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> Remember Alamada wasn’t a normal customer. It was acting as a market maker/counterparty of last resort to many other FTX customers. In that case there could b
by edouard-harris 4y ago
> Remember Alamada wasn’t a normal customer. It was acting as a market maker/counterparty of last resort to many other FTX customers. In that case there could be situations where ‘normal customer liquidation rules’ shouldn’t apply
This might be a reasonable argument in a vacuum, except that:
> [SBF] told investors and prospective investors that FTX had top-notch, sophisticated automated risk measures in place to protect customer assets, that those assets were safe and secure, and that Alameda was just another platform customer with no special privileges. [emphasis added]
And also:
> Bankman-Fried also told investors, and directed other FTX and Alameda
employees to tell investors, that Alameda received no preferential treatment from FTX. For example, Bankman-Fried told the Wall Street Journal in or around July 2022: “There are no parties that have privileged access.” Likewise, in a Bloomberg article published in or about September 2022, Bankman-Fried claimed that “Alameda is a wholly separate entity” than FTX. In the same article, Ellison is quoted as stating about Alameda: “We’re at arm’s length and don’t
get any different treatment from other market makers.” Bankman-Fried made similar statements directly to investors. [emphasis added]
(The above are direct quotes from the SEC complaint [1] against SBF.)
Singh might argue that he wasn't aware of the private statements to investors. But the WSJ and Bloomberg stories show the "arm's length" claim was something they consistently messaged to the public at the highest levels. To argue that Alameda's role as market maker of last resort justified a privileged status would be inconsistent with all their prior public claims to the contrary. "We lied to the public repeatedly about our risk management" isn't a defense; it's a confession.
[1] https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2022/comp-pr2022-219.pdf https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2022/comp-pr2022-2...
- db48x 4y agoIt’s potentially a defense for the engineer though, if he had nothing to do with the advertising. Of course it’s all just idle speculation; the real interesting stuff will come out in the trial, years upon years from now.
- RF_Savage 4y agoThe engineer would have a hard time claiming ignorance with multiple widely reported public statements about how Alameda had no special priviledges.
- db48x 4y agoPossibly. On the other hand, I’m not sure I’ve ever read any of my own company’s press releases. Was this guy an officer of the company?
- rxhernandez 4y agoShould an engineer be tracking what their company is telling media outlets? No one else is tasked with looking at my code except other engineers; why should engineers spend their precious time making sure that other business units are performing their duties ethically?
- TheNorthman 4y agoProbably because the whole Topf & Söhne debacle doesn't need repeating? Engineers are of course partly responsible for the things they implement.
- t0suj4 4y agoWhy should be someone responsible for how the product of their labor is being used?
- ithinkso 4y agoThat's why be don't deserve the title of engineer in software and we should stick with coder or programmer. 'Hi mate. We just bought this rebar from Alibaba, saved as a ton of money. Could you sign here real quick? We need to finish that bridge!'
- vintermann 4y ago
- teawrecks 4y agoIt is interesting how commit author could function here as a tech equivalent of "convincing some sucker to sign off on a legally dubious action".