Former Trump Adviser Speaks About “Betrayal” of FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried: “I Considered Him My Friend” – Decrypt

Anthony Scaramucci spoke in a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos about his close relationship with former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, his family, and how he felt after the extent of FTX’s collapse came to light. .

“He had a close relationship with Sam Bankman-Fried, he considered him a friend,” said Scaramucci during Casper Labs’ Blockchain Hub event. “So I have to tell you, betrayal and fraud is bad on a lot of different levels. It certainly hurt my reputation.”

While meeting Bankman-Fried, Scaramucci said he also met his father, who was a tenured professor at Stanford Law School, and worked in a charity with Bankman-Fried’s aunt. He also recalled traveling to Miami with Bankman-Fried and Kevin O’Learyfrom Shark Tank and former spokesperson for FTX, to present a mock Shark Tank for kids.

“I felt attached to him, and I felt attached to his family,” he said.

Scaramucci, co-founder and managing partner of investment management firm SkyBridge Capital, told the audience that while he did not want to sue FTX for fraud in the past, he now felt comfortable doing so.

“If anyone here has read Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, they will know what the ninth circle of Hell is reserved for,” Scaramucci said. “It is for the betrayal of a friend who lives with the devil: the ninth circle of hell in the frozen lake,” he said.

Despite the dark iconography, Scaramucci said Bankman-Fried’s actions do not spell the end of blockchain or cryptocurrency.

“That’s why we have blockchain and cryptocurrency, because we’re trying to create a decentralized situation where we don’t have to like or trust each other,” he said. “We can transact with each other in a way that technology basically sanctifies.”

“I’m not going to put an end to risk-taking,” added to conclude the panel titled “Not for the Faint: Reflecting on Decades of Wins, Losses, Bulls and Bears.”

On November 11, 2022, FTX and several of its affiliates filed for bankruptcy, days after a bank run on its FTT token. The following month, Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas and extradited to the United States to face eight charges of conspiracy.

Prior to his arrest, Bankman-Fried made several appearances, including an interview with New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin at the 2022 Deal Book Summit – against his lawyer’s wishes – during which he attempted to explain the situation. and apologize.

“I thought Sam was the Mark Zuckerberg of cryptocurrency, I didn’t think he was the Bernie Madoff of cryptocurrency,” Scaramucci said. “I was wrong”.

Before the FTX collapse, Bankman-Fried offered bailouts to various crypto firms as the crypto winter of 2022 dragged on. go ahead and do it” said Bankman-Fried during an interview on the Decrypt GM Podcast.

In September 2022, two months before FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, FTX Ventures bought a 30% stake in SkyBridge Capital of Scaramucci, worth about $45 million. At the time, Scaramucci’s tone was friendlier toward the former billionaire, who now faces life in prison if convicted on all counts.

“Sam is a visionary who has built incredible businesses that are synergistic with the future of SkyBridge,” Scaramucci said then.