Former billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of cryptocurrency exchange company FTX, funneled millions of dollars to Democratic campaigns, becoming one the party’s largest donors, second only to George Soros.
Bankman-Fried donated nearly $127 million during the midterm cycle, according to Federal Election Commission data. His company also reportedly set up a website, Aid for Ukraine, to raise funds for Ukrainians amid the ongoing war against Russia. The initiative was powered by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, FTX and Ukrainian-web company Everstake.
Cryptocurrency donations were sent to the National Bank of Ukraine. The 30-year-old crypto financier wrote on Twitter in early March he was “excited and humbled to be working with the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance and others to support crypto donations to Ukraine.”
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Last week, FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a liquidity crisis at the company, and Bankman-Fried is estimated to have lost roughly $16 billion in a week.
New York Post columnist Miranda Devine questioned Monday on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” why a country at war was “dabbling with cryptocurrency.”
“Why on earth the American taxpayer is funneling tens of billions of dollars over to Ukraine so that they can fight Russia, and why on earth they would be involved, the Ukrainian government, with this now collapsed cryptocurrency exchange we need to know,” she told guest host Tulsi Gabbard.
“Why on earth was a country at war dabbling with cryptocurrency which everybody knows is shady?” Devine asked.
Devine added Bankman-Fried was in the “bosom of the left” and “indulging in all sorts of woke causes.”
Alex Bornyakov, deputy minister of digital transformation of Ukraine, refuted claims the country used government funds to invest in FTX, which in turn donated to Democratic candidates, calling the theory “nonsense” on Twitter.
Bankman-Fried and his company are currently under investigation by Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the Wall Street Journal.
