4 ms·

Regulators should have acted against crypto years ago. But these agencies have been walking on eggshells because the conservative Supreme Court is inclined to t

by pavlov 4y ago

Regulators should have acted against crypto years ago. But these agencies have been walking on eggshells because the conservative Supreme Court is inclined to take away much of their enforcement powers. A lot of crypto money has flowed to mostly Republican politicians who support turning the SEC and FTC into hollow shells. Ultimately the criminal is to blame for the crime. Law enforcement can’t be everywhere actively preventing people from sending money to shady actors, as much as we try to build systems to that effect. Hopefully the FTX collapse is a reminder to both American parties to beware “innovators” bearing gifts, and for SEC to better use the powers they have (for now anyway).

Tenoke 4y ago
>A lot of crypto money has flowed to mostly Republican politicians This is such an ironically motivated thing to say in a thread about FTX given that SBF was Democrats' second largest donor.
- kibwen 4y ago
  For some numbers: https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/top_donors https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/top_donors Bankman-Fried, the CEO of FTX, gave $35M to democrats. Ryan Salame, the "Co-CEO" of FTX, gave $18M to republicans, making him the 10th-largest republican donor (though this is slightly misleading as a comparison; republicans have more large donors than democrats, and Salame's donation would have been the 5th-largest if it had been for the latter). FTX was playing both sides.
  - leereeves 4y ago
    That doesn't seem to support the claim that "crypto money has flowed to mostly Republican politicians". Rather the opposite, as the amounts from those donors are $35M to Democrats vs $18M to Republicans. Are there some other donors who gave crypto money to Republicans?
    - kibwen 4y ago
      I am not supporting or refuting either claim, I'm offering data. Speaking personally, I will say that overturning Citizens United would be a good start at keeping this money out of politics, which, as of March, was an effort that appears to be sponsored exclusively by one party: https://schiff.house.gov/news/press-releases/congressman-schiff-introduces-constitutional-amendment-to-overturn-citizens-united https://schiff.house.gov/news/press-releases/congressman-sch... > Are there some other donors who gave crypto money to Republicans? I can only speculate as to the sources of wealth for many of these people and their motivations. That said, we do see Peter Thiel with a $32M donation to republicans, the same Peter Thiel who headlined the Bitcoin 2022 conference this year: 'Taking a break from throwing cash into the crowd, Thiel accused the three finance moguls of facilitating a system that harbors institutional and political biases against Bitcoin.' '"The central banks are bankrupt. We are at the end of the fiat money regime," Thiel declared. Thiel believes Bitcoin is the ultimate alternative to the entire traditional financial system.' https://decrypt.co/97251/peter-thiel-unleashes-ethereum-warren-buffett-enemies-bitcoin-2022 https://decrypt.co/97251/peter-thiel-unleashes-ethereum-warr...
    - rtkwe 4y ago
      This is two people at one company it doesn't refute a larger trend.
      - Tenoke 4y ago
        Given that those things frequently follow a power law, one man is hardly indicative of the impact the 2nd biggest donor has. Even more so when I am not sure if anyone in crypto comes even close. Coinbase only maybe?
rattlesnakedave 4y ago
> Regulators should have acted against crypto years ago This case has surprisingly little to do with crypto. Gambling user deposits is already illegal. >A lot of crypto money has flowed to mostly Republican politicians who support turning the SEC and FTC into hollow shells Note SBF and FTX's donor list.

by pavlov 4y ago

Tenoke 4y ago

>A lot of crypto money has flowed to mostly Republican politicians This is such an ironically motivated thing to say in a thread about FTX given that SBF was Democrats' second largest donor.

kibwen 4y ago
For some numbers: https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/top_donors https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/top_donors Bankman-Fried, the CEO of FTX, gave $35M to democrats. Ryan Salame, the "Co-CEO" of FTX, gave $18M to republicans, making him the 10th-largest republican donor (though this is slightly misleading as a comparison; republicans have more large donors than democrats, and Salame's donation would have been the 5th-largest if it had been for the latter). FTX was playing both sides.
- leereeves 4y ago
  That doesn't seem to support the claim that "crypto money has flowed to mostly Republican politicians". Rather the opposite, as the amounts from those donors are $35M to Democrats vs $18M to Republicans. Are there some other donors who gave crypto money to Republicans?
  - kibwen 4y ago
    I am not supporting or refuting either claim, I'm offering data. Speaking personally, I will say that overturning Citizens United would be a good start at keeping this money out of politics, which, as of March, was an effort that appears to be sponsored exclusively by one party: https://schiff.house.gov/news/press-releases/congressman-schiff-introduces-constitutional-amendment-to-overturn-citizens-united https://schiff.house.gov/news/press-releases/congressman-sch... > Are there some other donors who gave crypto money to Republicans? I can only speculate as to the sources of wealth for many of these people and their motivations. That said, we do see Peter Thiel with a $32M donation to republicans, the same Peter Thiel who headlined the Bitcoin 2022 conference this year: 'Taking a break from throwing cash into the crowd, Thiel accused the three finance moguls of facilitating a system that harbors institutional and political biases against Bitcoin.' '"The central banks are bankrupt. We are at the end of the fiat money regime," Thiel declared. Thiel believes Bitcoin is the ultimate alternative to the entire traditional financial system.' https://decrypt.co/97251/peter-thiel-unleashes-ethereum-warren-buffett-enemies-bitcoin-2022 https://decrypt.co/97251/peter-thiel-unleashes-ethereum-warr...
  - rtkwe 4y ago
    This is two people at one company it doesn't refute a larger trend.
    - Tenoke 4y ago
      Given that those things frequently follow a power law, one man is hardly indicative of the impact the 2nd biggest donor has. Even more so when I am not sure if anyone in crypto comes even close. Coinbase only maybe?

rattlesnakedave 4y ago

> Regulators should have acted against crypto years ago This case has surprisingly little to do with crypto. Gambling user deposits is already illegal. >A lot of crypto money has flowed to mostly Republican politicians who support turning the SEC and FTC into hollow shells Note SBF and FTX's donor list.