Crypto Bro Sam Bankman-Fried Was the Perfect Liberal Hero
Liberals tend to worship a specific kind of hero: highly credentialed, media-friendly, foe of both conservative Republicans and “liberal pieties” — someone exactly like former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, cryptocurrency failure extraordinaire.
Sam Bankman-Fried speaks onstage during the first annual Moonlight Gala benefitting CARE–Children With Special Needs on June 23, 2022 in New York City. (Craig Barritt / Getty Images for CARE For Special Children )
The New York Times is hosting, on November 30, a “summit” of “groundbreakers” and “influential minds,” among them Sam Bankman-Fried, disgraced founder of FTX.
No one is defending Bankman-Fried at this point. It’s been widely reported that the former crypto billionaire lied about numerous aspects of the value and viability of his business. His company is now worth almost nothing. Many investors lost fortunes and everyone who worked for the company is now unemployed. Former employees have lost their life savings. Bankman-Fried is the Bernie Madoff of crypto, an industry that is shady even at its best.
It’s curious, then, to find him still an honored guest of the anti-disinformation crusaders at the Gray Lady, and, at this writing, still on the program. But his spiral into ignominy has been swift. Just a couple weeks ago, Bankman-Fried’s presence at the Times’ “summit” would have been unsurprising, as he was an absolute darling of the liberal intelligentsia.
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