FOIA emails detail Sam Bankman-Fried's courtship of US federal regulators, including hiring former regulators and dining with ex-CFTC Commissioner Dan Berkovitz

Before his mid-December arrest, cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried repeatedly claimed that he was a responsible business leader …

Los Angeles Times 2022-12-26 Freddy Brewster

Context & Ripple Effects

Before FTX collapsed, Bankman-Fried had built a prominent Washington role, including a push to place more crypto-market oversight with the CFTC rather than the SEC and public engagement around proposed legislation. Related coverage also describes his effort to become a leading voice in Washington's crypto debate.

The FOIA material adds documentary detail to that broader access strategy: relationships with former officials and contact with an ex-CFTC commissioner. It matters because the records connect Bankman-Fried's policy advocacy to the channels through which regulators and industry figures interacted.

First-order effects

The disclosures create a more detailed public record of Bankman-Fried's regulator outreach, including his hiring of former regulators and contact with Dan Berkovitz.
The CFTC and Berkovitz are drawn into renewed scrutiny of how Bankman-Fried pursued influence while advocating for a CFTC-centered crypto framework.

Second-order effects

Bankman-Fried's prior campaign for CFTC jurisdiction faces added credibility pressure because the FOIA record makes the relationship-building behind that policy agenda more visible.
Crypto firms seeking to shape federal oversight inherit a more contested model of Washington engagement as Bankman-Fried's access efforts are examined alongside FTX's collapse.

Third-order effects

The combined record points toward crypto-policy debates being judged not only on proposed rules but also on the access networks behind them, raising the stakes for transparency around former-regulator hiring and industry outreach.
As enforcement and court proceedings surrounding Bankman-Fried advance, including the DOJ's later effort to restrict his communications with a potential witness, policy influence and legal accountability become harder to treat as separate narratives.

The trend: Crypto's push for tailored federal oversight is increasingly accompanied by scrutiny of the lobbying and revolving-door relationships used to pursue it.

