It\u2019s Sam Bankman-Fried\u2019s moment. The FTX and Alameda Ventures golden boy put both of his companies in a winning position and seems to be carrying the spoils away. The recent Forbes piece about secretly insolvent exchanges puts it best, \u201cLike J.P. Morgan during the stock market panic and crash of 1907, Bankman-Fried is taking advantage of the crypto chaos to expand his empire.\u201d Rumors about his involvement in engineering the \u201ccrypto chaos\u201d appear to be greatly exaggerated.<\/p>\n
NewsBTC reported on FTX\u2019s bailout of BlockFi and Alameda bailing Voyager. In the first article, we summarized the congested macro situation:<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the last few weeks, the crypto market has been trending down. The contagion effect of the Terra\/ Luna extinction event rocked every company out there, most of all those who offered yield on cryptocurrency deposits like BlockFi and Celsius and hedge funds like Three Arrows Capital. These companies\u2019 problems and possible liquidation of assets, in turn, sent the crypto market into even more turmoil.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the Fobes piece, speaking about BlockFi and Voyager\u2019s bailouts, they paint a similar picture with a crucial difference. Here, Bankman-Fried is performing a sacrifice:<\/p>\n
\u201cBetween FTX and his quantitative trading firm Alameda, he provided the companies with $750 million in credit lines. There is no guarantee that Bankman-Fried will recoup his investment. \u201cYou know, we\u2019re willing to do a somewhat bad deal here, if that\u2019s what it takes to sort of stabilize things and protect customers,\u201d he says.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, as you can read, that\u2019s according to Bankman-Fried himself. A few lines below, the article casts doubt on his assessment, \u201cBankman Fried\u2019s cash infusions are far from altruistic. He has emerged as a smart vulture capitalist in the beleaguered crypto market, knowing full well that his own fortune depends on its healthy rebound and growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Robinhood price chart on NASDAQ | Source: TradingView.com
\nBankman-Fried Sets Sight On Small Exchanges And Miners<\/p>\n
The rumor that FTX is looking for a way to acquire Robinhood circulated today. The Forbes article elaborates on that subject. \u201cBankman Fried has also bought into crypto brokerage Robinhood, where FTX has already accumulated a 7.6% stake, and is rumored to be considering an acquisition.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not only that, Forbes estimated that there are more than 600 crypto exchanges in the world. Then, they quote Bankman Fried claiming, \u201cthere are some third-tier exchanges that are already secretly insolvent\u201d. Is the implication that his two companies are considering buying some of them? Maybe. However,\u00a0 Bankman Fried will be picky about exactly which ones:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are companies that are basically too far gone and it\u2019s not practical to backstop them for reasons like a substantial hole in the balance sheet, regulatory issues, or that there is not much of a business left to be saved.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a strange turn of events Bankman-Fried, one of Proof-Of-Stake\u2019s biggest proponents, expressed interest in \u201ccrypto miners\u201d. Even stranger, the article then proceeds to list two bitcoin mining companies. Who introduced the word \u201ccrypto\u201d in the conversation, Bankman-Fried or Forbes?<\/p>\n
\u201cBankman-Fried also has his eye on crypto miners, many of whom leveraged their balance sheet at breakneck pace to quickly scale and take advantage of this 21st century digital gold rush. The stocks of publicly-trading crypto miners including Marathon Digital Holdings and Riot Blockchain are down more than 60% year to date.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finishing With Tether For Some Reason<\/p>\n
Without warning or apparent reason, the Forbes article ends with Sam Bankman-Fried\u2019s thoughts on Tether. \u201cI think that the really bearish views on Tether are wrong\u2026I don\u2019t think there is any evidence to support them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Featured Image by 41330 on Pixabay| Charts by TradingView<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Sam Bankman-Fried\u2019s moment. The FTX and Alameda Ventures golden boy put both of his companies in a winning position and seems to be carrying the spoils away. The recent Forbes piece about secretly insolvent exchanges puts it best, \u201cLike J.P. Morgan during the stock market panic and crash of 1907, Bankman-Fried is taking advantage of the crypto chaos to expand his empire.\u201d Rumors about his involvement in engineering the \u201ccrypto chaos\u201d appear to be greatly exaggerated.<\/p>\n
NewsBTC reported on FTX\u2019s bailout of BlockFi and Alameda bailing Voyager. In the first article, we summarized the congested macro situation:<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the last few weeks, the crypto market has been trending down. The contagion effect of the Terra\/ Luna extinction event rocked every company out there, most of all those who offered yield on cryptocurrency deposits like BlockFi and Celsius and hedge funds like Three Arrows Capital. These companies\u2019 problems and possible liquidation of assets, in turn, sent the crypto market into even more turmoil.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the Fobes piece, speaking about BlockFi and Voyager\u2019s bailouts, they paint a similar picture with a crucial difference. Here, Bankman-Fried is performing a sacrifice:<\/p>\n
\u201cBetween FTX and his quantitative trading firm Alameda, he provided the companies with $750 million in credit lines. There is no guarantee that Bankman-Fried will recoup his investment. \u201cYou know, we\u2019re willing to do a somewhat bad deal here, if that\u2019s what it takes to sort of stabilize things and protect customers,\u201d he says.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, as you can read, that\u2019s according to Bankman-Fried himself. A few lines below, the article casts doubt on his assessment, \u201cBankman Fried\u2019s cash infusions are far from altruistic. He has emerged as a smart vulture capitalist in the beleaguered crypto market, knowing full well that his own fortune depends on its healthy rebound and growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robinhood price chart on NASDAQ | Source: TradingView.com
\nBankman-Fried Sets Sight On Small Exchanges And Miners<\/p>\n
The rumor that FTX is looking for a way to acquire Robinhood circulated today. The Forbes article elaborates on that subject. \u201cBankman Fried has also bought into crypto brokerage Robinhood, where FTX has already accumulated a 7.6% stake, and is rumored to be considering an acquisition.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not only that, Forbes estimated that there are more than 600 crypto exchanges in the world. Then, they quote Bankman Fried claiming, \u201cthere are some third-tier exchanges that are already secretly insolvent\u201d. Is the implication that his two companies are considering buying some of them? Maybe. However,\u00a0 Bankman Fried will be picky about exactly which ones:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are companies that are basically too far gone and it\u2019s not practical to backstop them for reasons like a substantial hole in the balance sheet, regulatory issues, or that there is not much of a business left to be saved.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a strange turn of events Bankman-Fried, one of Proof-Of-Stake\u2019s biggest proponents, expressed interest in \u201ccrypto miners\u201d. Even stranger, the article then proceeds to list two bitcoin mining companies. Who introduced the word \u201ccrypto\u201d in the conversation, Bankman-Fried or Forbes?<\/p>\n
\u201cBankman-Fried also has his eye on crypto miners, many of whom leveraged their balance sheet at breakneck pace to quickly scale and take advantage of this 21st century digital gold rush. The stocks of publicly-trading crypto miners including Marathon Digital Holdings and Riot Blockchain are down more than 60% year to date.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finishing With Tether For Some Reason<\/p>\n
Without warning or apparent reason, the Forbes article ends with Sam Bankman-Fried\u2019s thoughts on Tether. \u201cI think that the really bearish views on Tether are wrong\u2026I don\u2019t think there is any evidence to support them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Featured Image by 41330 on Pixabay| Charts by TradingView<\/p>\n
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