Behind the Bastards

CZM Rewind: How Sam Bankman-Fried Conned the Crypto World & The Sam Bankman-Fried Update

11 snips
Nov 25, 2025
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INSIGHT

Unregulated Exchange Became A Crypto Bank

  • Sam Bankman‑Fried built FTX/Alameda as an unregulated crypto bank that mixed trading and custody functions.
  • That structural blend made it easy to move customer funds into risky bets and hide losses on paper.
INSIGHT

Charity Rhetoric Masked A Wealth-First Strategy

  • Sam framed his greed as effective altruism: get very rich to give away money later.
  • That justification let him recruit supporters and cloak profit-seeking as moral urgency.
INSIGHT

Grand Guarantees Signal Fraud Risk

  • FTX marketed impossible guarantees like '15% annualized loans' to lure investors.
  • Promises of 'no downside' signaled fraud risk because no legitimate investment can guarantee that.
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