This week, we asked the Invstr Community what they believed should be the outcome for FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried following their bankruptcy. The winner, by a substantial margin, was the 67% percent of Invstrs who think Sam Bankman-Fried should be criminalized and put behind bars. For the past several decades, large important figures time and time again have been let off what should be large crimes, leaving the “little guy” to suffer for their mistakes. In this instance, it seems two-thirds of Invstrs are tired of giving these humans a pass, especially in SBF’s case where his wrongdoing lost billions of shareholders’ dollars. At far second place is the 17 percent of Invstrs who believe no matter what the people think, SBF will be protected by his network. With SBF’s parents being large names in Washington, the 30-year-old crypto entrepreneur has had several important connections that have helped get him to the place that he once was. There are several people that can vouch for him, and some Invstrs do believe history repeats itself; during the 2008 financial crisis, thousands of Americans who lost their life savings were hoping to see the people that did it behind bars, when eventually nearly no one was convicted. These 17 percent of Invstrs believe in the continuation of this trend of the uber-wealthy bending laws to stick up for their colleagues.
To close out the podium, we have the 11 percent of Invstrs who believe nothing incriminating should come of SBF, and he will soon start to facilitate new ventures. As the crypto industry isn’t fully federally regulated, there can be large gray areas that can potentially go in SBF’s favor. A long-drawn-out court case deciding the legality of his work can come out fruitless if no specific laws had been set in place to regulate such acts when handling crypto. With the best lawyers and support all around him, it is probable that SBF may be able to come out unscathed and start another project, however, at the hands of some public scrutiny. At last place, we have the 5 percent of Invstrs who believe SBF did nothing wrong, as people should know of the high risks that come with crypto. FTX has not been the first large cryptocurrency company to file for bankruptcy, losing large sums of cash. This past year, crypto firms Voyager, Celsius, and BlockFi all had run out of money, needing to file for bankruptcy or attempt to be bailed out. Compared to traditional assets, crypto is a highly risky asset class as its worth generally relies upon what people deem it to be. Although people can just see the high returns, they also need to look at the large amounts of volatility and risk associated with such an investment.
Will you be investing in any of these companies anytime soon? Have fun, and see you next time with more poll results!
