Sam Bankman-Fried said he was down to his last 100k, but now he's a free man after posting $250 million bail

Have to agree with rojo on this one:

Read this:

thenewdaily.com.au

Bitcoin is not a Ponzi scheme, it’s an outcome of capitalism’s failure

@TheNewDailyAU

Bitcoin is a magnet for the victims of modern capitalism, like lottery tickets, and is therefore both a symptom and a symbol of its failures.

Open link

It may not be true Ponzi, but close enough. Ironic that one crypto guy is taking the fall for fraud in an intrisically gambling industry

I heard that in NY, it only takes 6% of the amount to post bail. Remember, normally it's 10% of bond to post bail. Mommy & Daddy reportedly put up at least some if not all the value of their CA home.

Cryptocurrency is widely misunderstood. Conceptually, it is a means of securely trading value and could be used as a means of exchange (currency). Practically, a currency needs to be a relatively stable value so that it could be used to purchase an item of value and the seller would have the ability to use that same value elsewhere.

As an investment, cryptocurrency is closer to trading commodities like gold or silver. The price is generally speculative. It isn't so much a ponzi scheme as it is a pump and dump scheme where large share holders try to drive the price up and sell out when the demand peaks leaving remaining shareholders with a generally worthless commodity. Better to get out too early than too late. Ponzi schemes are using the investments of later investors to pay off the returns of earlier investors so you have to keep getting more investors and it usually collapses when you are unable to get enough new investors.

The crimes tied to FTX and related entities are simple. You can't take money from investors for one purpose and then use if for another. That is securities fraud.

wow as can't belief he did this, as I wouldn't have done this but if I did this I would have flead, but if I couldn't flead because I caught I pleed guilty as I hope he can enjoys his freedom while he still in his 20s as being in 20s a ton of real good fun as maybe he can impregnante someone like elizabeth holmes did notice how she only got 11 years as she will have plenty of time in her 20s after she gets out as she doesn't try to flead and was caught and pleed innocnece

Bond is secured by his parents' house. To secure a bond of $250 million, the house must be worth millions (plural). That raises the question of how his parents can afford a house like that?

I'll take my crack at explaining.

There is still some amount of paper money, but dollars for the most part these days are entries in the Federal Reserve's computer.

What the blockchain does is allow the role of the Federal Reserve's computer to be played by the miners. So you can have agreement on who has how many bitcoins with having anyone, or the government, in control of that.

However, what the dollar, or any fiat currency, has going for it that bitcoin doesn't is that the dollar does have some 'inherent' value. The government requires it for the paying of taxes and can require accepting it for other items in the country (legal tender).

So it is somewhat like gold in that it can be a currency not under control of any country if people use it that way. Unlike gold though, if the internet goes down, or nobody wants to mine anymore, what you have disappears.

No, it doesn't. Absolutely nothing in this Bankman-Fried saga raises the slightest question as to how two Stanford law professors in their 60s were at some time in their past able to purchase a house which is now worth a few million dollars.

I'm no fan of crypto or this guy but his parents, based on their jobs and age, are likely quite well off.. all on their own.

He isnt fleeing anywhere. He will be found dead. Either by one of the people he screwed over or by the Democrat suicide squad. He was in bed with the Dems. THey will silence him.

Watch this one closely for special treatment from Justice and from the media.

This kid simply stole customer funds. Nothing tricky about it. Watch for the media to portray is as complicated and to claim that we need to prove intent and that is not easy that he is cooperating. Don't forget that the mastermind of the College "Varsity Blues" scandal is still a free man.

Now we are told he covered a $250 million bond (or maybe a $25 million bond)? Where the $$ come from. I saw something on Fox where a guy claimed he put up nothing but just signed a promise

AKA theft

Per NY Times:

The release this week of Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced cryptocurrency executive, from federal custody on a $250 million bond has raised questions about the federal bail process and why such a high-profile defendant was allowed to go free.
The bond essentially amounts to a promise to appear in court when required; it does not compel Mr. Bankman-Fried, who is charged with numerous crimes related to his handling of the cryptocurrency exchange he founded, to pay $250 million.
No money has changed hands and none will unless Mr. Bankman-Fried fails to show up for court or is found to have violated other conditions set by the judge.
In that case, his parents’ house in Palo Alto, Calif., which was used to secure the bond, could be seized by the government. The four people who are to co-sign the bond, including one nonfamily member, would be on the hook for the rest of the $250 million.

