It's fucking wild that this guy keeps talking, because either we're watching this guy continue to incriminate himself in ways that are going to really hurt him a court of law, or he's actually going to get off lightly in which case his confidence is just disgusting. He genuinely thinks he can just continually say in front of everyone "These assets I just totally invented are worth billions" and no amount of argument affects him. And that he hasn't done anything wrong when we literally have testimony from his employees about exactly how stole the money. "If I just say illiquid enough, it'll all be ok". No. At some point this guy is going to be in a court and have to come up with a coherent answer why he's describing stuff he made up as illiquid billions, and it better be good.
He simply doesn't have even a passing relationship with the truth. It just seems that at some point in the years of idiot VCs handing him money and servicing him orally, he started to actually believe he can just make up reality.
> he started to actually believe he can just make up reality.
Yep, I believe he truly believes his own BS. Like probably the rest of the crypto scene.
And, like, well, increasingly huge portions of the whole damn country and world these days? It's a make-your-own-self-serving-facts world.
But yeah, I think he truly thinks he's some kind of a victim here, of some kind of a takedown of a solvent FTX that wasnt' doing anything different from most everyone else in the space (that might very well be true?!? it's a space built on BS and playing fast and loose). And probably truly feels bad for those who got screwed by it. He just doesn't see how it's anything he's responsible for. Isn't this the way all those people getting rich got rich, isn't this just how it's done? Isn't that "disruption"? He may not be wrong.
Did you not see his two spreadsheets labelled "JUST AN ESTIMATE" that clearly show he is right? I would love to know the thought process behind his decision to make this post.
Presumably the thought process is something along the lines of "No one is going to look at this, only count the liquid stuff and make the very obvious point we were underwater even at the peak of the market".
If SBF actually tries to go to trial and gets deposed in the lead up, then every one of these interviews, blog posts and tweets are just more documents his attorneys will give him to study in preparation. He will have to ensure every answer he gives is consistent with these prior statements. Does anyone think SBF can do this. If he plans to testify at trial, then he will have to go through this drill again. First SBF says "I fucked up." Now he is saying the implosion was due to factors outside his control.
What is with his parents. Is he locked in his room playing video games. Do they have any idea what he is doing. I think he has a brother close to his age. How can these people stand by and let a family member make such idiotic choices.
This is why the Silicon Valley people advising Zuckerberg have opted to keep him from having to testify in a federal trial on multiple occasions. Being truthful is not something these kids can do well and anyway the truth is far too dangerous for "tech" companies.
Obviously I am only referring to the civil cases. In additon to ones files by the SEC and CFTC, SBF has been named in numerous others as well. For example,
IMHO, SBF is a shining symbol of a much larger problem that has been borne out of if not at least faciltated by the now crashing "tech" industry. What percentage of the top FTX creditors who curiously want to remain anonymous in the FTX bankruptcy are connected to this so-called "tech" industry. The media is suggesting there are some major "tech" industry proponents on the list. Internet-based surveillance and advertsing services disguised as "innovation", a "business model" and even as a utopia-like economic future for once healthier societies is a like a virus every bit as harmful as COVID. IMO.
Honestly, I believe he really believes he did nothing wrong, and really feels bad about anyone getting financially ruined.
I think he was kind of an idiot, in an environment where lots of people were getting rich behaving in unethical and illegal ways, and getting away with it, while convincing themselves they weren't doing anything wrong. That whole "scene" created it's own version of reality in which they could do whatever they want and make up their own facts and deserved only victory... which sounds kind of familiar for the USA and much of the world in general these days.
Lack of reality based thinking coupled with adhd stimulants that on initial intake create a euphoria and makes you feel even more grandiose. That's when reality based thinking goes completely out the window.
He has no objective capability anymore to be self aware, and it's made worse with prescription drugs.
When the feds come knocking on your door asking about several billion dollars going missing, and you let yourself do the talking via blogs and interviews versus your team of lawyers, you have absolutely lost your mind. Certainly don't add adderral or alcohol, or anything to the mix. Go into a small dark room and smoke some weed you junkie crook. Keep quiet, your inner circle already ratted on you. Have some respect for the $250 million your parents scourged up to bail your stupid ass out, reprehensible fuck.
