A chat via DM with SBF on why regulators “make everything worse”, FTX and Alameda's “messy accounting”, why he regrets filing for bankruptcy, ethics, and more

The fallen crypto CEO on what went wrong, why he did what he did, and what lies he told along the way.

Vox 2022-11-17 Kelsey Piper

Context & Ripple Effects

SBF had already apologized publicly and said he would prioritize users while shutting Alameda; this interview adds a more detailed personal account centered on FTX and Alameda’s internal controls, his bankruptcy decision, and his view of oversight. It also sits uneasily beside reporting that he had pursued political and regulatory support for crypto goals through PACs, nonprofits, and consultants.

Subsequent coverage kept the focus on the same fault line: Alameda’s problems reportedly predated the broader crypto crash, while SBF’s account was increasingly measured against allegations that customer money was routed to Alameda and risk management was misrepresented.

First-order effects

FTX and Alameda become more directly associated with SBF’s own description of “messy accounting,” making their separation and financial controls the immediate focus of scrutiny.
SBF’s criticism of regulators and regret over bankruptcy harden his public defense around judgment and process rather than a clean operational explanation for FTX customers and counterparties.

Second-order effects

The reported campaign to cultivate policymakers makes SBF’s anti-regulatory argument more consequential, tying FTX’s failure narrative to crypto’s efforts to shape the rules governing it.
Later reporting on Alameda’s earlier risky bets gives counterparties and market participants reason to treat FTX’s breakdown as connected to longer-running weaknesses at its affiliated trading firm.

Third-order effects

If prominent exchanges and affiliated trading firms cannot demonstrate credible separation and controls, crypto’s legitimacy gap will increasingly be defined by governance failures rather than market volatility alone.
The contrast between SBF’s carelessness framing and reporting on alleged customer-fund transfers points toward a lasting demand for clearer accountability between exchange operations and proprietary trading.

The trend: FTX’s collapse is becoming a test case for whether crypto firms can win institutional trust without demonstrable governance, transparent controls, and meaningful separation of customer and trading activities.

