Fallen Crypto Mogul Convicted

So now we know that he wasn’t able to finesse his way out of this the way he’d hoped he could. Life as he’s known is is over for Sam Bankman-Fried and perhaps he’ll be able to find solace in no longer living on the edge and devoting himself to using his considerable intelligence, to in some way help other inmates. Perhaps in understanding crypto and that What Goes Around does Come Around!

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Kirkus Reviews says:
A stable, nonpreachy, objective voice makes the book stand apart from others in the genre. A successful guide that uses anecdotes of real human experiences to reveal powerful truths about life.

Sam Bankman-Fried TrialFallen Crypto Mogul Convicted in Collapse That Cost Users Billions

Sam Bankman-Fried, whose FTX cryptocurrency exchange collapsed last year, was found guilty on all seven charges of fraud and conspiracy. Prosecutors said he orchestrated a scheme to steal as much as $10 billion from his users.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the tousle-haired mogul who founded the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, was convicted on Thursday of all seven charges of fraud and conspiracy after a monthlong trial that laid bare the hubris and risk-taking across the crypto industry. These charges carry a maximum sentence of 110 years.

Mr. Bankman-Fried’s sentencing is set for March 28.

The FTX founder became a symbol of crypto’s excesses last year, when his company collapsed and he was charged with stealing as much as $10 billion from customers to finance political contributions, venture capital investments and other extravagant spending.

Mr. Bankman-Fried, 31, is expected to appeal.

The jury of nine women and three men began deliberations on Thursday afternoon following nearly two weeks of testimony spread out over the past month. Witnesses — including his one-time girlfriend Caroline Ellison, who ran Alameda Research, a crypto trading firm he founded — blamed Mr. Bankman-Fried for the sudden failure of both companies less than a year ago.

Federal prosecutors accused Mr. Bankman-Fried of treating FTX as his personal piggy bank, saying he had used customer money to bolster his ambitions and prop up Alameda Research.

The trial moved faster than anticipated with the prosecution calling more than a dozen witnesses — but fewer than they had planned. The defense called just three witnesses, including Mr. Bankman-Fried, whose testimony before the jury spanned parts of three days.

Here’s what to know:

  • Prosecutors called as witnesses three former top advisers to Mr. Bankman-Fried, all of whom had pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate. In all, prosecutors called a half-dozen former employees of Mr. Bankman-Fried as witnesses.

  • Mr. Bankman-Fried’s decision to take the stand allowed him to argue he had no intent to steal money and defraud anyone. But it was a risky move and Mr. Bankman-Fried said he “couldn’t recall” more than 140 times in response to questions on cross-examination.

  • The defense portrayed Mr. Bankman-Fried as a “math nerd” who built a thriving business only to see it undone by forces largely outside of his control. His lawyer said in a closing statement that the three cooperators were only testifying against him to save themselves from long prison sentences.

  • The prosecution countered that Mr. Bankman-Fried’s former employees, in pleading guilty, were accepting responsibility for their actions — something Mr. Bankman-Fried was unwilling to do. Prosecutors in their closing argument told the jury that Mr. Bankman-Fried had built his crypto empire on a “foundation of lies and false promises.”

Kirkus Reviews, the gold-standard for independent & accurate reviews, has this to say about

What Goes Around Comes Around:

A successful guide that uses anecdotes to reveal powerful truths about life.  

The stable, positive, non-preachy and objective voice makes the book stand apart from others in the genre.

~ Kirkus Reviews

“The author gives readers not just points or principles to ponder, but real human experiences that demonstrate them!”
– Kirkus Reviews
Buy What Goes Around at Amazon

“I’ve read a number of books that focus on sharing a similar message, including “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne, “The Answer” by John Assaraf & Murray Smith, “The Celestine Prophecy” by James Redfield, “Think and Grow Rich,” by Napoleon Hill, and I must say that I find Rob’s to be my favorite.” – Sheryl Woodhouse, founder of Livelihood Matters LLC

Fallen Crypto Mogul Convicted

Fallen Crypto Mogul Convicted

…And here is a genuine story about how even minimal effort to bring comfort to another human can result in outsized and wonderful results. How different the world might seem to many if that kind of true effort actually ran wild! It is a thought worth considering. It is also a siren call to each of us!

New research shows small gestures matter even more than we may think.

I wonder about when this train actually went off the rail and Balwani and Holmes both knew it. It reminds me somewhat of Bernie Madoff’s $20 Billion deception in that if Bernie had fessed up when his performance first went south and he tried to cover it up, only to make it worse, he might largely have been forgiven and returned to his original trading business. But he just couldn’t do that and as time went on…well we know the result.

Was there a similar trajectory for this pair? A time when they looked at each other and said, “Uh oh!” Not that it matters really. Somewhere along the way they knew what was going down and kept it going for as long as they could. Now have to face the music as eventually, always is the case. It is simply “The Law of Cause and Effect” unfolding. Hopefully for them there will be less tragic endings than Bernie. It depends on how they handle what they have wrought! We’ll see.