When you see how people behave in fields like this where the common social contract ethical standards and law hasn't quite caught up to whatever the new constructs are, it doesn't inspire confidence in an innate morality capacity
Pretty clear evidence of a lack of remorse (well he has remorse he lost the bet but not for being a fraud) and acceptance of his crimes even during the judicial process. He's gonna go away for a long time.
If he just shut his mouth it would be difficult to judge his thoughts. However his-Adderall fueled posts betray him.
Doesn't look good when yet again here he expresses wishes to reboot the fraud. It's a pretty clear signal as soon as this guy gets out, if he is in fact a criminal, that he will do as he says.
This is really misleading as it ignores the main fraud FTX committed: commingling user funds. Exchanges should never put their users' assets at risk and FTX's T&C said they didn't. If you deposited 1 BTC on their exchange, they were supposed to store that 1 BTC for you.
If they had done that, there would be no issues. If users leave, you just give them back what they owned and no one loses money.
Yes, the core criminal claims (commingling funds, funnelling money to Alameda through unaccounted margin, using software to hide things from the balance sheet) are just totally unaddressed.
As long as you don't actually lose the money while doing those things, though, no one really notices and no one outside of prosecutors office even cares.
Pragmatically (but not legally) the complaint is he lost the money. His world crashing around him revolves around that. So he has the wrong, but understandable viewpoint that the legal complaint is that he lost the money.
For fun, I recommend opening the SEC's case against SBF [1] and searching "tweet" and "television." They are building their case every time he opens his mouth.
This is why if you ever find yourself in any kind of serious legal matter, take your lawyer's advice and stop talking. It doesn't matter how smart you think you are. Prosecutors will use your words against you.
I agree that [dishonest] lawyers will twist your words against you.
But I disagree with your advice to "stop talking". We need everyone to keep talking. We need to change the justice system. It needs to be more transparent, more honest, better at quickly getting to the truth.
I don't necessarily know what the solutions are, but I am going through a court case Pro Se right now and have seen first hand what a cess pool it has become, and it makes me sad for our country, and we need to start fixing it.
A justice system will never be about the truth, because the truth does not bring justice: justice is a human attempt at realising what most would call karma. You do a bad thing, we try to make you suffer: the truth doesn't matter, because there's no absolute "good" and "bad" -- it's all perception. Lawyers are not truth seekers, they're playing a game, and to represent oneself in pursuit of the truth is a fools errand.
I've served on a jury, I agree the modern model for justice is broken, but the problem is not an absence of truth, it's much more fundamental.
"FTX US remains fully solvent and should be able to return all customers’ funds. FTX International has many billions of dollars of assets, and I am dedicating nearly all of my personal assets to customers."
A theory going around a few weeks ago about his apparent inability to STFU is that his defence will be that he was affected by ADHD meds that impaired his judgement and made him impulsive, and have continued to do so even post collapse. I doubt lawyers could come up with anything better than this, really.
Does establishing impaired judgement due to ADHD meds require that he demonstrate continued impaired judgement regarding the specifics of the case? Can’t he just buy every old GameCube game that comes to mind on eBay and live bet the Las Vegas Raiders like the rest of us? “My client can’t possibly be guilty. He spent $80 dollars on a complete in box copy of Luigi’s Mansion and didn’t play past the first boss.”
>A theory going around a few weeks ago about his apparent "inability" to STFU is that his defence will be that he was affected by ADHD meds that impaired his judgement and made him impulsive, and have continued to do so even post collapse. I doubt lawyers could come up with anything better than this, really.
Doesn't seem far fetched honestly. He really reminds me people who took one too many adderall doses and suddenly think everything is a great idea.
Do ADHD meds differ from, say, alcohol from a legal perspective? My understanding is that being drunk is never a defense. The meds are something he chooses to consume as an adult so it seems like he should be compared to an unmedicated standard. But IANAL.
Readit News
He simply doesn't have even a passing relationship with the truth. It just seems that at some point in the years of idiot VCs handing him money and servicing him orally, he started to actually believe he can just make up reality.
Yep, I believe he truly believes his own BS. Like probably the rest of the crypto scene.
And, like, well, increasingly huge portions of the whole damn country and world these days? It's a make-your-own-self-serving-facts world.
