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Culture War Roundup for the week of November 28, 2022

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"Stole client funds" appears to have solidified as a meme much the same way "crossed state lines" had in the Rittenhouse case.

Is it? IIRC FTX was calling for funds to be wired to Alameda all along (I'm kind of baffled that this didn't raise flags in cryptoland. But, then again, Tether is somehow still a thing.)

That right there is all we need: that is bad practice to the point of being immoral and a lie given that FTX told customers their funds were separate from Alameda. That's damning enough.

But it gets worse.

When you thought you had $30b in assets and minimal liabilities, you can spend a billion or two on indulgences, charitable giving and campaign contributions.

Except a significant portion of that value was simply coins that FTX had minted or some other shady crypto company had done the same thing. It was funny money, pumping up the valuation. And SBF himself knew this, given the statements he's made about exchanges being insolvent (so their coins are worthless) and the infamous Ponzi scheme discussion with Matt Levine where he basically admitted a lot of this shit is worthless.

The rest was customer funds that he should never have been gambling with in the first place.

SBF did not believe he had $30b in assets the way a bank that held stock, bonds and real estate did. If he claims so I'm inclined to believe he's lying, or so stupid as to not be trusted tying his laces.

So, ultimately, it doesn't matter if they actually were hacked after shit hit the fan.