Discussion

@denniskelleher Dennis Kelleher on x
Exactly: crypto is a lawless industry by choice; unlike every other legit biz, it has chosen to break the law & try to buy legislation to get light/no touch regulation w/ @cftc @CFTCbehnam helping it; details here: https://bettermarkets.org/... @SECGov @SEC_Enforcement https://tw…
@johnlothian John Lothian on x
Crypto exchanges simply aren't following the rules, and it isn't a lack of regulation that is the problem with the market, former CFTC chair says https://www.yahoo.com/... via @Yahoo
@bitboy_crypto Ben Armstrong on x
This is the email that caused Dan Berkowitz to step down from the SEC after cozying up to SBF. But wait a second... Whose email address was deleted from the document? Gary?! Is that you?! https://twitter.com/...
@denniskelleher Dennis Kelleher on x
120+ @SECGov @SEC_Enforcement crypto related cases while crypto-captured @CFTC brags about 18 “digital assets” related cases. @CFTCbehnam should have spent more time on enforcement & less time cozying up to @FTX_Official & @SBF_FTX, including TEN+ meetings in just 1 year! https:/…
@attorneyjeremy1 Jeremy Hogan on x
SEC Attorney Dan Berkovitz was the first pawn-sacrifice in the FTX debacle (he announced he's leaving the SEC at end of January). Below is his email with SBF discussing how impressed he is that FTX sponsors MLB. Read more here (IF you must!): https://protectpublicstrust.org/ ... …
@foiafeed @foiafeed on x
LA Times: Emails reveal Sam Bankman-Fried's courtship of federal regulators https://www.latimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@Popehat@mastodon.social Ken White on mastodon
Over at Serious Trouble, a blog post: How did Sam Bankman-Fried get bail? A lawsplainer on the federal bail system, what terms he got, and how he got them. https://www.serioustrouble.show/ ...
@innercitypress @innercitypress on x
OK - on #FTX / Alameda, here now the unsealed guilty plea transcript of Caroline Ellison - it was held in secret, and not docketed until today, once Bankman-Fried was freed on $250 mln bond. Thread then stories on https://innercitypress.com/ and https://twitter.com/...
@austen Austen Allred on x
That... is not even remotely what caused FTX to collapse. Apparently if you steal billions of dollars the three reporters writing the story about it will blame everything on the person who sold the worthless token before you declare bankruptcy and it goes to zero. https://twitter…
@markpinc Mark Pincus on x
What motivates nytimes to avoid calling this fraud. Its like saying madhoff was ruined by investors all demanding money back at the same time. https://twitter.com/...
@kerrydolan Kerry Dolan on x
“agreed to mislead FTX lenders”🧐 https://twitter.com/...
@thecryptojourno Tom Mitchelhill on x
I keep seeing “HOW DID SBF GET $250 MILLION??” everywhere and thought I'd clear up the confusion. Sam Bankman-Fried was released on ‘BOND’ not bail. While bail is usually paid in one lump sum of cash — bond packages only require around 10-15% of the total amount to be paid.
@agrizzi8 Teflon Tom on x
This case offers an insight into the world of crypto. Rather than accidental, the fraud and other criminal activities are systemic and intentional. The scaffolding of crypto is designed to defraud. If you still believe in this crap, you need medical attention. https://twitter.com…
@innercitypress @innercitypress on x
On #FTX / Alameda, here from (scripted) allocution in unsealed guilty plea transcript of Caroline Ellison 4/x https://patreon.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@jbarro Josh Barro on x
We have an essay from @Popehat on how SBF got bail. One thing he had going for him: Affluent people are more likely to have relatives or close associates with things worth fucking up, who will post those things to be fucked up if the defendant absconds. https://www.serioustrouble…
@innercitypress @innercitypress on x
On #FTX / Alameda, here from (scripted) allocution in unsealed guilty plea transcript of Caroline Ellison 2/x https://twitter.com/...
@innercitypress @innercitypress on x
On #FTX / Alameda, here from (scripted) allocution in unsealed guilty plea transcript of Caroline Ellison 6/6 (for now) more on https://www.patreon.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@paleofuture Matt Novak on x
“In his own plea hearing, Wang said he was ‘directed’ to make changes to the FTX platform's code that he knew would give Alameda special privileges, and that misrepresentations were being made to customers and investors.” https://twitter.com/...
@paleofuture Matt Novak on x
“She said she and Bankman-Fried agreed to conceal this arrangement from lenders and crafted false financial statements to hide the amount of Alameda's borrowing, including billions in loans made out to FTX executives.” https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@stephofrnt Stéphane Ouellette on x
Can others confirm the veracity of these documents? They seem highly credible - assuming they are, the guilty plea very succinctly and clearly explains the extent of fraud and intent... Don't know how the dwindling Sam proponents can look themselves in the mirror after this... ht…
@compound248 @compound248 on x
More from the WSJ's report on Caroline and Gary, as well as a link to my tweet that broke down what we learned from the SEC's civil complaint filed earlier this week. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@goldtelegraph_ @goldtelegraph_ on x
BREAKING NEWS: FORMER ALAMEDA CEO, CAROLINE ELLISON, CONFIRMS THE FIRM BORROWED BILLIONS FROM FTX CUSTOMER DEPOSITS AS PART OF PLEA DEAL Boom. Somebody tell Bill Ackman.
@tree_of_alpha @tree_of_alpha on x
Reuters: Caroline Ellison said she agreed with Bankman-Fried to hide from FTX's investors, lenders and customers that the hedge fund could borrow unlimited sums from the exchange.
@mattgoldstein26 Matthew Goldstein on x
Former FTX executives Caroline Ellison and Zixiao “Gary” Wang entered their guilty pleas on Monday, Dec. 19. Pleas were not docketed as to not tip off Bankman-Fried and his counsel before he had agreed to extradition and was on a plane back to the U.S. (1)
@cgasparino Charles Gasparino on x
