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FTX collapse, Tether operations have links to online-poker cheating scandals

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111–120 of 350 posts

Re: FTX collapse, Tether operations have links to online-poker cheating scandals

#111
post #48

It's incredible that SBF was being touted by Sequoia, WEF, Fortune, chumming it up with Clinton and Blair in the Bahamas, getting meetings and kid glove treatment with the SEC, relatively glowing profile as a "do-gooder" by the NYT. All while FTX had a Chief Regulatory Officer who was basically a career white-collar criminal. It beggars belief that anyone who dug half an inch into this story wouldn't have seen 90,000…

Sam Bankman-Fried donated $40M to the Democratic Party, making him the second-biggest donor of the party.

Re: FTX collapse, Tether operations have links to online-poker cheating scandals

#112
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With every crypto collapse there seems to be an associated failure by the media to do any real digging. The same thing happened with Theranos where, with a few exceptions, the media fawned over Elizabeth Holmes. It's hard to tell if the media has gotten worse at their jobs or they've always been this bad and I'm just getting older. There are plenty of earlier scams and bubbles (Enron, dot-com bubble) that slipped und…

“The media” is mostly just a bunch of 20-40 year olds with liberal arts bachelors degrees, trying to make ends meet and feed their families. Serious investigative reporters with the smarts and experience to dive deep were always the exception, maybe a handful in the world at any given time. So IMO, “they’ve always been this bad” is the answer, but it’s not entirely fair. Kind of like saying the cooks at McDonald’s ha…

It wasn't just 'The Morning Call.' It came from the top from the elite, international, consensus making publications like The New York Times and the Washington Post. These are the papers of record that have the resources to still do real journalism. We're harangued by them how 'democracy dies in darkness' every time we click one of their links, and yet they chose to give all these guileless grifters flattering coverage more often than not.

Re: FTX collapse, Tether operations have links to online-poker cheating scandals

#113
post #88

Is there truth to the U.S. sending money to Ukraine -> Ukraine funding FTX -> FTX being 2nd largest donor to Democratic party in the U.S.? Timeline: - April 25, 2019: Biden announces his presidential campaign. - 13 days later, Sam Bankman-Fried, son of Barbara Fried (co-founder of political fundraising organizations), launched FTX crypto exchange. - The exchange is an overnight success. Sam Bankman-Fried (SBM) become…

From what I'm reading, Ukraine used FTX to facilitate donations to Ukraine. I'm waiting for more details on the claim that Ukraine actually directly funded FTX. In other funding news- FTX did fund one of the studies that "debunked" Ivermectin as an effective covid treatment. There's definitely a strong political slant to this scandal.

And quite interesting that most of the FTX team/founders are reported to now be in Hong Kong - arguably knowing they have the protection of China?

Re: FTX collapse, Tether operations have links to online-poker cheating scandals

#114
post #48

It's incredible that SBF was being touted by Sequoia, WEF, Fortune, chumming it up with Clinton and Blair in the Bahamas, getting meetings and kid glove treatment with the SEC, relatively glowing profile as a "do-gooder" by the NYT. All while FTX had a Chief Regulatory Officer who was basically a career white-collar criminal. It beggars belief that anyone who dug half an inch into this story wouldn't have seen 90,000…

Wait, wasn't the NYT supposed to take a very critical look at everything in "tech", as a matter of editorial policy? Why were they giving such a glowing (no pun intended!) endorsement of crypto, of all things? Something doesn't add up here.

Perhaps that default-critical stance is just how they thought to solicit "donations" from the industry.

Re: FTX collapse, Tether operations have links to online-poker cheating scandals

#115
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“The media” is mostly just a bunch of 20-40 year olds with liberal arts bachelors degrees, trying to make ends meet and feed their families. Serious investigative reporters with the smarts and experience to dive deep were always the exception, maybe a handful in the world at any given time. So IMO, “they’ve always been this bad” is the answer, but it’s not entirely fair. Kind of like saying the cooks at McDonald’s ha…

> “The media” is mostly just a bunch of 20-40 year olds with liberal arts bachelors degrees, trying to make ends meet and feed their families. Sounds like the "Yuppie Nuremberg Defense" from Thank You For Smoking , in which a tobacco lobbyist excuses himself by saying he has a mortgage to pay.

I'd rather get paid like a tobacco lobbyist (or a FAANG developer) than a journalist. Our society has clearly shown us what it values.

Re: FTX collapse, Tether operations have links to online-poker cheating scandals

#116
post #88

Is there truth to the U.S. sending money to Ukraine -> Ukraine funding FTX -> FTX being 2nd largest donor to Democratic party in the U.S.? Timeline: - April 25, 2019: Biden announces his presidential campaign. - 13 days later, Sam Bankman-Fried, son of Barbara Fried (co-founder of political fundraising organizations), launched FTX crypto exchange. - The exchange is an overnight success. Sam Bankman-Fried (SBM) become…

Ukraine purchased Javelin missiles and other US military equipment with its military aid: https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/09/25/what-you-nee...

Ukraine didn't contribute to FTX at all.

Re: FTX collapse, Tether operations have links to online-poker cheating scandals

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Larry the character maybe; not Larry the real person.

I'm really not sure where the line is between those two.

The real one is promoting crypto by playing a "foolish" version of himself on camera in exchange for money.

Re: FTX collapse, Tether operations have links to online-poker cheating scandals

#118

There is a German saying: "Wo ein Trog ist kommen die Schweine." roughly translates to "Where there is a trough - the pigs will come." Rather fitting for all the crypto meltdowns in the last years.

Actually, this seems like a rather interesting defense of crypto. To use the metaphor, did the trough create the pigs? Or did it only draw a horde of pre-existing pigs to one place? Perhaps the amount of quasi-criminals that we are seeing in the crypto sector right now is just a sign that crypto was highly successful and not a condemnation of crypto in and of itself.

You are half right. It obviously did not create the pigs, but the "trough" is the place for easy pickings: Crypto. Of course Crypto did not create scammers, scammers simply have an easy time scamming people there.

Re: FTX collapse, Tether operations have links to online-poker cheating scandals

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, I’m not stupid. I would turn around and sell it to some other fool. And thats the problem. There is honestly no price I could buy it at where I would be willing to hold.

>There is honestly no price I could buy it at where I would be willing to hold. Really no price? Even given the opportunity to buy at $10, you still wouldn't hold?

What difference would that make? You can invest $50k at $10k a piece or $10 a piece. In both cases it can easily go to $5k or $5.

Re: FTX collapse, Tether operations have links to online-poker cheating scandals

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Crypto" is useless. Bitcoin isn't. Maximalists have been warning against this stuff happening for nearly a year now. Ever since Luna collapsed, those voices grew louder, but the yield-farming degenerates chose not to listen.

> "Crypto" is useless. Bitcoin isn't. What unique properties does Bitcoin have that makes it useful that other cryptocurrencies don't, beside first mover advantage?

I'm guessing the logic is something along the lines of "all crypto is crap... except for the crypto I have of course."
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