So nobody had to put up a dime.

Looks like he is already getting special treatment.

SBF and 2 parents are presumably the family members. No way the house is worth anywhere near $250 million. So either one extremely rich guy is making up the difference -- we need to be told who that is -- or the court accepted less than $250 million.

Starting to stink already

coindesk.com

Bankman-Fried's Incredible Shrinking ‘$250 Million Bond’

James Murphy

The FTX founder signs another remarkable deal.

Open link

Sam Bankman-Fried walked out of federal court on Thursday essentially a free man.
News outlets all around the globe reported that Bankman-Fried got out of jail by posting a gargantuan, unprecedented “$250 million bond.”

In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Roos described it as the “largest ever” pretrial bond.

But, as it turns out, there is less than meets the eye in this “$250 million bond.” In fact, a lot less.

In the typical federal case, a bail bondsman would charge between 10%-15% of the amount in cash to issue a surety bond or “bail bond.” In the case of Bankman-Fried’s astronomical bond, 15% of $250 million would be $37.5 million. But Bankman-Fried did not pay $37.5 million for his bond. No, Bankman-Fried actually paid no cash at all for his “$250 million bond.” Nothing. Zero.

There is a second way to acquire a bail bond. A defendant, or someone on their behalf, may pledge collateral in the full amount of the bond. Then, if the defendant fails to appear in court, the pledged collateral is forfeit to the court. So, in Bankman-Fried’s case, that would mean he would need a benefactor to step up and pledge property worth $250 million to get the bond. But that did not happen either.

Instead, Bankman-Fried’s parents promised to pledge as collateral their Palo Alto, California, home, where he'll also be staying under house arrest. The Palo Alto home is rumored to be worth $4 million. And that is the full extent of the collateral pledged to guarantee the $250 million bond. No other collateral was posted or promised.

So where did that $250 million figure come from? Great question.
In this case, Bankman-Fried was not required to post a conventional bail bond.

Instead, Bankman-Fried was simply released from custody on something called a personal recognizance bond. The personal recognizance bond contains Bankman-Fried’s solemn promise (and his parents’ promise) to pay the court $250 million if he fails to show up for trial at the appointed time.

Yes, you read that right. Bankman-Fried walked out of court essentially a free man by signing a piece of paper where he promised to pay the court $250 million if he decides to flee to another country with no extradition. This, of course, is totally absurd.

'Potayto', 'Potarto'

Given that it has no intrinsic value like the silver and gold you mention there is no inherent difference in the way that people are enriched by it.

His parents had to put up their house and someone else (who is known to the court and prosecutors) had to put up more collateral to the tune of around $10-25 million, which is a lot more than a dime.

Yeah, right. The same federal prosecutors who hustled and within weeks, when it usually takes months or even years, charged him with 8 felonies punishable by decades in prison, and then demanded the largest bail in US history are giving him "special treatment."

yeah I've seen a few pump and dumps and made money. Also nmade money from the president Trump NFTs. You just need to cash out when you've made good profit

yeah I've seen a few pump and dumps and made money. Also nmade money from the president Trump NFTs. You just need to cash out when you've made good profit

the value of their “currency” was literally made up. It was basically airline points that they claimed were worth $6 billion and people were dumb enough to buy it. The whole crypto industry is fake. Binance’s token is the same exact thing.

He put up cryptocurrency currently worth $250 Million that he proved was in his personal accounts (and not stolen) and the judge accepted that ? That's my very wild guess. I don't think that's true, but the world of crypto is riddled with craziness that completely baffles me.

What percentage of crypto transactions on any given day are used to buy real goods and services ? What percentage are transactions of crypto on one side and currency issued by a sovereign government on the other ?