What I don't understand is why victims of the crypto scam expect to get anything back/any justice if they:
1. Placed their hard-earned fiat into a gambling entertainment racket (i.e. cryptocurrency), & not a security regulated by the SEC or any regulatory body/agency with any investor protections whatsoever
2. the insiders and crooks and con men controlling all the exchanges (e.g. SBF and others) protect themselves by filing for bankruptcy and by in some cases labeling the crypto traders' stablecoin entertainment funny money as "unsecured creditors" and other labels and spending the scammed crypto bros’ hard earned fiat monies on vacation trips in Ibiza, $500 alcohol bottles, lambos, Miami nightclubs, yachts, strippers, private planes, Louis Vuitton jackets, Rolex watches and vacations
3. since crypto is really a gambling entertainment business and not a true securities investment, can't SBF et al. just argue that their "investors"(i.e. scam victims) who put their money in got all the value out of it from the dopamine rush from gambling during 2021 even though it all went poof to $0.00 usd at the end? Some fools just paid more for this dopamine rush than others.…ie SBF provided an entertainment service to crypto participants in exchange for voluntary donation (i.e. an “initial investment”) and people went along for the entertainment ride to have fun with what it’s like to gamble so that SBF, his girlfriend and his buddies could take the money and blow it on fun things for themselves. (They chose to do this despite warnings from IRS and SEC that the crypto industry is full of fraudsters and offers no investor protections).
You have a good point. This seems more like "you get what you paid for" situation rather than securities fraud.
Another irony here is that people who casino-up their money on crypto, are also they big pseudo-Libertarian types who want everything out of government control, yet now they are running to the Nanny-State crying about their gambling decisions and whining for the Feds to somehow get their money back. What's the government supposed to do, start monitoring and regulating every crypto game that comes around?
Matt Levine had an interview with SBF in 2022. At Matt's request, he asked SBF to explain farming. SBF described the hype involved in getting people to believe that his tokens had a special box and deserved a high price once put in this box, despite having no economic value.
An actual quote from Levine in the interview:
Matt: (27:13) I think of myself as like a fairly cynical person. And that was so much more cynical than how I would’ve described farming. You’re just like, well, I’m in the Ponzi business and it’s pretty good.
If they did, it would totally crumble and then no one would be interested in crypto the way they were in 2018 and 2021 since the I can get rich quick allure would be eliminated
And where does that money come from? New investors providing the liquidity. It seems to me it’s impossible for a crypto business to exist without it being a Ponzi scheme where the fiat disappears because where else is the money supposed to come from? No good or service (except entertainment trip)of any value is being produced to participants and society
What’s he guilty of? The libertarian republican male Gen Z & millennials gave him the liquidity to blow through. What was the expectation of a pseudo asset class?
he is 100% guilty but he donates to democrats so he will be found innocent. they might even give him a medal for his bravery.
Was it good that SBF and crypto space helped bored libertarian male GenZ/Millennials light their 2020-2021 stimulus checks on fire and now with inflation they need to find better paying day jobs?
One year, I oversaw a club at my college that was given about $50,000 per year. The person after me used club money as his personal trading / betting account, and had the roles of president and treasurer so nobody could see. He made about $15,000 in profit and returned the starting money to the club. He faced no punishment since he didn't steal anything and there were no regulations.
Maybe SBF didn't steal, but it's highly unethical.
he is 100% guilty but he donates to democrats so he will be found innocent. they might even give him a medal for his bravery.
If Democrats were somehow beholden to this guy, they wouldn't have charged him with wire fraud, money laundering and a bunch of other felonies, extradited him from the Bahamas to an NYC jail, and given him the highest bail in US history. The Democrat prosecutors are looking to nail this geek for whatever you think he did to you.
he is 100% guilty but he donates to democrats so he will be found innocent. they might even give him a medal for his bravery.
If Democrats were somehow beholden to this guy, they wouldn't have charged him with wire fraud, money laundering and a bunch of other felonies, extradited him from the Bahamas to an NYC jail, and given him the highest bail in US history. The Democrat prosecutors are looking to nail this geek for whatever you think he did to you.
Some of the dumb democratic mayors in cities genuinely believed crypto could be a golden ticket to riches for people struggling. And Ted Cruz needed to bow down to the shtcoin mining companies in Texas. Democrat Gov Jared Polis of Colorado needed to preserve the image he is libertarian democrat who is tech and business friendly so he went to eat dog sh*t coins in Denver with Vitalik Buterin at an .eth conference.
Many just see number go up and go full blown delusional. “Ignore FUD”… it won’t be the last time there will be scams like this though. Eg Buying beanie babies with the expectation to sell than five years from now for double.
Only a handful of politicians told people the truth about crypto (eg Sen Elizabeth Warren) along with the attorney general of New York (she is great imo & really knows what’s up). SEC and IRS knew it too - link below was Jan, 2022 - year ago -just before the Super Bowl ads with Coinbase and FTX
he is 100% guilty but he donates to democrats so he will be found innocent. they might even give him a medal for his bravery.
If Democrats were somehow beholden to this guy, they wouldn't have charged him with wire fraud, money laundering and a bunch of other felonies, extradited him from the Bahamas to an NYC jail, and given him the highest bail in US history. The Democrat prosecutors are looking to nail this geek for whatever you think he did to you.
Then why did they wait until AFTER the midterms where he claimed he was going to donate a billion dollars to democrats?
The democrats are engaging in theater. Why don't they give back the money he donated? That money would go right to the victims that he stole from.
Then why did they wait until AFTER the midterms where he claimed he was going to donate a billion dollars to democrats?
The democrats are engaging in theater. Why don't they give back the money he donated? That money would go right to the victims that he stole from.
Because the fiat money is gone. SBF and other overseas crooks leading the fraud in this space got to throw parties with it while the libertarian male genZ/millennials could login to their crypto accounts in the USA and pretend to be wealthy and taunt others (eg HFSP, WGMI, laser eyes, 🚀 rocket ships, etc.)
You create unregulated brokerage accounts with stablecoins in them and absolutely nothing backing them (and lead victims to think there’s an actual 1:1 peg). Then the victims get all excited seeing lots of stablecoin in their accounts… desperate for liquidity to keep the ponzi going? no problem …just offer high-yield % staking. ….until it all goes poof.
If Democrats were somehow beholden to this guy, they wouldn't have charged him with wire fraud, money laundering and a bunch of other felonies, extradited him from the Bahamas to an NYC jail, and given him the highest bail in US history. The Democrat prosecutors are looking to nail this geek for whatever you think he did to you.
Then why did they wait until AFTER the midterms where he claimed he was going to donate a billion dollars to democrats?
The democrats are engaging in theater. Why don't they give back the money he donated? That money would go right to the victims that he stole from.
I don't know the answers to your irrelevant questions, but I DO know that your prediction/statement that "he is 100% guilty but he donates to democrats so he will be found innocent" is stupid in light of what has happened, and WILL be proven wrong in about 6-18 months when Friedman pleads guilty to various felonies and get sentenced to 8-15 years in federal prison.
I'll make a mental note to remind you just how idiotic your prediction was when the time comes. Don't forget to check back, if you have the nads.
Aired June 16th, 2004This clip is meant for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research purposes only and is covered under the Un...