Discussion

@davidsacks David Sacks on x
The biggest con man since Madoff just admitted that woke is a virtue-signaling game “where we say all the right shibboleths and so everyone likes us.” How stupid does the NYT feel now? https://twitter.com/...
@sbf_ftx @sbf_ftx on x
25) Last night I talked to a friend of mine. They published my messages. Those were not intended to be public, but I guess they are now. https://twitter.com/...
@ftx_official @ftx_official on x
(3/3) Mr. Bankman-Fried has no ongoing role at @FTX_Official, FTX US, or Alameda Research Ltd. and does not speak on their behalf.
@kelseytuoc Kelsey Piper on x
Hey guys, last night in Twitter DMs I asked Sam Bankman-Fried when Alameda first borrowed FTX customer funds, what he really thinks of the SEC, and a lot more. https://t.co/Yq8InqNPS4
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
Coverage of FTX meltdown is incomparably faster *and* better quality on Twitter than old-school media
@ftx_official @ftx_official on x
(1/3) Statement from John Ray, Chief Restructuring Officer and CEO of @FTX_Official, regarding Mr. Bankman-Fried's recent public statements:
@sbf_ftx @sbf_ftx on x
31) And in the future, I'm going to care less about the dumb, contentless, “good actor” framework. What matters is what you do—is *actually* doing good or bad, not just *talking* about doing good or *using ESG language*.
@sbf_ftx @sbf_ftx on x
28) Even so, there are regulators who have deeply impressed me with their knowledge and thoughtfulness. The CFTC has; the SCB, and VARA, too. And others, scattered. But most are overwhelmed.
@parismartineau Paris Martineau on x
fwiw, the author of this story appears to have been friends with Alameda Research CEO @carolinecapital at some point, according to Tumblr posts from an account allegedly belonging to Caroline around the time of these posts, Piper founded Stanford's Effective Altruism student org …
@sbf_ftx @sbf_ftx on x
27) A few thoughts: a) It's *really* hard to be a regulator. They have an impossible job: to regulate entire industries that grow faster than their mandate allows them to. And so often they end up mostly unable to police as well as they ideally would.
@krugermacro Alex Krüger on x
These insane SBF chatlogs can be condensed into: a) his public persona was an act b) the mean justifies the end => best to be dishonest but win c) doing “sketchy” things is OK d) he had been using customer funds for a long time e) “it wasn't quite lending them out” https://twitte…
@autismcapital @autismcapital on x
“If I hadn't done that (Chapter 11) withdrawals would be opening up in a month with customers fully whole. But instead I filed and the people in charge of it are trying to burn it all to the ground out of shame. I might still get there.” jfc. https://twitter.com/...
@sama Sam Altman on x
i've been stopping myself from sending my EA tweetstorm for a week but idk how much more self-restraint i have https://twitter.com/...
@unusual_whales @unusual_whales on x
Woah. These are real DMs from SBF of FTX and Vox Media, where Vox asks Sam if all the ethical discussion at FTX was a “a game of winner and losers.” Sam answers: “ya hehe” https://twitter.com/...
@vivekgramaswamy Vivek Ramaswamy on x
Key difference between SBF and the other kings of the ESG-industrial complex: at least he's willing to say the quiet part out loud. Better late than never. https://twitter.com/...
@s_r_constantin Sarah Constantin on x
so let me get this straight $8B of FTX depositors' money was being kept in an Alameda account, initially as a corner-cutting convenience ...and they just kind of forgot that's where it came from? And Alameda traded with it and lost it? https://www.vox.com/...
@zackbeauchamp Zack Beauchamp on x
This @KelseyTuoc interview with SBF is astonishing. He admits to basically lying about all of his ethical commitments https://www.vox.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@hsakatrades @hsakatrades on x
“hehe” What a psychopath. >refuses to acknowledge any wrongdoing >tried to pin the blame on anyone else, CZ, Alameda, FTX employees DM interview from @voxdotcom , a media outlet Sam “donated” (customer funds) heavily to. https://www.vox.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@nickatfp Nick on x
I was ok with the drugs, the rug pulling, the ponzi, the leverage, the weird sex ring thing, but once I heard he was an EFFECTIVE ALTRUIST, straight to gitmo https://twitter.com/...
@autismcapital @autismcapital on x
1/3 The author of the Vox article leaking Sam's texts is Kelsey Piper. Kelsey Piper is an Effective Altruist (like Sam) who runs “Future Perfect”, an offshoot of Vox. Sam is a Future Perfect donor. It's interesting Kelsey would leak Sam's texts and that Sam would say what he did.…
@iansherr @iansherr on x
