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Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

nytimes.com

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Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#552
post #518

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's been my impression of SBF since FTX collapsed. Quite book smart, but zero experience in building a major service that custodies billions in other peoples' money. Raw intelligence is not enough in that context. Ideally you want to have apprenticed for at least a few years at a real exchange or custodial service. Somewhere you learn all the engineering details about how to architect it with proper financial cont…

It had nothing to do with engineering issues / risk. He was a scammer.

Anyone, who gets into building a company in the crypto space is a scammer. Period.

Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#553

Curious: why does the legal system work for some and not for others. Eg: how come this guy is convicted but trump walk free especially after Jan 6th? Does the legal system also fall prey to money ? ie the better your representatives the Better they can argue for you. And the better ones cost a lot of Money so essentially the people with money have higher odds of succeeding in such a legal system?

Because every case is different? For example, there is little-to-no overlap in any of the details related to this case and to the Jan 6th insurrection shenanigans.

Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#554
post #122

Anyone know where to get good details? Specifically: do they know where the money went? If not, how did they prove intent (I assume they proved intent)? Edit: another thing I'm wondering is about jurisdiction, since most of this occurred offshore and didn't involve US customers.

And where is Sam Trabucco ???

Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#556

I liked the article detailing how poorly he did on the stand: https://www.thefp.com/p/humiliating-cross-examination-sam-ba... “Did you say in private, ‘Fuck regulators?’ ” “Did you call some customers ‘dumb motherfuckers?’ ” “Did you fly to the Super Bowl in a private plane?” “Most FTX customers did not have a line of credit, correct?” “Do you deny that Alameda had a $65 billion line of credit?” And on, and on, and o…

[dead]

Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#557
post #533

Reminds me of working for MCI-Worldcom. When you think you’re working for crooks, you probably are. Run away.

Worked in crypto and I got that vibe so left. Regret it. For every SBF there are hundreds who get away with it. Tons of talentless crypto millionaires still roaming free. Look at the Axie Infinite guys plundering a whole country. Token could collapse, but there’ll be no justice and they’re sitting on at least 8 figures individually

The smart ones leave an exploit in their smart contracts, exploit it themselves, then blame North Korea

Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#558

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We don't know yet, sentencing is separate from the trial that determines innocence or guilt. Now there will be another hearing in March during which the judge will consider all of the evidence (even that which wasn't allowed in the original trial) to determine what his punishment should be. The judge will have to abide by the federal sentencing guidelines which specify the punishments and severity they can apply but…

The judge will not in fact have to abide by the guidelines, which are advisory, and are especially advisory in sui generis trials like this where the damages and victim counts blow out the guideline charts.

It is sad there isn't some easy linear calculation like divide the amount defrauded by minimum wage and sentence is that number divided by 8 in days. It is always sad when people get discounts just because they stole lot of money compared to some that stole little...

Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#559
post #457

I liked the article detailing how poorly he did on the stand: https://www.thefp.com/p/humiliating-cross-examination-sam-ba... “Did you say in private, ‘Fuck regulators?’ ” “Did you call some customers ‘dumb motherfuckers?’ ” “Did you fly to the Super Bowl in a private plane?” “Most FTX customers did not have a line of credit, correct?” “Do you deny that Alameda had a $65 billion line of credit?” And on, and on, and o…

> Under the circumstances, SBF’s wisest course would have been to just say yes—or yep—to her questions. Why did he take the stand at all?

Because his only defense, against a damning amount of evidence was spinning a beautiful, four-day story about how "I was an idiot and I didn't mean to do any of this fraud."

Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#560

Curious: why does the legal system work for some and not for others. Eg: how come this guy is convicted but trump walk free especially after Jan 6th? Does the legal system also fall prey to money ? ie the better your representatives the Better they can argue for you. And the better ones cost a lot of Money so essentially the people with money have higher odds of succeeding in such a legal system?

My guess is:

1. SBF's crimes hurt rich powerful people 2. Trump has a third of the voting population in a cult-like trance 3. Prosecuting political figures is a lot harder, especially presidents

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