In the wake of the recent FTX collapse, Stacks co-founder Peter Shea has pulled back the curtains on a messy web of Sam Bankman-Fried’s myriad romantic and political relationships, including US Senator Elizabeth Warren.
In a Twitter thread, Shea revealed that Bankman-Fried’s parents, Stanford law professors, had long been associated with anti-crypto Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Democratic party. Warren is arguably one of the most vocal crypto opponents on Capitol Hill.
Bankman-Fried ties to Democrats
According to Shea, Bankman-Fried’s father, Bankman, endorsed a tax bill introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren in Apr. 2016. His mother, Barbara Fried, is in charge of a political action committee that helps secure Democratic funding from Silicon Valley companies.
This is crazy:
Elizabeth Warren is known for being the anti-crypto Senator
Who helped her draft her tax legislation in 2016?
None other than Joseph (Joe) Bankman, the father of SBFhttps://t.co/QMYkC2gpE9
— Ryan Shea (@ryaneshea) November 15, 2022
Shea points out the irony in Warren’s response to the FTX collapse, with the Massachusetts senator generalizing that the crypto industry needs “more aggressive” enforcement and “stronger rules,” while failing to mention Bankman-Fried’s $39 million donation to her political party for the U.S. midterm elections.
The collapse of one of the largest crypto platforms shows how much of the industry appears to be smoke and mirrors. We need more aggressive enforcement and I'm going to keep pushing @SECGov to enforce the law to protect consumers and financial stability.https://t.co/uOPi8MV25J
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) November 10, 2022
The implosion of FTX must be a wake up call for Congress and financial regulators to hold this industry and its executives accountable.
Too much of the crypto industry is smoke and mirrors. It's time for stronger rules and stronger enforcement to protect ordinary people.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) November 11, 2022
According to the Federal Election Commission, Bankman-Fried’s mother donated $15,500 to political candidates in 2022.
But Bankman-Fried’s political ties run even deeper.
The former FTX CEO used to date Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison. Ellison’s father, Glenn Ellison, was U.S. Securities and Exchange chair Gary Gensler’s boss when Gensler taught a course on at MIT. Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, graduated from MIT in 2014 with a degree in physics.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2022
Like Warren, Gensler is part of the Democratic party that received generous donations from SBF.
Alameda Research is a hedge fund and trading firm that lost big when specific borrowers couldn’t repay loans. To help Alameda, SBF transferred almost $4 billion to the hedge fund in a widely-criticized public transaction that was once known only to a few people inside FTX.
New York Times piece accused of bias
Shea also called attention to the roast of a flattering New York Times portrayal of FTX and SBF by the New York Times. The piece has been roasted on social media for sugarcoating the devastating losses of FTX customers after the exchange failed to honor withdrawal requests through a lack of liquidity.
N.Y. Times writer David Yaffe-Bellamy, who penned the article, had visited FTX’s offices in May 2022, where he was reportedly enamored by the company’s crypto-themed condoms and polyamorous vibe.
The story gets crazier:
The author of the NYT puff piece on SBF (bizarrely, the first positive coverage of a crypto exchange founder) has a close relationship with SBF, spending time at the FTX compound, & commenting on the crypto-themed condoms and polyamorous orgy environment. https://t.co/aC7Obn9quF
— Ryan Shea (@ryaneshea) November 15, 2022
Web 3 project development studio Visionary Studios’ founder JagoeCapital unearthed further reasons to believe that FTX had been cozy with the famed New York publication. JorgeCapital highlighted that, according to Facebook, Alameda co-founder Sam Trabucco developed crossword puzzles for the Times since at least 2017.
FTX is currently being investigated by several international agencies, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the U.S. Department of Justice.