But yeah, I think he truly thinks he's some kind of a victim here, of some kind of a takedown of a solvent FTX that wasnt' doing anything different from most everyone else in the space (that might very well be true?!? it's a space built on BS and playing fast and loose). And probably truly feels bad for those who got screwed by it. He just doesn't see how it's anything he's responsible for. Isn't this the way all those people getting rich got rich, isn't this just how it's done? Isn't that "disruption"? He may not be wrong.
What is with his parents. Is he locked in his room playing video games. Do they have any idea what he is doing. I think he has a brother close to his age. How can these people stand by and let a family member make such idiotic choices.
This is why the Silicon Valley people advising Zuckerberg have opted to keep him from having to testify in a federal trial on multiple occasions. Being truthful is not something these kids can do well and anyway the truth is far too dangerous for "tech" companies.
papadakis-v-bankman-fried
https://ia804701.us.archive.org/19/items/gov.uscourts.cand.4...
onusz-v-west-realm-shires-inc
https://ia601405.us.archive.org/28/items/gov.uscourts.deb.18...
podalsky-v-bankman-fried (consolidated with garrison)
https://ia801506.us.archive.org/17/items/gov.uscourts.flsd.6...
jessup-v-bankman-fried
https://ia801501.us.archive.org/10/items/gov.uscourts.cand.4...
hawkins-v-bankman-fried
https://ia804706.us.archive.org/28/items/gov.uscourts.cand.4...
blockfi-inc-v-emergent-fidelity-technologies-ltd
https://ia601405.us.archive.org/17/items/gov.uscourts.njb.10...
pierce-v-bankman-fried
https://ia904701.us.archive.org/20/items/gov.uscourts.cand.4...
kavuri-v-bankman-fried
https://ia904708.us.archive.org/34/items/gov.uscourts.flsd.6...
lam-v-bankman-fried
https://ia801500.us.archive.org/2/items/gov.uscourts.cand.40...
garrison-v-bankman-fried
https://ia601500.us.archive.org/8/items/gov.uscourts.flsd.62...
Dead Comment
I think he was kind of an idiot, in an environment where lots of people were getting rich behaving in unethical and illegal ways, and getting away with it, while convincing themselves they weren't doing anything wrong. That whole "scene" created it's own version of reality in which they could do whatever they want and make up their own facts and deserved only victory... which sounds kind of familiar for the USA and much of the world in general these days.
He has no objective capability anymore to be self aware, and it's made worse with prescription drugs.
When the feds come knocking on your door asking about several billion dollars going missing, and you let yourself do the talking via blogs and interviews versus your team of lawyers, you have absolutely lost your mind. Certainly don't add adderral or alcohol, or anything to the mix. Go into a small dark room and smoke some weed you junkie crook. Keep quiet, your inner circle already ratted on you. Have some respect for the $250 million your parents scourged up to bail your stupid ass out, reprehensible fuck.
If he just shut his mouth it would be difficult to judge his thoughts. However his-Adderall fueled posts betray him.
Doesn't look good when yet again here he expresses wishes to reboot the fraud. It's a pretty clear signal as soon as this guy gets out, if he is in fact a criminal, that he will do as he says.
If they had done that, there would be no issues. If users leave, you just give them back what they owned and no one loses money.
Pragmatically (but not legally) the complaint is he lost the money. His world crashing around him revolves around that. So he has the wrong, but understandable viewpoint that the legal complaint is that he lost the money.
This is why if you ever find yourself in any kind of serious legal matter, take your lawyer's advice and stop talking. It doesn't matter how smart you think you are. Prosecutors will use your words against you.
[1]: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2022/comp-pr2022-2...
But I disagree with your advice to "stop talking". We need everyone to keep talking. We need to change the justice system. It needs to be more transparent, more honest, better at quickly getting to the truth.
I don't necessarily know what the solutions are, but I am going through a court case Pro Se right now and have seen first hand what a cess pool it has become, and it makes me sad for our country, and we need to start fixing it.
Keep talking SBF.
I've served on a jury, I agree the modern model for justice is broken, but the problem is not an absence of truth, it's much more fundamental.
'Nearly all'.
Amazing.
Deleted Comment
Doesn't seem far fetched honestly. He really reminds me people who took one too many adderall doses and suddenly think everything is a great idea.