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"More important, though, is his political impact, and it's worth remembering that all donors talk their books and put the best possible PR spin on what is, always and forever, buying protection from elected officials. In his case there is the additional imperative of laundering money while it still spends. Consider this CNBC story from earlier in the week outlining some of the financial details that emerged from an ongoing bankruptcy inquiry for Voyager Digital. There are a lot of nine-figure sums flowing into his Alameda umbrella from entities that are themselves barely solvent. When he's not acquiring controlling stakes in crypto exchanges with high volume, the rest of that dry powder needs to get spent ASAP. Politicians are an asset on par with real estate."
Wombaticus Rex » 12 Aug 2022 09:29 wrote:It deserves its own thread because the Bankman-Fried gigaplex is going to become an important issue on American shores and beyond. Yung Sam is something of a myth. Almost all billionaires are of course fronts, but few of them are quite as brittle and hastily fabricated as he. Seeing the panels he was invited to last year tipped me off early on to the fact his sponsors are not run of the mill private equity guys; the lad has juice. But only to the extent he toes the line and executes the plan.
That plan is pretty plainly what we have seen playing out in the aftermath of the May 2022 Crypto Crash: playing John Pierpont Morgan to consolidate huge swaths of market share at fire sale bargain prices. Like Morgan, he too is doing this with Other People's Money.
It is worth remembering that for all the very accurate and well-founded skepticism of "Crypto" on the fundamentals level, BIS, like Wall Street and City of London and XSHG, is very interested in the field. And for all the Wild West cowboy culture of these startups, and "definancialization" rhetoric behind their projects, the cryptocurrency market, in toto, is just a planet sized test sandbox for the future of fintech. Just as The Internet was not building a technology to set the world free but a military force multiplier, Crypto Bros are building Central Bank Digital Currency -- "CBDC," an acronym you can expect to see far more of for, well, shit, the rest of our serf lives.
No surprise, then, that his political philosophy should be shaped by the same dream of digitally executed global control. There is a certain sweetness to the fact that he -- rightly, rightly -- views Progressives as the ideal stalking horse for expanding government control through the barrier of human flesh into an all-encompassing Biosecurity State regime. Don't you want to be safe? Don't you trust the experts? And what is progress, after all, but the religious certainty that our proliferating technological novelties are proof that we are better and wiser and greater than the ancestors who came before us?
Much like Musk, what is undeniably real about SBF is his work ethic and intelligence. As much as they play Ah-Shucks regular bros in public; a curious studied affectation for such uncomfortable autistic and insecure men, innit? -- they are monomaniac sharks at heart. SBF's innate and detailed understanding of markets likely stems from his early genius for math and his experience structuring ETFs, both in terms of building the actual instruments and building market systems to trade them. (There is a certain symmetry there, too, as ETFs are extremely correlated assets that suffer from extreme bottleneck / exit illiquidity problems when the music stops.)
While the man clearly has a bright future, a lot could go wrong along the way. He is Robert Maxwell type leveraged right now and the market volatility is far from over; while I assume that many of his moves will pay off, making monthly margin & overhead could trigger an implosion in a bad quarter. And there are a lot of those incoming.
More important, though, is his political impact, and it's worth remembering that all donors talk their books and put the best possible PR spin on what is, always and forever, buying protection from elected officials. In his case there is the additional imperative of laundering money while it still spends. Consider this CNBC story from earlier in the week outlining some of the financial details that emerged from an ongoing bankruptcy inquiry for Voyager Digital. There are a lot of nine-figure sums flowing into his Alameda umbrella from entities that are themselves barely solvent. When he's not acquiring controlling stakes in crypto exchanges with high volume, the rest of that dry powder needs to get spent ASAP. Politicians are an asset on par with real estate.
He also knows, from the circles he operates in, gets funding from, and parties with, that the biosecurity state is expected to be a multi-trillion dollar growth sector, so it makes good financial sense to get involved there, too. Securing no-bid long-term government contracts is perhaps even more lucrative than minting and selling digital assets.
