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FTX Collapse takes toll on the Bahamas
- tmaly 4y agoRelated, the Moonstone bank story is interesting https://protos.com/the-curious-case-of-ftx-and-farmington-state-bank-aka-moonstone/ https://protos.com/the-curious-case-of-ftx-and-farmington-st...
- ttul 4y agoSuppose you’re engineering a massive Ponzi scheme using crypto. Capturing a small rural bank that is connected to the legitimate financial system would be an excellent way to hide the scheme. Much as money launderers captured small Floridian banks in the 1980s, I’m sure we will be learning in the coming months how crypto schemes pulled the same trick.
- Gys 4y agohttps://archive.ph/1jIg9 https://archive.ph/1jIg9
- Apocryphon 4y agoFrom the Fyre Festival to FTX, the Bahamas just can’t catch a break.
- Animats 4y ago(deleted - bad info)
- Apocryphon 4y agoGuess he should’ve bought/built his own island first.
- fuzzfactor 4y agoDavis is the Prime Minister. Salame is an FTX executive.
- coldpie 4y agoI can't read the article, but the subhead says, "Island nation encouraged crypto companies to set up shop," and later, "In April, the Bahamas prime minister appeared with FTX executives at a ceremonial groundbreaking on the new land [purchased by FTX]." If you're actively inviting scammers to play a big role in your economy, I guess it's tough for me to feel too much sympathy when you get scammed.
- more_corn 4y agoIt’s interesting that we’re all here talking about an article we can’t read.
- colpabar 4y agoIs it tough to feel sympathy for the ordinary bahamiams who had nothing to do with this who are going to suffer the actual consequences of all this? As for the government, I see two possibilities: either they were paid off, or they were scammed too.
- rospaya 4y ago> As for the government, I see two possibilities: either they were paid off, or they were scammed too. Or they're just idiots that won't have to deal with the consequences, which is usually the case.
- colpabar 4y agoI know. But I can't be completely cynical in all my comments here.
- JustLurking2022 4y agoDid they elect that government?
- giarc 4y agoEvery VC company in the valley was scammed. FTX was seen as the pinnacle of exchanges.
- matkoniecz 4y agoGiven that Bahamas help rich people and companies to evade taxes, my sympathy to negative consequences of that are limited.
- pupppet 4y agoExactly. Where's my tiny violin.
- beepbooptheory 4y agoThis is all very interesting. Why is that people in countries generally south of the equator have more collective agency in their state's affairs than those in the north? I only ask because whenever people talk on here about politics in America or Europe, people don't have a hard time accepting that the state would be against the interests of individuals, but whenever its about some country in Africa or South America, the focus is much more on the country as a whole as like a rational individual.
- therealcamino 4y agoHuh? Who is talking about countries south of the equator?
- matkoniecz 4y ago1) note that I mentioned Bahamas, not people living there. To be more specific, I have a lot sympathy toward people that oppose Bahamas policy of making their economy scam-based and fraud-based. 2) I also have limited sympathy to Russia for consequences of their invasions (much larger toward Russians who at least tried to leave Russia or did anything at all) 3) The same applies to disastrous smog-related stupidity in my own country, Poland
- michaericalribo 4y agoBahamas are not south of the equator*, they’re adjacent to Florida * or even very close to it
- oliveshell 4y agoIf we’re talking about the Bahamas being unable to catch a break, there should be mention of the nasty direct hit they took from hurricane Dorian in 2019, from which some areas are still recovering. The storm basically sat still over Grand Bahama for 24 hours as a Category 5 storm with up to 185mph sustained winds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_Hurricane_Dorian_in_The_Bahamas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_Hurricane_Dorian_in...
- renewiltord 4y agoHaha, I get it. It takes "atoll on the Bahamas". Very good. Very good.
- Exendroinient00 4y agoNothing wrong with inviting every scammer to do scamming on your islands.
- funstuff007 4y ago> But construction never really got under way. Speaking of work that never got started, did Nikola ever build that factory?
- mdorazio 4y agoHere it is a few weeks ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46_JtaO7TYo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46_JtaO7TYo
- chris_wot 4y agoIt appears that the Bahamas actively encourage crooks and scammers to set up shop on their island. This is not a long term plan for success.
- Syzygies 4y agoDunno whether I'm having more fun watching the Musk bonfire, or the FTX collapse. My digital timestamping paper is cited by the original bitcoin paper, so people assume I appreciate cryptocurrencies. They're an environmental crime and a Ponzi scheme. Many people have tried to explain to me why cryptocurrencies aren't a Ponzi scheme. The poker player / oral examiner in me kicks in: They may not realize they don't understand or believe what they're saying, but they don't make sense. Denial is powerful. People want to believe this is their moment.
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y agoI was always told, "If your feet are wet, and you can see pyramids, you're in de Nile (or a fountain, in Vegas)."
- watwut 4y agoWhat does that mean?
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago"de nile" is a play on words. "In denial" is basically a pop psychology term, meaning that we are not admitting something that is true and obvious[0]. Like, if our spouse is cheating on us, and they come home at 1AM, smelling of booze and perfume, with lipstick all over their collar, but we say "I'm sure he was just working late." The "Vegas Fountain" bit is a joke, as they have a pyramid-shaped building, for the Luxor casino[1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial_(Freud) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial_(Freud) [1] https://luxor.mgmresorts.com/en.html https://luxor.mgmresorts.com/en.html
- watwut 4y agoThank you!
- chinabot 4y agoTwitter is a controlled burn not a bonfire, but I'm sure Musk will be back to eating more babies for your delight and edification soon.
- Ekaros 4y agoDidn't really see anything but unrealised opportunities. So I don't think it ended too badly for them. And FTX is probably pretty minor thing in long run and they come up with some other way to extract money from insanity of financial markets.
- Waterluvian 4y agoI've got to imagine residents were probably generally fine with all this money flowing through there when it still appeared to be real.