Former CEO of crypto exchange admits attempts to woo regulators were ‘just PR’
The founder of bust cryptocurrency exchange FTX has claimed he puffed up his ethical credentials as part of a “dumb game we woke Westerners play” to burnish his reputation “so everyone likes us”.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the 30-year-old founder of collapsed cryptocurrency company FTX, admitted in an interview that his public stance on ethical issues was in part a “front”.
The admission comes amid accusations that Mr Bankman-Fried scammed investors out of their money. Regulators around the world, including the US Department of Justice, are investigating the collapse of FTX, which has left over one million creditors out of pocket.
Mr Bankman-Fried, who at one stage was worth around $16bn, was a self-proclaimed “effective altruist”, meaning he aimed to make as much money as possible in order to give it away to charities.