The connection to crypto there is easy: blockchains, permanent open-book ledgers, aka digital spreadsheets. This will be the core technology of the biosecurity state, your digital ID.
Wombaticus Rex » Fri Aug 12, 2022 9:29 am wrote:And for all the Wild West cowboy culture of these startups, and "definancialization" rhetoric behind their projects, the cryptocurrency market, in toto, is just a planet sized test sandbox for the future of fintech. Just as The Internet was not building a technology to set the world free but a military force multiplier, Crypto Bros are building Central Bank Digital Currency -- "CBDC," an acronym you can expect to see far more of for, well, shit, the rest of our serf lives.
Belligerent Savant » Fri Mar 11, 2022 9:20 am wrote:Belligerent Savant » Sun Nov 21, 2021 7:57 pm wrote:
...
So, hypothetically:
Once an individual's "Digital ID" (vaccine status, health info, bank/digital asset info, employment status, criminal record, internet activity, etc) is stored on the blockchain, a 'smart contract' can/will be appended to that individual's ID.
So long as one keeps to their vaccine schedule, or avoids certain activities deemed to be 'domestic threats', access to your digital monetary assets will remain active. Stray from the straight line, however, and mechanisms will automatically trigger to withhold funds (no human 'broker-bureaucrat' required; the terms/code of the 'smart' contract does all the work), or otherwise prevent you from making purchases (such as public transit or meals).
These smart contracts would also be built-into other services, such as UBI. In order to qualify for UBI, you must meet certain prerequisites -- easily verified via your Digital ID profile. Failure to maintain certain policy requirements will result in withholding of UBI until the 'issues' (e.g., getting your latest booster shot) are resolved.
This becomes particularly important if CASH/FIAT is no longer a viable alternative.
...
Wombaticus Rex » Fri Aug 12, 2022 9:29 am wrote:No surprise, then, that his political philosophy should be shaped by the same dream of digitally executed global control. There is a certain sweetness to the fact that he -- rightly, rightly -- views Progressives as the ideal stalking horse for expanding government control through the barrier of human flesh into an all-encompassing Biosecurity State regime. Don't you want to be safe? Don't you trust the experts? And what is progress, after all, but the religious certainty that our proliferating technological novelties are proof that we are better and wiser and greater than the ancestors who came before us?
...
The connection to crypto there is easy: blockchains, permanent open-book ledgers, aka digital spreadsheets. This will be the core technology of the biosecurity state, your digital ID.
Wombaticus Rex » 12 Aug 2022 14:29 wrote:While the man clearly has a bright future, a lot could go wrong along the way. He is Robert Maxwell type leveraged right now
The collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX/Alameda empire has been swift and spectacular. I could talk about it for hours. But there's no time for that. Here's a mountain of crypto-fraud mayhem crammed into 99 seconds.
JC M
5 hours ago
I think it's possible SBF was a trojan horse in the crypto space to bring in the regulators, and he did exactly what he was supposed to do.
Senators moving forward with SBF-backed bill after FTX collapse
QUICK TAKE:
- Authors of legislation to increase federal oversight of crypto exchanges and underlying spot markets pledged to move forward on legislation in the wake of FTX’s shocking collapse.
- Sam Bankman-Fried was a major proponent of the bill, which led to friction between him and other industry leaders.
@Trad1ngMach1ne
Deep Dive into Sam Bankman-Fried
Good guy who messed up, FED, or something worse?
Follow the white rabbit and decide for yourself...
Firstly, the "Mr Nice Guy" media persona.
Now start from the base principle that people don't get on the front cover of major magazines, nor are pushed by the mainstream media WITHOUT it serving THEIR agenda.
And SBF and FTX was everywhere.The guy loved himself so much he thought it a good idea to put his face everywhere, spending your money to do it.
