“SBF Bought Political Influence,” Says US Rep; Will It Save Him With Jail Term?

With the gradual unfolding of the high-pitched drama surrounding the FTX collapse and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried, the community stands divided on the various tactics exercised by SBF to gain prominence in the industry. From loaning out $43 million to crypto news media company TheBlock to donating prominent political candidates for their election campaigns — SBF penetrated deep into reshaping his image as the next crypto messiah.

SBF’s Political Goals

The 30-year old cryptocurrency wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried has splurged tens of millions of dollars over the past year trying to alter the way Washington and the rest of the world viewed cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

In just three years, he built the industry-leading cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which was reportedly valued at $32 billion. He rose from anonymity to become the second-largest Democratic donor in the midterm elections, gaining massive political clout, with a few extremely influential officials.

Read More: SBF Says Senate Hearing “Not Currently Scheduled” For Attending

According to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit located in Washington, D.C., the founder and former CEO of FTX contributed about $40 million to Democrats this election cycle, second only to George Soros, who distributed around $128 million.

Reasons For Political Influence

In a recent interview on CNBC’s episode of Squawk Box, when asked whether or not the now-behind-bars founder “bought Washington” — implying to the term of buying political power through donations, the U.S. Representative, Patrick McHenry acknowledged the fact by saying “he [SBF] tried”

"Wouldn't it be easy to change the rules so that the SEC could protect investor interest?" @BeckyQuick asks @PatrickMcHenry about @FTX_Official: pic.twitter.com/Qw1YOJieTm

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) December 13, 2022

Patrick emphasizes on the fact that, in SBF’s interview with Vox, it shows that “he was a manipulator of world-class capacity and he’s trying to pull off something that was light-touch regulation for his platform”

While talking about Bankman-Fried’s actual reason for gaining political traction, Patrick states that,

He worked with the Securities Exchange Commission and the CFTC, seeking out a commodity regulatories regime for his platform. So, what I’m looking at is a proper balance so that consumers will not fall prey to any successor of FTX.

Donations Being Returned?

However, it doesn’t seem all good with the FTX founder’s political ambitions, as few of the political candidates who he donated to, are returning their funds back. The total returned or re-donated contributions represent almost $1.2 million of Bankman-Fried’s political contributions, which is roughly 3% of all his campaign donations.

And with the SEC charging him with fraud, hours before his Congressional hearing, on late Monday evening, things look pretty bleak for SBF — crypto’s once shining star.

Read More: SBF Built A House Of Cards, Says SEC Chair

In the United States, deceiving investors can result in sentences of more than 10 years in prison.