Just what, exactly, went on with collapsed crypto exchange FTX will no doubt take months and years to unravel. If ever, given the already-uncovered dark web of connections running from the Bahamas to Washington to Kiev.
Whether allegations that FTX was some kind of money-laundering front for the regime in the Country Formerly Known as The Most Corrupt in Europe turn out to be any more than a conspiracy theory very much remains to be seen. But what we already do know is that there was some serious weirdness going on. For a start, the entire company – all 10 of them – was supposedly run as a “polyamorous” relationship. Minus the amour, though: an “in-house psychiatrist” claims the group were “under-sexed, if anything”.
Looking at them, I can’t imagine why.
But, stepping out of the murky swamp of conspiracy theory and rampant nerd-orgy, one thing is certain: the Democratic party has lost a very, very generous friend.
Before the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange FTX, the entrepreneur had emerged as the second-largest donor to Democrats after George Soros. He had vowed to give up to $1bn to political candidates linked to causes he supported, a pledge from which he later backed away.
That doesn’t mean he wasn’t pumping tens of millions into the Dem’s mid-term campaign coffers.
The entrepreneur was the second-largest donor to Democratic-leaning groups during the latest midterm elections, spending $36mn. Soros spent $126mn, but the Pac he supported with that large donation only spent about $15mn this cycle.
The majority of Bankman-Fried’s donations, about $27mn, went to the Protect Our Future Pac, which supported candidates that prioritised pandemic prevention, one of his interests. It endorsed 25 Democrats in congressional races this cycle, of which 18 have so far won their respective races. Chief among these were Virginia representative Abigail Spanberger and Florida representative-elect Maxwell Frost, who at 25 will be Congress’s first Generation Z member.
FTX executives doled out nearly $72mn to Democrats and Republicans this election cycle.
Democrat apologists try and argue that, “Aha! FTX spent money on conservatives, too!” But that was the smallest of undersized potatoes compared to the mega-spud they spent on Democrats.
During the 2022 cycle, Bankman-Fried donated $155,000 to rightwing Pacs: the Alabama Conservatives Fund, which backed Republican Alabama Senator-elect Katie Britt, a crypto supporter; and Heartland Resurgence, which backed Senator John Boozman of Arkansas, the top Republican on the Senate agriculture committee that oversees crypto. Bankman-Fried also gave to Debbie Stabenow, the committee’s Democratic chair.
Whoa. A whole 155 grand. And that, pretty clearly, spent on strategically buying up Republicans with the power to affect his crypto empire.
Compare that with the largesse thrown at the left of politics: $11m on failed Democrat candidate Carrick Flynn, $3.5m to the PAC that supported the likes of John Fetterman.
Not that any of them are likely to have to hand back the money to FTX customers whose accounts were mysteriously emptied.
Legal experts argue that even if these funds were proven to be linked to wrongdoing, there probably would be no legal basis for clawbacks.
James Cox, professor of corporate and securities law at Duke University, said this was due to the “bona fide” principle, which protects individuals who accept money with no knowledge it derives from illicit activity.
What could trigger refunds might not be the law, “but the question about how can the party overcome the opprobrium of being associated with ill-gotten gains?” added Cox.
Financial Times
Ahahahahahaha… does he really think any American politician, let alone the Democrats, can be shamed into handing back a wad of cash?
If he believes that, I’m willing to sell him some shares in a crypto exchange based in the Bahamas.