Puts that Vox interview in a fuller light. https://www.vox.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@sbf_ftx @sbf_ftx on x
26) Well, that gives some color, I guess. It sucks. I'm really sorry that things ended up as they did. And as I said—I'm going to do everything I can to make it more right.
@albrgr Alexander Berger on x
just, wow https://www.vox.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@quantian1 @quantian1 on x
Shorter SBF Vox interview: https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@kadhim @kadhim on x
FTX SLAMS @SBF_FTX “In terms of the celebrity of [SBF], his unconventional leadership style, his incessant and disruptive tweeting since the Petition Date, and the almost complete lack of dependable corporate records, these ... Cases are unprecedented” https://pacer-documents.s3.…
@ftx_official @ftx_official on x
(2/3) As previously announced, Mr. Bankman-Fried resigned on November 11 from @FTX_Official, FTX US, Alameda Research Ltd. and their directly and indirectly owned subsidiaries.
@zeeshanaleem Zeeshan Aleem on x
Holy shit, in which Sam Bankman-Fried admits that his effective altruism bit was “mostly a front” https://www.vox.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@kadhim @kadhim on x
Oh, he also literally — LITERALLY — says “fuck regulators”. This guy has regulators coming down the chimney and he's says “fuck regulators, they make everything worse”. How could things be worse! https://www.vox.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@dylanleclair_ @dylanleclair_ on x
Same people that thought Sam would become emperor of the world also believe Vitalik is the second coming of Einstein himself. You're placing a venture bet on someone who's literally making it up on the fly, riddled with execution and political risks.
@unusual_whales @unusual_whales on x
Truly incredible. Vox Media asks SBF of FTX if the crypto regulations Sam was advocating for were “just PR.” Sam answers: “yeah just PR. fuck regulators. they make everything worse. they don't protect customers.” $2 billion of customer funds are reportedly missing on FTX. https:/…
@trungtphan Trung Phan on x
SBF spoke to Vox via Twitter DMs and blames “messy accounting” for Alameda ending up with FTX customer deposits https://twitter.com/...
@kimdotcom Kim Dotcom on x
Ever since I started talking about the role of @cz_binance in the collapse of FTX I received messages from insiders who work(ed) closely with CZ and Binance. One of them revealed to me: “It was either FTX or Binance going down.” A story about power, hubris, greed and survival.
@biancoresearch @biancoresearch on x
1/5 Here is @SBF_FTX @voxdotcom interview today. In it, he said something that everyone in trouble says and is never true ... if I held on long enough, the markets would recover and make me whole. 🧵 https://www.vox.com/...
@obsoletedogma Matt O'Brien on x
It turns out that the guy who cynically admitted he was in the business of selling Ponzi schemes is now cynically admitting that his entire altruistic persona was a fraud https://www.vox.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@vusithembekwayo @vusithembekwayo on x
Interview: Fallen crypto CEO Sam Bankman-Fried opens up about FTX, Alameda Research, and his regrets - Vox This is egregious. Somebody confiscate this boys phone. https://www.vox.com/...
@mattzeitlin Matthew Zeitlin on x
lol at people trying to three dimensional chess the SBF Vox interview, a journalist got in touch with a major figure in the news, talked to them, and reported what they said. This is literally the core function of journalism.
@mdudas Mike Dudas on x
so, it turns out that while @sbf_ftx would only talk about how well he was sleeping to the @nytimes, he was willing to spill his entire dark heart and cynical soul to @voxdotcom https://www.vox.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@mayazi @mayazi on x
“This dumb game we woke westerners play where we say all the right shibboleths & so everyone likes us ” https://twitter.com/...
@cryptokaleo @cryptokaleo on x
This Vox article is insane. If you haven't had the opportunity to give it a read yet, make sure you do. https://www.vox.com/...
@zeeshanaleem Zeeshan Aleem on x
Anyway, I'm not sure what compelled him to say all this to a journalist. Maybe because @KelseyTuoc skillfully made him feel at ease? But this is presumably going to make future legal proceedings a lot more difficult for him...
@allnick @allnick on x
I feel like SBF may not actually have great lawyers at this point given the messages he's sending to journalists... https://twitter.com/...
@stoolpresidente Dave Portnoy on x
He's right about that last line at least https://twitter.com/...
@simondixontwitt Simon Dixon on x
