According to Michael Lewis, Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly offered Donald Trump a huge sum of money to keep him out of the presidential race
On Tuesday, Sam Bankman-Fried, creator of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, will stand trial.
Federal authorities have accused Bankman-Fried of fraud. With the beginning of the trial comes the publication of “Going Infinite,” a best-selling book by Michael Lewis that examines the rise and fall of the accused con artist.
According to Lewis’s account of the discredited cryptocurrency exchange’s founder, Bankman-Fried was offered a possible sum of $5 billion. According to Lewis: “So he did receive a response. A certain figure was being bandied around. And when I discussed this with Sam, $5 billion was a figure we tossed about.”
Lewis had never heard of the mysterious crypto genius until he was asked to assess Bankman-Fried’s integrity. In less than a decade, Bankman-Fried went from being penniless to possessing a fortune of over $20 billion, which shocked him.
Lewis said it best: “It’s having your own casino.” “He was a gambler at first, but then he realized that making a better casino was the smarter move.”`
During their first meeting, Lewis learned that Bankman-Fried was not motivated by a desire for personal wealth but rather by a desire to maximize his earnings in order to support effective altruism, a social movement that aims to address global threats like the development of artificial intelligence, the possibility of pandemics, and what Bankman-Fried saw as the undermining of democracy by former President Donald Trump.
In fact, Bankman-Fried allegedly considered offering Trump $5 billion to not run for president in 2024. This is according to Lewis. While these talks were going on, FTX saw a precipitous decline.
Lewis said that these discussions were still going on at the time FTX went boom. Why then didn’t it take place? No longer did he have $5 billion to his name.
Lewis went back to Bankman-Fried in the Bahamas after FTX collapsed. Bankman-Fried was eventually captured and sent to New York to face federal charges. His seven charges of indictment include wire fraud, securities fraud conspiracy, and money laundering. Bankman-Fried has entered a not guilty plea.
A federal court ruled last week that Bankman-Fried must remain in jail until the conclusion of his trial. While hearing the defense’s claims, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan reportedly said, “They’re not going in cold here,” according to Coindesk.
The trial of Bankman-Fried will start this week. According to Lewis, Bankman-Fried is certain he is innocent and is even prepared to turn down a six-month home arrest agreement. If found guilty, Bankman-Fried may spend more than a century behind bars.
