By George WardIn a recent tweet, a hedge fund manager, Bill Ackman, argued that the former FTX CEO does not look like a crook. He also praised the crypto entrepreneur for accepting his mistakes.
Bankman-Fried Did Everything To Avoid Embarrassment – Ackman
Bill Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, manages assets worth over $18.5 billion. On December 23rd, he commented on the FTX saga on Twitter.
The billionaire investor likened Bankman-Fried to an American fraudster, Bernie Madoff. Madoff conducted the largest Ponzi scheme in US history, worth about $64.8 billion.
According to him, both individuals did not come off as crooks. In his tweet, he acknowledged that the FTX exchange was profitable.
Hence, Bankman-Fried had no reason to engage in fraudulent activities. He postulated a theory explaining why Bankman-Fried took such actions.
According to Ackman, SBF made some losses and was embarrassed to accept them. Hence, he decided to “borrow” investors’ funds to compensate for the losses.
Unfortunately, the market crashed, making it difficult to recover from those losses. Ackman added that MIT graduates find it hard to accept failure. Hence, they “do stupid things” to escape embarrassment.
Last month, Bankman-Fried apologized to the FTX community on Twitter, stating that “he should have done better.” At the time, the hedge fund manager praised Bankman-Fried for his accountability. However, the FTX founder deleted the tweet after numerous backlash from Twitter users.
Emmer Accuses SEC Of Creating Backroom Regulations For FTX
After the bankruptcy of FTX last month, lawmakers and regulators have turned their attention to the crypto sector. Also, there have been numerous allegations against Bankman-Fried, who was still free after the bankruptcy.
However, the Bahamian police arrested Bankman-Fried in December before his extradition to the US. In addition, recent reports alleged that Bankman-Fried received luxurious treatment in the Bahamas.
Meanwhile, the latest $250 million bail the court granted him worsened matters. Many believed it was shameful for the US judicial system to grant Bankman-Fried bail.
Recently, Tom Emmer, a member of Congress, raised more allegations against Bankman-Fried and SEC. In a tweet on December 22nd, Emmer accused the SEC of creating backroom regulations with the FTX.
According to him, this allowed the crypto exchange to operate for a long time undetected. Furthermore, Bruce Fenton, an SEC-licensed stockbroker, affirmed Emmer’s belief.
Emmer also noted that the SEC had several meetings with FTX and Bankman-Fried than anyone in the crypto sector. Fenton, who has been working with securities for 30 years, argued that he could not meet with SEC.
Yet, Bankman-Fried has had several meetings with not just the agency but the Chairman as well.