Scoop: Further indictments expected in the FTX scandal as early as Monday as @SBF_FTX ex girlfriend Caroline Ellison turn evidence against her former lover and others more now @FoxBusiness
@compound248 @compound248 on x
Sam not too stressed as he flew first class last night back to hang at his parents' house (not even kidding). https://twitter.com/...
@compound248 @compound248 on x
From a just-released transcript of FTX's Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang in front of a judge. Caroline, “I knew what I did was wrong.” Gary, “I was directed to and agreed to make certain changes to [FTX's] code.” https://twitter.com/...
@cate_long Cate Long on x
Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison says she and Sam Bankman-Fried knowingly misled FTX lenders: ‘I knew that it was wrong’ [Why keep doing what you know is wrong?] https://fortune.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@sirajahashmi Siraj Hashmi on x
show me one person who says they wouldn't risk it all for Caroline Ellison, and i'll show you a liar. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@qtrresearch @qtrresearch on x
As my plumber would say: “Welp, there's your problem right there” https://twitter.com/...
@wublockchain Wu Blockchain on x
FTX former CTO Gary Wang said he was “directed” to make changes to the FTX platform's code that he knew would give Alameda special privileges, and that misrepresentations were being made to customers and investors.
@wublockchain Wu Blockchain on x
She said: “if Alameda's FTX accounts had significant negative balances in any particular currency, it meant that Alameda was borrowing funds that FTX's customers had deposited on the exchange”.
@xrpcryptowolf @xrpcryptowolf on x
Caroline Ellison told federal court in New York that she knowingly misled lenders about how much the firm had been borrowing. Ellison said she and former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried had agreed to hide the arrangement by creating false financial statements 🤡 https://www.theblock.co/…
@mikemcdonald89 Mike McDonald on x
Quick reminder that next cycle's heroes will be cut from the same cloth! https://twitter.com/...
@jeffclarkus Jeff Clark on x
Just open fraud & a Ponzi scheme by Alameda Research & FTX run by Sam Bankman-Fried, working together to rip off FTX clients, according to SBF's own girlfriend, Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison. Yet Left fell hard for SBF's and Ellison's “effective altruism” https://www.foxbusiness.c…
@crypto_coffee Coffee on x
They cooked the books But the plan was only half-baked. https://twitter.com/...
@crypto_coffee Coffee on x
Caroline ruthless in snitching: “We prepared certain quarterly balance sheets that concealed the extent of Alameda's borrowing and the billions of dollars in loans that Alameda had made to FTX executives and to related parties,” Ellison told U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams. htt…
@ahcastor Amy Castor on x
Bloomberg got hold of the transcripts of Caroline Ellison's and Gary Wang's plea hearings on Dec.19. The two admitted they knew what they were doing was wrong. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@invresdynamics Dave Kranzler on x
I would not bet against Hairy Plotter disappearing in the wind. What does he have to lose, especially if it was his parents who posted the 10% down on the bail bond? I just can't believe the court system allowed bail. https://twitter.com/...
@innercitypress @innercitypress on x
Exactly. And the transcripts of the guilty plea allocutions, which were held without any public notice, were kept sealed until today, after SBF was already released on $250 million (mostly unsecured) bail... https://twitter.com/...
@lex_node @lex_node on x
interesting factoid—the plea agreements were signed December 19th they waited until SBF was in the U.S. to announce them (otherwise he might have been more likely to fight extradition?) https://twitter.com/...
@wholemarsblog @wholemarsblog on x
Alameda Research's former CEO Caroline Ellison apologized for misconduct in the FTX collapse this week, telling a judge she knew her actions were illegal and that she conspired to steal customer funds “I knew what I was doing was wrong” https://www.wsj.com/...
@charlesornstein Charles Ornstein on x
Alameda Research's former CEO Caroline Ellison apologized for misconduct in the FTX collapse this week, telling a judge she knew her actions were illegal https://www.wsj.com/...
@watcherguru @watcherguru on x
JUST IN: Caroline Ellison admits she and SBF agreed to hide that Alameda Research could borrow unlimited assets from FTX.
@wublockchain Wu Blockchain on x
Caroline Ellison said in court: From 2019 through 2022, Alameda has an unlimited line of credit without being required to post collateral, without having negative balances and without being subject to margin calls on FTX's liquidation protocols. Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.co…
@ericbalchunas Eric Balchunas on x
Caroline could end up a hero in all this. If she can get SBF out of first class/parents mansion/headlines etc and into jail it would be hard not to appreciate her for that, and root for a lightened sentence. https://twitter.com/...
@phil_lewis_ Philip Lewis on x
Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX execs received billions of $ in secret loans from the crypto mogul's Alameda Research, the hedge fund's ex-chief told a judge in her guilty plea https://www.reuters.com/...
@frank_giustra Frank Giustra on x
Sadly, I suspect there are more of these revelations to come as this entire crypto mania unravels. Why investors are still long this asset class is a mystery to me. This will go down in the history books as the greatest financial scam of all time. https://www.reuters.com/...
@trengriffin Tren Griffin on x
That she wasn't gonna accept a plea was a bad bet. Bahamas jail a bad bed. Ellison gave her first public account of her actions in a Dec. 19 plea hearing in federal court. “I knew that it was wrong,” she said, according to a transcript of the hearing. https://www.bloomberg.com/..…

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