Major publications reported him as being a Robin Hood type figure who drove an old Corolla and slept on the office floor.@tlupick
'A 30-Year-Old Crypto Billionaire Wants to Give His Fortune Away' https://bloom.bg/3ulkJnz "Sam Bankman-Fried (@SBF_FTX) drives a Corolla, sleeps on a beanbag, and has a Robin Hood-like philosophy." #crypto #bitcoin #activism
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features ... ent=crypto
They set up the FTX Foundation - "a force for good".
https://ftxfoundation.org
The media presented an altruistic persona, of a hard worker. Someone investible.
Massive sports sponsorships served to legitimize the business further.@cryptowithabhi
A $40B crypto empire is on the brink of collapse
You know whom I'm talking about. This is a company that :
• is a sponsor of T20 world cup
• is on the Mercedes-AMG formula 1 cars
• named the Miami Heat stadium the FTX arena
Yup, SBF's FTX is in DIP problems
And even Tom Brady and Gisele invested a fortune into FTX.
Ouch.
Was he a bad guy, though? Let's see...
So, we all know the saying "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree", so let's take a look at his parents and see the type of tree he came from
Firstly, Joseph Bankman is a well regarded tax lawyer from Stanford.
An expert in taxation and has written numerous books on the subject. A great asset when performing fraud for $ billions. It is reported that he worked for FTX in some capacity.
Barbara Fried is also a well connected tax lawyer from Stanford.
She is a massive Progressive, and 'enemy' of free market capitalism, going so far as to write a book named: "The Progressive Assault on Laissez-Faire". The exact opposite of crypto.
Now, more notably, she has big connections with the Democrats, and set up a rather secretive Super PAC called "Mind The Gap".
The purpose of which was to funnel money into Democratic Party candidate campaigns.
Conveniently, FTX launched a mere 13 days after Biden announced his 2020 Presidential campaign.
This allowed SBF to become one of his biggest donors...
So here you have SBF's two parents, both tax lawyers, both Progressives, both anti-free market capitalism, and who have a Democratic Super PAC.
They support their son in the BIGGEST FREE MARKET experiment in modern history, and subsequently become a huge Biden donor.
SBF repeatedly spoke about giving away his wealth to better causes. FTX is registered in a tax haven in the Bahamas.
The apple didn't fall far from the tree at all. But let's continue...@CoinMarketCap
#Cryptonews SBF was being heralded as one of the youngest self-made millionaires in history, and was vowing to give away as much of his wealth as possible
So far, regarding the "was he a FED sent to destroy crypto?" question, we only have some evidence that at the very least, he saw crypto as a great way to make (steal) and redistribute money from the system into the hands of the Dems.
What else?@lex_node
CFTC and Democrats were palling around with SBF, suing DAOs and devs, decrying the scourge of DeFi and plotting to regulate websites and wallet APIs while FTX played with customer money.
Madoff and Enron were fully SEC regulated.
Regulators do not protect us, period.
FTX is (was) a member of the World Economic Forum.
SBF often spoke about regulating DeFi.
What is DeFi? The greatest technology ever invented to give regular people full sovereignty of their money. Financial "freedom" in the truest sense.
SBF wanted to regulate it, and thus was against it.@jgarzik
What was SBF lobbying against? DeFi.
What would have prevented this? DeFi.
What exchanges already publish real-time proof-of-reserves? DeFi.
What will US regulators try to shut down? DeFi.
SBF worked closely with regulators, in particular: Gary Gensler.@RepTomEmmer
·
Nov 10
Interesting. @GaryGensler runs to the media while reports to my office allege he was helping SBF and FTX work on legal loopholes to obtain a regulatory monopoly. We're looking into this.
Why Gensler? Well, Gensler is a Biden appointee, to whom SBF and his family are a main donor.
But also, the father Caroline Ellison (the CEO of Alameda), Glenn Ellison is VERY well connected with Gensler.@JagoeCapital
Did you know: Alameda CEO
@carolinecapital's Dad, Glenn Ellison is the Department Head of Economics at @MIT?
