All Of The Bad Things SBF’s Mom And Dad Did, Allegedly

If this shit with BitBoy couldn’t get any stranger, it has. 💩

Last night, Ben Armstrong (the crypto influencer formerly known as BitBoy) posted this plea:

The fact is @HitNetwork_ has taken all my money from me so I can’t fight.

I’m humbly asking anyone who has ever benefitted from my content or anything I’ve done to help donate to my legal fund to get BitBoy Crypto back.

ETH Address: 0xa6079bC88540cC9360D3c8D6f9cE583cdCcC3dC6 pic.twitter.com/PC2Ast0fTU

— Ben Armstrong aka BitBoy Crypto (@BenArmstrongsX) September 20, 2023

After crying out for financial aid, Armstrong’s plea was met with… let’s say, a mix of pity and pure amusement.

Even Nansen’s X account derided Armstrong:

0 smart money addresses have donated

That tells you all you need to know…https://t.co/g1SuVaIt8u

— Nansen 🧭 (@nansen_ai) September 20, 2023

He’s shared addresses for $ETH, $BTC, and $ADA for his fans to donate to his legal fund. 🤦‍♂️

How much has he raked in so far?

Almost $60k in ETH and almost $400 in BTC. The Cardano address he listed must have had a typo because it doesn’t exist. 

The drama of BitBoy’s fall from grace will likely keep developing. 📰

The courtroom tussle between the SEC)and crypto giant Binance has taken a twist. 🌀

The SEC’s bid to inspect Binance.US’s software, seeking potential links to its global counterpart, was shot down by Judge Zia Faruqui. The SEC alleges that Binance.US, claiming to operate separately from Binance, might have skirted American regulations.

Binance.US’s legal team labeled the SEC’s request a “fishing expedition.” Meanwhile, Binance.US’s trading volume has plummeted, with a staggering 98% drop from January 2022 to August 2023. In contrast, Coinbase boasts a daily trading volume of $983 million, overshadowing Binance.US’s $11.2 million.

Adding to the intrigue, Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ) clarified on X that Binance.US never used Ceffu or Binance Custody:

For the record. Binance US does not use, and have NEVER used Ceffu or Binance Custody.

You can't just make this stuff up. 🤷‍♂️ https://t.co/JIkIVTf8tc

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) September 19, 2023

However, other users responded to CZ, reminding him that Binance.US has used Ceffu when it was called Binance Holdings.

Look, another document from Binance US, filed with the courts, that specifically says Binance US uses Ceffu, which was previously named "Binance Holdings Limited" pic.twitter.com/JPBOHsbw9N

— Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) September 19, 2023

If CZ provides more clarity, we’ll update this story when it happens. 🗓️

Bankman’s Background and Credentials

• Yale Law School graduate (1980).
• Licensed attorney and psychologist.
• 35-year tenure as a Stanford Law School professor.
• Leading scholar in U.S. tax policy with multiple testimonies before Congress.
• Authored numerous scholarly works on federal income taxation.

Early Involvement in FTX Group

• Provided legal and business advice to Alameda from 2018.
• Leveraged his legal reputation and familial ties to influence FTX Group’s operations.
• Connected FTX Group to its primary accounting and law firms.
• Referred to FTX Group’s organization as “our corporate structure.”

Formalization of Role

• By January 2021, served as a de facto officer, director, and/or manager of multiple FTX entities.
• December 2021: Became Senior Advisor to the FTX Foundation (later renamed FTX Philanthropy).

Influence and Decision-Making

• Played a pivotal role in executive-level decisions.
• Selected law and accounting firms for the FTX Group.
• Involved in hiring processes and strategic discussions.
• Authorized significant expenses and payments.

Financial Benefits and Perks

• Lobbied for a salary increase from $200,000 to $1M/year.
• Received gifts, properties, and stock options worth millions.
• Made a cameo in a 2022 FTX Super Bowl commercial.

Tax and Charitable Endeavors

• Played a key role in navigating tax issues for the FTX Group.
• Directed millions in charitable donations, including to Stanford University.
• Oversaw the “FTX Million Dollar Hackathon and Crypto Summit.”

