Former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, has once again drawn the ire of the cryptocurrency community, but this time it was for his scheduled appearance at a conference in New York City on November 30..
Members of Twitter’s crypto community have questioned why the former CEO of the exchange, now bankrupt, is still at large.taking into account the events of the last month.
In a post from Twitter on November 23, Bankman-Fried announced that he will speak with The New York Times journalist Andrew Sorkin at the DealBook Summit “next Wednesday.”.
The news was publicly confirmed by Sorkin, who said: “There are many important questions that need to be asked and answered.. Nothing is off limits.”
A lot of folks have been asking if I would still be interviewing @SBF_FTX at the @nytimes @dealbook Summit on Nov 30…
The answer is yes.
There are a lot of important questions to be asked and answered.
Nothing is off limits.
Looking forward to it… https://t.co/lShAqXLKGS
—Andrew Ross Sorkin (@andrewrsorkin) November 23, 2022
Many people have asked me if I would still be interviewing @SBF_FTX at the @nytimes @dealbook Summit on November 30th… The answer is yes. There are a lot of important questions that need to be asked and answered. Nothing is off limits. I’m looking forward to it… https://t.co/lShAqXLKGS
Following the collapse of FTX, some members of the community had wondered if Bankman-Fried would honor his commitments to speak at conferences.including the one at DealBook Summit.
A spokesperson for The New York Times confirmed to Cointelegraph that Bankman-Fried was invited to the DealBook Summit several months ago – long before the FTX crash – and that he would likely participate in the interview virtually from the Bahamas.stating:
“We invited Mr. Bankman-Fried to be interviewed at the Summit several months ago. At this time, we expect Mr. Bankman-Fried to participate in the interview from the Bahamas.”
According to a Gawker report dated November 11, Bankman-Fried was previously listed on the speakers page as “CEO of FTX”. However, the speaker page now shows that his title has been updated to “FTX Founder”reflecting his resignation from the post since FTX’s bankruptcy filing.
Twitter’s crypto community responds
Some members of the crypto community have not taken the news well; they have commented that Bankman-Fried should be detained instead of speaking freely at conferences.
US Attorney John Deaton and founder of Crypto Law told his 229,300 Twitter followers that If US security forces do not arrest and charge Bankman-Fried – who is currently in the Bahamas – with fraud and theft if he enters the US next week, then the justice system “has been compromised.”.
Let me make this clear if SBF isn’t arrested and charged with fraud, wire-fraud, theft, and possibly money laundering before and instead gets to spew out his bullshit narrative, our system of justice has been compromised. @ewarren you claim to be for the little guy, where are you https://t.co/cdmOa7U0an
—John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) November 23, 2022
Let me get this straight: if SBF is not arrested and charged with fraud, wire fraud, theft, and possibly money laundering and instead goes so far as to spew out their bullshit narrative, our justice system is compromised. @ewarren you say you are in favor of ordinary people, where are you?
https://t.co/cdmOa7U0an
British media personality and bitcoin advocate Layah Heilpern told her 328,200 Twitter followers that “it’s disgusting” that Bankman-Fried is going to speak on stage and isn’t in custody..
The fact he is going to be speaking on stage at a damn conference rather than in custody being investigated for fraud and theft is incredible.
He’s an agent of the establishment. It’s disgusting. https://t.co/x3gCZvLQXI
— Layah Heilpern (@LayahHeilpern) November 23, 2022
The fact that he’s going to be speaking onstage at a freaking conference instead of being held up for fraud and theft is unbelievable. He is an agent of the establishment. He is disgusting. https://t.co/x3gCZvLQXI
Ryan Adams, founder of investment firm Mythos Capital and Bankless took things a step further by comparing the arrest and three-month detention of Alexey Pertsev – the lead developer behind the now US-sanctioned Tornado Cash – with the unfathomable Bankman–Fried behaviorwhich has not yet been investigated.
Alexey Pertsev is still sitting in jail without charges for writing open source privacy code meanwhile… pic.twitter.com/CWRfAknFx8
— RYAN SΞAN ADAMS – rsa.eth (@RyanSAdams) November 23, 2022
Meanwhile, Alexey Pertsev is still sitting in jail without charge for writing open source privacy code… pic.twitter.com/CWRfAknFx8
For his part, the president of Real Bedford FC and bitcoin advocate, Peter McCormack joked that Bankman-Fried would receive “a Nobel Prize at this rate.”.
SBF will get a Nobel Prize at this rate
—Peter McCormack☠️ (@PeterMcCormack) November 24, 2022
SBF will receive a Nobel Prize for this step
The New York Times was recently criticized by the cryptocurrency community for having written a “propaganda article on SBF”, which seemed to only skim the alleged fraud and crimes of Bankman-Fried.and instead focused on whether he was getting enough sleep.
As to the current whereabouts of Bankman-Fried, Crypto Crib posted photos to his 66,900 Twitter followers late on November 23 of what appears to be Bankman-Fried eating a meal with his mother and others in his Bahamas penthouse..
On November 23, the US attorney general. Merrick Garland, Merrick aide Kenneth Polite, and US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Sheldon Whitehouse requested that the US Department of Justice launch a full-scale investigation into the role of Bankman-Fried and other executives at FTX on the FTX collapse.
Update 2:30am UTC Nov 24: Added a statement from a spokesperson for The New York Times.
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