Originally published at: Bankman-Fried is guilty
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Hell yeah…
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I was pleased to see how quickly the jurors came to this verdict, and how his wealth, privilege and parental connections (who are, allegedly, great legal minds) didn’t do squat to get him off in this case. If only this were the rule rather than the exception in these kinds of cases.
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Rather than helping redefine the global economy with crypto’s wild yet intangible value, Bankman-Fried turned his entire exchange into a confidence scam.
His entire life, really. His appearance, the “Effective Altruism”, the FTX ads with celebrity endorsements, the attempts to buy politiciand. Everything. He had all the advantages of a privileged upbringing, all the education to have an honest and well-paid career, and he chose to do crimes.
I know there’s a bit yet to go, but hope he spends the rest of his life in prison if only so I don’t see his smug arrogant face again in my newsfeed.
Also, once again, it’s important to note that all cryptocurrencies are effectively pyramid schemes: the only way to win big is to get in on the ground floor. Studiously Schlubby Sam’s “innovation” was pairing it with a Ponzi scheme (which was what put him behind bars in the end).
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I’m only disappointed the trial is over so quickly because the stories about it were hilarious in their savage mockery of how badly it was going for him. Snarky headlines (and articles) aside, I was actually laughing at some of the straight descriptions of what was happening in the trial, it was so absurd, his testimony so self-incriminating.
I suspect they won’t bother, given he just got, what, seven felony convictions that potentially could add up to 110 years in prison? Even though he won’t serve that, anything else on top of it would be overkill.
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Good news. His sentencing is delayed until late March 2024, because he’s going to have another trial earlier that month in which he faces additional charges. So you may get a second helping of Sam Bankman-Schadenfreude.
Plus, I have no doubt that he’ll appeal, so maybe he’ll have the opportunity to dig a still deeper hole for himself.
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This is good. These kind of people need to be prosecuted.
HOWEVER…
While I am glad that He, Madoff, Holmes, whomever… get justice handed to them, the fact that no one directly involved with cratering the entire economy in 2008 did NOT get justice handed to them still pisses me off.
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We can only hope that the prisons will be full of non-fungible men in the days to come.
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I’ve been listening to Michael Lewis’s podcast about the trial and he is totally enamored by this guy and thinks he is so interesting.
Granted he has a book to sell, but the fact that he finds anything redeeming about SBF is nauseating. What a spoiled pampered dipshit.
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I haven’t read either book but based on what I’ve heard Number Go Up is the book about crypto that everyone should read instead of the Michael Lewis garbage. Adam Conover interviewed the author and it was pretty funny.
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Has anyone seen the actual calculation of sentencing range done? I’ve searched, and mostly what I see is the usual “let’s add them all up!” theory being displayed. It’s frustrating, cause that’s not how it works, and I keep hoping some “news” organization is gonna actually hire a legal consultant to provide realistic ranges for their reporting.
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Popehat recently wrote about this, again.
“Clickbait disinformation” is as good a description as any I’ve read about these kind of numbers.
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That’s true, but because of the amount of money he stole (huge amounts), the people he stole it from (rich people), and his arrogance he’s still facing the very real possibility of spending the rest of his life and then some in prison. Madoff got 150 years, and that was after he pleaded guilty to avoid a trial and protect his confederates.
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The two wild cards in the sentencing I see are the huge amounts of money, and the short amount of time. It’s a very weak hand, but if I were his lawyer (and I very clearly am not anyone’s lawyer, lol), I would try to argue at sentencing that he got in over his head, and let the situation get away from him. Again: Not a good hand, and likely not true, but it’s the best angle I see. The huge amount of money, tho. Fraud statutes usually have a clause linking amount stolen to sentence given.
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They’ll try it, but the prosecutor demolished the “he got in over his head and things got away from him” argument at trial. He’s been exposed as a calculating fraudster, right up until and then beyond the collapse of FTX and Alameda.
The best they can do now is bring out character witnesses to argue for leniency. However, beyond his Mommy and Daddy and maybe (in a desperate attempt to salvage his own grift) William MacAskill or Michael Lewis (in a desperate attempt to salvage his book) I doubt that this “very special boy” has anyone left in his corner.
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