Ignoring Red Flags and Cover-Ups

• Overlooked significant operational and financial red flags.
• Participated in efforts to squash a whistleblower complaint.
• Continued involvement despite knowledge of the FTX Group’s shaky financial state.

Final Days Before Bankruptcy

• November 2022: Flew to The Bahamas to find capital sources for the FTX Group.
• Involved in last-minute efforts to salvage FTX Trading through a sale to Binance.

Quotes:

• To Fried: “I’m not sure how much more I can give without causing problems for me or FTX.”
• To Singh: “We need to be careful. The more we give, the more attention we draw.”
• To SBF: “We are so touched by this gift. Mom is announcing retirement, which she would not have done otherwise.”
• To SBF and Fried: “[t]he easiest way is to add 10M to the 250M loan Sam has from Alameda. Then, Sam gifts the money. No current tax on either transaction. Eventually, Sam recognizes income when the loan is paid off or cancelled, at the dividend/capital gain rate, but that can happen in a year when he donates a lot, offsetting some or all of the tax.”

You can read the full court filing here.

Fried’s Background and Credentials

• Professor emerita of Stanford Law School.
• Joined Stanford Law School faculty in 1987.
• Published over three dozen legal and academic writings. Notable pieces include “The Limits of Personal Responsibility” and “Beyond Blame.”
• Participated in at least 65 academic presentations, including two before the American Bar Association Section of Taxation.
• Member of the Board of Advisors of Stanford University’s Ethics Center.
• Graduated from Harvard Law School and received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Harvard University.

Involvement with FTX Group

• Official Position: None.
• Role: Primary advisor to Bankman-Fried and other FTX insiders regarding political contributions.
• Key Activities:
  • Served as Bankman-Fried’s “point person” for his political contribution strategy from as early as 2020.
  • Used her influence to benefit her own organization, Mind The Gap, a political action committee she co-founded in 2018. Served as its President and Chair.
  • MTG operated in a “cone of secrecy,” hiding its donors and strategies.
  • MTG relied on the FTX Group, Bankman-Fried, and Singh for funding.
  • Resigned from MTG after Bankman-Fried’s arrest in November 2022.

Misconduct and Allegations

• Used her access and influence to benefit MTG, often pressuring Bankman-Fried or Singh for funds.
• Played a pivotal role in directing political contributions, often hiding the true source or nature of these funds.
• Benefited from the fraudulent transfer of Debtor property, aided and abetted breaches of fiduciary duties, and was unjustly enriched.
• Involved in the acquisition of a $16.4 million luxury residence in The Bahamas, funded entirely by the FTX Group.
• Bankman directed over $5.5 million in FTX Group donations to Stanford University, Fried’s employer.
• Encouraged certain FTX insiders to make unlawful political contributions, often hiding the true source of the funds.

Quotes

• To SBF: “You know how important this is. We can’t back down now.”
• Describing her relationship with Bankman-Fried: “I’m his partner in crime of the non-criminal sort.”
• To SBF: “need to start thinking through the disclosure issue now to make sure we protect [Bankman-Fried] and FTX. Plays at the state level especially are going to provoke accusations of carpet-bagging.”
• To SBF: “I would counsel strongly against giving in a disclosed form under your own name, both for MTG’s sake and yours. (Of course the obvious and truthful answer to why you are giving the money– to defeat state legislators who are committed to subverting the will of the voters— won’t get you very far with the press and won’t get you anywhere with Republicans.) You could get Nishad or Caroline to contribute to the PAC some of the total amount you are willing to give, but that has its own costs and risks.”
• From Fried: “Since this is going to our 527, and hence is disclosed, I’m assuming that Nishad would be the better person to have his name on it. We’d have a slight preference for that on our end, now that my connection to Sam is publicly known, because we don’t want to create the impression that funding MTG is a family affair, as opposed to a collective effort by many people (including some mystery guy Nishad Singh :)) If that works on your end, I’ll have [an MTG employee] send you instructions.”

You can read the full court filing here.