3 ms·

The way punishment and deterrence works in the U.S. is that you pick a high profile villain and make an example out of them, and then hope that the publicity ge

The way punishment and deterrence works in the U.S. is that you pick a high profile villain and make an example out of them, and then hope that the publicity generated by their punishment works to deter similar actors. Enforcement agencies like the SEC and FBI are bureaucracies just like major corporations, and often have fewer resources and lower paid employees. They don't have the resources to go after every criminal. So they pick the most high-impact, hated, and sensational cases to go after, then rely on the media to amplify the deterrence value. Most SPACs never made headlines on the way up; therefore prosecuting them is not going to make headlines on the way down. They'd spend a lot of resources to gather evidence and prove a court case, but it would have zero deterrence value to other potential criminals, because nobody will ever hear about the successful prosecution. It is far more cost-effective to go after SBF and FTX, which was very prominent in the 2019/2020 crypto bull run and many Americans personally lost money in its collapse, and use that to send a message to the rest of the crypto sector.

latchkey 3y ago
> many American politicians personally lost money in its collapse
- nostrademons 3y ago
  That too, and it was a general embarrassment for the U.S. government because he was the largest donor for many politicians who remained in office. They couldn't afford to not prosecute him, because it'd make them look (even more) corrupt.
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > it was a general embarrassment for the U.S. government because he was the largest donor for many politicians who remained in office This was irrelevant. You’re describing political opportunity for legislative primary runs. Bankman-Fried was prosecuted. What made him a sitting duck was his high profile, the stupidity of his blow-up and his inability to not maintain that high profile after he’d combusted. It was an easy, juicy case that made careers.
    - nostrademons 3y ago
      (It's interesting that my top-level comment which makes the point you do, that he was a high-profile target, is sitting at 1 point, while the one that says he is a general embarrassment to the U.S. government is at 5 points.
      - freejazz 3y ago
        > It's interesting that... Not really, hn is full of reactionary posters champing at the bit to connect loose threads, as your own post testifies to
  - freejazz 3y ago
    Do you not understand the separation of powers between the executive branch and the legislative branch?
tsunamifury 3y ago
I agree, however selective exemplary punishment is specifically outlawed in the constitution. As well as precedent around selective enforcement. Chamuth's SPAC that dumped together a ton of covid duds and sold it to investors then took a 90% loss to clear a bunch of billionaires books of their boondoggles ... that somehow feels so much more wrong than Sam.

latchkey 3y ago

> many American politicians personally lost money in its collapse

nostrademons 3y ago
That too, and it was a general embarrassment for the U.S. government because he was the largest donor for many politicians who remained in office. They couldn't afford to not prosecute him, because it'd make them look (even more) corrupt.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > it was a general embarrassment for the U.S. government because he was the largest donor for many politicians who remained in office This was irrelevant. You’re describing political opportunity for legislative primary runs. Bankman-Fried was prosecuted. What made him a sitting duck was his high profile, the stupidity of his blow-up and his inability to not maintain that high profile after he’d combusted. It was an easy, juicy case that made careers.
  - nostrademons 3y ago
    (It's interesting that my top-level comment which makes the point you do, that he was a high-profile target, is sitting at 1 point, while the one that says he is a general embarrassment to the U.S. government is at 5 points.
    - freejazz 3y ago
      > It's interesting that... Not really, hn is full of reactionary posters champing at the bit to connect loose threads, as your own post testifies to
- freejazz 3y ago
  Do you not understand the separation of powers between the executive branch and the legislative branch?

tsunamifury 3y ago

I agree, however selective exemplary punishment is specifically outlawed in the constitution. As well as precedent around selective enforcement. Chamuth's SPAC that dumped together a ton of covid duds and sold it to investors then took a 90% loss to clear a bunch of billionaires books of their boondoggles ... that somehow feels so much more wrong than Sam.