“Fuck Regulators. They Make Everything Worse” @SBF_FTX - They Do Make You Leave Client Money Alone Sam. That would have prevented FTX being taken down by your hedge funds lavish spending & gambling right? https://twitter.com/...
@mrjasonchoi Jason Choi on x
SBF in @voxdotcom interview: Ethics is mostly a front and lobbying for regulations was “just PR” https://twitter.com/...
@jonathanvswan Jonathan Swan on x
Eyes widened more each paragraph... https://www.vox.com/... via @voxdotcom
@mhonkasalo @mhonkasalo on x
This might be the 1st bit of honesty we've seen by SBF. All the ethics & altruism talk was bullshit. It was brand-building for the mainstream media to swallow. A dumb game for woke westerners. https://twitter.com/...
@dangillmor Dan Gillmor on x
The bigger the crimes, the less likely the punishment. Trump has been the poster child for this, but Sam Bankman-Fried is right up there. https://www.vox.com/...
@hsakatrades @hsakatrades on x
@voxdotcom It's literally just a game to him. This interview is surreal. He's confidently providing all the ammunition required for any competent prosecutor to put him away forever. He thinks he's going to walk, and he probably will. What the actual fuck. https://twitter.com/...
@adamscochran Adam Cochran on x
71/82 Sam continues to think that he will raise $8B to restore user deposits, and says that its the fault of the other founders being “ashamed” and “scared” that they've sided with the bankruptcy process. https://twitter.com/...
@chainlinkgod @chainlinkgod on x
Why is SBF more comfortable being open with a reporter in the DMs than he is on his own public twitter? He must have known that all of these messages would become public.. right? Bizarre https://twitter.com/...
@adamscochran Adam Cochran on x
70/82 In his view, even though it was theft, and a violation of their own terms of service it was fine because “others do it” and he continues to claim that it was just “messy accounting” despite colleagues confirming he expressly programmed a backdoor. https://twitter.com/...
@lemieuxlgm Scott Lemieux on x
I'm reminded that one of the (many) things @EmilyMandel's fictionalized account of the Madoff scandal conveys beautifully is how crude and unsophisticated it was. You'd think it would have been an incredibly complex scheme to fool regulators and knowledgable investors but nope ht…
@wholemarsblog @wholemarsblog on x
Then what's he trying to raise money for? https://twitter.com/...
@jason_howerton Jason Howerton on x
SBF literally admitted he just said the things woke elites wanted to hear and the media still out here writing puff pieces about the dude's “altruism” https://twitter.com/...
@lilmoonlambo @lilmoonlambo on x
nah this SBF cover is crazy 😂 https://twitter.com/...
@avcrypto_ @avcrypto_ on x
just another degen that lost $8b and thinks he can make it all back *supposedly* in 1 week, IF he hadn't filed Chapter 11. People keep forgetting the problem though - how the fuck do you lose $8b as an exchange owner with all the ‘edge’ Alameda has against market participants? ht…
@jespow Jesse Powell on x
Here's what you can do: 1. immediately disclose all of the contagion risk. What other financial services had 7+ figs in your custody? 2. loudly shout to the world, over and over, in every interview, that this had nothing to do with crypto 3. cooperate 100% https://twitter.com/...
@shellenbergermd Michael Shellenberger on x
Vox: “You were really good at talking about ethics for someone who saw it all as a game with winners and losers” SBF: “ya, hehe... I feel bad for those who get fucked by it. By this dumb game we woke westerners play where we say all the right shiboleths so everyone likes us” http…
@simondixontwitt Simon Dixon on x
The mindset of a trader like @SBF_FTX . Traders want one more chip so they can make it all back. Investors slowly stack chips & take slices of them away from traders. Traders overestimate what they can make in one year, but underestimate what investors can make in ten years. http…
@timnitgebru @timnitgebru on x
So another article on effective altruism (EA) by another journalist who is a member of the EA cult. How these news orgs have been promoting the movement & writing articles to make the cult look like an innocent victim even after this debacle should be a story in itself. https://t…
@dylanmatt Dylan Matthews on x
Let this be a lesson about Future Perfect and editorial independence: you can give us a grant and if you're doing crimes, we will post your confession and rationalizations for everyone to see https://twitter.com/...
@mhonkasalo @mhonkasalo on x
1/ Highlights from @KelseyTuoc's illuminating article at Vox with SBF trying to explain himself. https://www.vox.com/...
@pebonilla Peter Bonilla on x
