Sam Bankman-Fried Opens Up About FTX Funds Used For Political Donations And Distributed To Families

FTX founder and former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried. (Photo; Doc. CryptoRank)

JAKARTA The trial of the FTX bankruptcy case is still ongoing. The latest confession from FTX founder Sam Bankman Fried (SBF) has attracted public attention. On October 17, SBF revealed the company's massive donation list for politicians. This list reveals that Bankman-Fried has provided more than 133 million US dollars (approximately IDR 2.09 trillion) in various forms of donations. Most of this amount, namely 119 million US dollars (approximately IDR 1.87 trillion), consists of political donations to a number of politicians.

According to a CoinTelegraph report, the largest contribution provided by Bankman-Fried was given to political groups and political action committees (PAC). These groups are subject to stricter donation restrictions compared to other political candidates.

These groups receive tens of millions of dollars collectively. Names such as Protect Our Future, One Nation, House Majority PAC, Majority Forward, Future Now, Building a Stronger Future, and others include among the recipients of the donation.

Distributed To SBF Family And Friends

In addition to political donations, this list also records the transfer of funds between family members. One of the biggest transfers was a gift worth 10 million US dollars (around Rp157 billion) from Sam Bankman-Fried to his father, Joseph Bankman. The other transfer covers 2 million US dollars (about 31.4 billion IDR) which was sent to his brother, Gabriel Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried also donated 17.5 million US dollars (around Rp275 billion) to a group known as Guarding Against Pandemics (GAP), previously led by Gabe Bankman-Fried.

Apart from family and friends, Bankman-Fried also contributes to individuals involved in the effective altruism community in San Francisco. Reward recipients include Earth system scientist Claire Zabel, Democratic politicians Elizabeth Edwards-Appell and Alex Zajic, computer science student Rocket Drew, as well as Chatham House researcher David Lawrence.

In this context, it should be noted that FTX is a leading crypto trading platform, and donations from Bankman-Fried as well as other FTX executives are reaching enormous amounts, reflecting the significance of the crypto industry in today's politics and society.

Apart from Bankman-Fried, the donation list also includes contributions from other FTX executives. The total donation from FTX executives reached 230 million US dollars (around 3.61 trillion IDR). Former FTX chief engineering officer, Nishad Singh, made a donation of 72 million US dollars (around Rp1.13 trillion).

Meanwhile, Alimeda Research's former CEO, Caroline Ellison, spent 19 million US dollars (approximately 298 billion IDR) on gifts and other donations. There are also donations of 40 million US dollars (approximately IDR 628 billion) and 10 million US dollars (approximately IDR 157 billion) for AI company Anthropic, which shows involvement in projects that could affect technological developments.