And...
Prior to getting appointed to the SEC, @GaryGensler was a Professor for the Practice of Global Economics & Management at @MIT
...
If regulators were working with SBF, they did a terrible job.
Here he sits in a room full of lawmakers lying with impunity.@HaloCrypto
·
Nov 9
In front of a room of lawmakers…
[video at link]:
https://twitter.com/Trad1ngMach1ne/stat ... 6oZ0yXFwdw
And in spite of SBF's rampant fraud and theft to the tune of $ billions, the crypto regulatory Bill he backed is happening...@mattdorta
·
SBF runs a massive fraud from an offshore exchange.
SBF backed bill is what Senators decide is best to move forward with.
The White House wasting no time in jumping on the 'crypto regulation' bandwagon...@disclosetv
·
Nov 10
NOW - White House: "Regulation of cryptocurrencies is needed."
Starting to make sense?
At a certain point you find enough breadcrumbs to satiate your hunger for a realistic conclusion.@DylanLeClair_
Good guy SBF has been telling everyone since June.
Anything else?
Well... Crypto Bahamas.
Blair and Clinton went to SBF's "Crypto Bahamas" event. Those two have friends in high places, and a donation can go a long way.@Rhodri_H_Davies
Bill Clinton and Tony Blair appear to be on stage at a crypto conference in the Bahamas with Sam Bankman-Fried (aka the biggest philanthropic donor you haven't heard of of. Yet).
I'm gonna suggest this has some relevance from a philanthropy p.o.v...
In investigating this, something else came to light.
Now put your tinfoil hat on a moment, because this gets interesting.
Aside from being warmongerers and 'foundation' money launderers, what is first thing you think of regarding Blair and Clinton?
Epstein Island.
And the Bahamas is well known for a certain 'perversion'.@FREEPHONEFREES1
PENTAGON CONF
PRINCE ANDREW, PRINCE HARRY
INVOLVED W NYGARD IN
PEDOPHILE, PROSTITUTION TRAFFICKING RING
VIA EUROPE, CANADA, US, CARIBBEAN, LATIN AMERICA
NYGARD WAS ARRESTED BY FBI IN DEC
https://justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/canadi ... cketeering
Nygard w Prince Andrew on his Bahamas island, 2011
Tinfoil hat off.
In summary...
It's clear that SBF isn't just a regular kid who made a mistake. He's exceptionally well connected, he stole vast amounts of money, pushed regulation, and everything he did regressed the crypto space.
The End. Share it around. Thanks.
Belligerent Savant » Tue Nov 01, 2022 9:16 am wrote:.
Mostly breadcrumbs for now. Can potentially be moved to an existing related thread, though this may merit its own.
Difficult to parse, at this time, how much of this may also include drug-induced 'fabulism' (or other series of events wholly unrelated to the CIA or trafficking rings) though the fact is he was very recently found dead.Dylan LeClair
@DylanLeClair_
·
10h
The 29-yr old co-founder of MakerDAO, Nikolai Muchgian has been found dead in in San Juan #PuertoRico, just three days after tweeting the following from his personal twitter account.
https://twitter.com/DylanLeClair_/statu ... f8rugOElwQsunday night, conditions met, surprise discovery, new opportunity, now all in on timeline shifting insanity index, quantum immortality but for human civilization, a bet that there is no future where negative sum banker global slave agenda doesn't end in extinction. wish me luck
3 possible futures for me 1) suicided by CIA 2) CIA brain damage slave asset 3) worst nightmare of people who fucked with me up until now, I am sure these are the only options
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1566 ... 85283.html
...
drstrangelove » Fri Nov 11, 2022 4:57 pm wrote:after the crypto crash in May we saw massive spikes in the price of the 10, 20, and 30 year US government bond. The 10 and 30 year have once again spiked, and i suspect the 20 year will in the next few days. seems as if crypto is being used to prop up the bond market and keep yields down.
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