Original Title: THE SILICON VALLEY SOCIALIST: SAM BANKMAN-FRIED

Original Author: BITCOIN MAGAZINE

Translated by: Sharon, BlockBeats

People want an authoritative figure to tell them how to evaluate things, but their choice of this authority is not based on facts or results - they choose it because it looks authoritative or familiar.

——Michael Lewis, "The Big Short"

Famous writer Michael Lewis published his book "The Premonition: A Pandemic Story" on the first day of the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, the infamous founder of SBF, which tells the rise and fall of FTX. The book has been criticized by critics for its seemingly favorable portrayal of millennial cryptocurrency founders.

This is interesting because fundamentally, the story of SBF is a very traditional one, similar to "The Big Short", which tells the story of a privileged class of characters who use our society's tendency to judge people based on their values rather than their resumes - or, in Michael's words, not based on "facts", but on a set of heuristic rules and the recognition of "smart" people, to pursue their own interests.

SBF is able to convince those who are considered "smart people" in society, including Michael, whom we trust, is truly incredible. But why are they attracted to him? Perhaps it is because SBF is someone they understand. He is an insider, and they, like him, view cryptocurrency as a community from which they can profit, rather than an ecosystem that needs to be nurtured.

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Cryptocurrency Colonialism

The Fortune magazine wrote in their report on SBF that this person from the Bay Area does not seem to be the most powerful person in the cryptocurrency industry. But is this really true?

In fact, a young man in his twenties who is socially awkward, has a degree from MIT, and has poor taste, is a dream come true for many modern "smart" technology investors. SBF could easily be a character in the HBO TV series "Silicon Valley". Coupled with his pedigree - his parents are law professors at Stanford University's modern temple of commerce - you can almost see him as a savior of modern capitalism.

You just need to look at the praise from Kevin O'Lear, a millionaire investor and celebrity on "Shark Tank," who said, "I am a staunch supporter of Sam because he has two parents who are compliance lawyers." The investor said this in 2022. O'Lear went on to say, "If there's one place I won't get into trouble, it's FTX." We later found out that this Canadian investor receives nearly $1 million per hour from SBF as its public spokesperson.

However, besides the background of SBF, the real selling point that attracts investors' attention is the mission of SBF. This is not "effective altruism" - subscribing to fashionable, hypocritical sympathy movements, which is definitely a good marketing strategy for elite financiers. However, what really arouses investors' interest is the belief that cryptocurrency is not a serious industry worth developing, but an excellent opportunity to make big money from gamblers.

As a venture capitalist from Sequoia Capital once said in a deleted overview about SBF, "Yes, cryptocurrency may eventually replace currency, and yes, it may eventually become a decentralized network." However, he also pointed out that "none of these things are true today." So, what are people doing today? They are trading. And if people are trading, and they enjoy trading, what kind of business model can make big money? That would be exchanges.

This quote shows that SBF's investors do not take the cryptocurrency community seriously. For them, the social significance of cryptocurrency itself is the same as pulling three cherries at a Las Vegas casino. Instead of investing in pictures of cherries, it is better to invest in the casino.

Whether or not you agree with their views, the cryptocurrency community, especially in the Bitcoin space, is serious about their goals. They are mostly a group of libertarians and extreme purists. They take a very serious look at how blockchain can be used to liberate people who currently cannot access banking services, protect labor value from the effects of inflation, and connect people around the world through payments, especially by eliminating government intervention in currency.

As Erik Voorhees said, this is one of the last debates with SBF: "What we are doing here is actually bringing the separation between church and state to the separation between state and payment, which actually liberates people all over the world."

For people like Erik, their unwavering beliefs are incalculable to individuals such as Sequoia VC or SBF. For them, these beliefs are somewhat useful as they drive a community to work hard during the initial Bitcoin bull markets, but what about the beliefs themselves? For the exhausted elite, a company's mission is often just a means to an end: to make their bank accounts flourish.

For them, the mission is like doing a "charitable cause", or participating in a service trip in high school to leave a good impression on Ivy League admissions officers, just a part of the "game".

This is quite problematic because their investments in immature cryptocurrency companies, as well as overall immature behavior, such as FTX raising over $4.2 billion from 69 investors, is one of the important reasons why the "cryptocurrency" industry has not gained public respect.

Source: The Crypto Times

Additionally, SBF often makes critical comments pointing out that Bitcoin is "slow and cumbersome". Please remember that the Bitcoin community not only created cryptocurrency, but may also be the most ideologically pure people in the technology field, for better or worse. Furthermore, SBF is attempting to influence legislation that affects sincere Bitcoin supporters. As one of the largest Washington donors before the collapse of FTX, he is likely to successfully lobby the government to adopt his views.

But this is a form of colonization. Before SBF entered, the cryptocurrency community was a vibrant ecosystem. It was a group of misfits coming together to build something unique and important. It was an opportunity for them to feel empowered in a system where they felt marginalized. For SBF and his colleagues, their purpose in entering was to profit from investors' transaction fees, rather than creating products and companies in the spirit of Bitcoin, which was their original sin.

Should we be surprised by its ultimate collapse?

One "Silicon Valley Socialist"

Similar to a young child asking "why doesn't the government just print more money for the homeless?", SBF is known for earning a lot of money and donating it. Like a benevolent aristocrat in beach shorts, Andrew Carnegie, a famous American philanthropist, comes to mind. But is this truly a sincere charitable impulse, or is his compassion merely a game strategy to increase social capital?

During a phone conversation with cryptocurrency journalist Tiffany Fong, SBF stated that he donated the same amount to both Republicans and Democrats, but he did so in a low-key manner to gain favor with what he believes are left-leaning journalists in the mainstream media. In other words, SBF has created a public image of himself as a humanitarian, but his actual motive is to gain more power and influence.

His former business partner, Anthony Scaramucci, said he believes SBF has a sense of "superiority". Therefore, perhaps in SBF's mind, he thinks that as long as he has enough money, he can solve all the problems in the world alone.

Source: Euromoney

Regardless of the truth, what makes SBF believe that he has the right to decide how to use other people's money? Or to enter a field that he has almost no connection with? What makes him think that he should be an authoritative figure to decide which aspects are compliant or taboo? Or to write legislation for it?

The core of these issues is his belief that he is the smartest person. This belief, combined with his parents' social status and his undeniable analytical and logical thinking background, undoubtedly makes him feel privileged. However, what is missing in SBF's thinking matrix is a soul, a soul that can truly respect the community he enters as a stranger.

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