SBF's lawyers are well in the running for the angriest people in the world rn That's if he has them still, because holy f***, if I was one of them and I read this I'd be jumping out the nearest window https://www.vox.com/...
@netcapgirl Sophie on x
psychopathic. https://twitter.com/...
@dylanmatt Dylan Matthews on x
If you're someone who bites the bullet on St. Petersburg paradoxes it turns out you're eager to lose a lot of money on the roulette table! https://twitter.com/...
@matthew_d_green Matthew Green on x
This guy. I just don't know what to say. https://www.vox.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@autismcapital @autismcapital on x
Unhinged text messages from SBF shared with a VOX reporter. He is still in denial. His biggest regret is “filing for chapter 11” bankruptcy. i.e. “someone else is in charge of my money and now I can't get new investors and trade my way out of this hole.” https://www.vox.com/...
@adamscochran Adam Cochran on x
74/82 He doesn't care about users. He flat out said, it isn't so black or white. He doesn't care that he stole funds from people who trusted him. He doesn't even care that he stole.
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
Why would he write this down in a conversation with a journalist? Bragging that all of his charitable work was a “woke” grift just makes him a lying and manipulative grifter in addition to already being considered a criminal fraud. It makes no sense. 🤷‍♂️ https://twitter.com/...
@samharrisorg Sam Harris on x
This is terrible. https://www.vox.com/...
@shannonvallor Shannon Vallor on x
You are telling me the EA crypto guy never actually cared about ethics or benefiting humanity, and underneath it all was just some lazy nihilistic bullshit? https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@justinwolfers Justin Wolfers on x
“The grief and pain he [Sam Bankman-Fried] has caused is immense, and I came away from our conversation appalled by much of what he said. But if these mistakes haunted him, he largely didn't show it.” https://www.vox.com/...
@balajis Balaji on x
To be clear, we still need forensic accounting — no SBF statement can be taken at face value. But this gives a lead and place to look. With no financial controls on bank accounts handling billions, it looks like de facto theft from customers started much earlier than 2022.
@cwarzel @cwarzel on x
obviously this is wild but also kind of marveling at how it also has just HUGE late night high school AIM energy https://twitter.com/...
@wupton Will Upton on x
Narrator Voice: His parents are both lawyers. https://twitter.com/...
@fordm Matt Ford on x
Has this man ever met a lawyer in his entire life https://www.vox.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@cobie @cobie on x
@SBF_FTX Yo just tell us how you lost 10bn dollars you fuckin cock cheese
@coffeebreak_yt @coffeebreak_yt on x
FTX Founder SBF describes his ethics as mostly a “front”, and a “dumb game we woke westerners play where we say all the right shiboleths and so everyone likes us.” Holy shit. credit to @KelseyTuoc for the massive scoop https://twitter.com/...
@modestproposal1 @modestproposal1 on x
what did i just read https://www.vox.com/...
@sullycnbc Brian Sullivan on x
Didn't see this Vox article until tonight. It's basically a recap of a late night message session between Bankman-Fried (I won't call him ‘SBF’ .. seems glib) and the author (who knows him). It's .. bonkers. If the messages are authentic .. https://www.vox.com/...
@hannahgais Hannah Gais on x
i was going to say sam bankman-fried exemplifies the type of guy in your intro to philosophy class who reads a little john stuart mill once, won't shut up about it for the rest of the semester, and forgets any lessons later on. but he said books are trash. https://www.vox.com/..…
@sbf_ftx @sbf_ftx on x
30) (Some of what I said was thoughtless or overly strong—I was venting and not intending that to be public. I guess at this point what I write leaks anyway.)
@nkulw Noah Kulwin on x
1980s financial fraud: cocaine, strippers, being like Don Johnson in Miami Vice 2020s financial fraud: adderall, polycule, quoting A SOFTER WORLD LMFAO https://twitter.com/...
@davidbelle_ David Belle on x
Guys insane. Why any regulator should need to impress you just goes to show how crazy you truly are. https://twitter.com/...
@jespow Jesse Powell on x
Read: “I thought other exchanges were misappropriating client funds so FTX misappropriated client funds too. It seemed ok because we thought we'd get away with it.” https://twitter.com/...
@nmasc_ Natasha on x
don't get me started about the tendency of powerful people in tech calling [insert media figure here] a “friend” just so they can act surprised when unfavorable details come out icky tactic https://twitter.com/...

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