 and had raised millions of dollars in funding during the first quarter. SBF attributed the decline at the time to external market conditions and a liquidity crunch. However, as multiple U.S. law enforcement agencies begin investigating failed cryptocurrency exchanges, they reflect a very different picture.
As a result of the investigation, Bankman-Fried was charged with seven counts of conspiracy and fraud related to the collapse of FTX, to which he pleaded not guilty. Judge Lewis Kaplan is hearing the case.
The jury trial began last week. Testimony in the first week of the trial revealed that Alameda Research, a trading company established by SBF before founding the FTX exchange, had a secret backdoor in FTX that was used to transfer client funds as early as 2019.
related: Sam Bankman-Freed on trial: Week under review
New information emerging in Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial shows he spent millions of dollars building his image through aggressive public relations spending. The former CEO reportedly paid millions of dollars to the likes of Tom Brady and businessman Kevin O’Leary to buy days of their time.
“He didn’t buy a yacht, did he?”
Things SBF did buy:
$100 million stadium naming rights
$25 million worth of Super Bowl ads
Tom Brady’s time is worth $55 million
$10M for Larry David’s time
$300 million in luxury real estate
$80 million to politicians
$30 million to buy a private jet— His Excellency Cas Piancey (@CasPiancey) October 6, 2023
Other extravagances include private jets, Super Bowl ads and paid politicians. An excerpt from Lewis’ book says the SBF is considering paying Donald Trump $5 billion to stop running for office.
The first week of the trial began on October 3 and focused on the disappearance of $8 billion in FTX customer funds. In addition to Gary Wang’s testimony, both the prosecution and defense presented their respective arguments in the first week, as well as Adam Yedidia’s testimony on October 5.
Cointelegraph reporters are watching the trial of former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried live in New York. As the saga unfolds, check here for the latest updates.
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