Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has likened former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried to infamous American fraudster Bernie Madoff and accused the media of giving the former FTX CEO a “free pass.”
Bernard Lawrence Madoff was the mastermind behind the largest known Ponzi scam in history, estimated to be worth $64.8 billion. At one point, Madoff served as the Nasdaq stock exchange’s chairman.
Hoskinson said that the media’s attention to SBF, despite public evidence about SBF and FTX being involved in misappropriating and stealing customer funds, shows how corrupt the whole system has become.
In an X (formerly Twitter) post on Oct. 9, Hoskinson lashed out at the media frenzy around SBF after the FTX collapse. Hoskinson first called out author Michael Lewis, whose book on SBF has gained a lot of media traction just days leading up to the former FTX CEO’s trial, labeling it an “apology tour.”
The Cardano founder noted that there seems to be a “group of people who want to get a public exoneration for SBF,” adding:
Other extravagances included private jets, Super Bowl ads and paying politicians. One excerpt from Lewis’ book claimed SBF was pondering paying Donald Trump $5 billion not to run for office.
The first week of the trial, which began on Oct. 3, focused on the disappearance of $8 billion of FTX customer funds. In addition to testimony from Gary Wang, the first week saw both the prosecution and the defense state their arguments, as well as testimony from Adam Yedidia on Oct. 5.
Cointelegraph reporters are on the ground in New York for the trial of former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried. As the saga unfolds, check here for the latest updates.