Elon Musk Reveals Wild ‘$1 Billion’ Democrat Donation Theory After Bitcoin And Crypto Exchange Collapse
Tesla billionaire and new Twitter owner Elon Musk has suggested the disgraced former chief executive of collapsed bitcoin and crypto exchange FTX donated far more money to Democrats than previously thought.
Musk, who claimed he saw red flags when FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried offered cash toward his Twitter takeover, revealed via Twitter that he thinks Bankman-Fried could have donated “over $1 billion” to Democrats ahead of the FTX’s meltdown—far more than the near-$40 million that’s been reported.
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Elon Musk has previously made waves in the bitcoin and crypto world with his off the cuff Twitter … [+]
“That’s just the publicly disclosed number,” Musk posted to his almost 120 million followers in response to tech chief executive Will Manidis. “[Sam Bankman-Fried’s] actual support of Democrat elections is probably over $1 billion. The money went somewhere, so where did it go?”
Bankman-Fried and the operations of his bitcoin and crypto exchange FTX have come under intense media scrutiny following his $32 billion business empire’s shock collapse into bankruptcy last month—blamed on FTX comingling funds with the trading company Alameda Research, also owned by Bankman-Fried.
Bankman-Fried rode the bitcoin and crypto rally to billionaire status over the last few years, building FTX into one of the world’s largest exchanges and fostering a reputation as crypto’s “lender of last resort” as a brutal crypto crash pushed many companies to the brink of collapse earlier this year.
Ahead of FTX’s implosion, Bankmam-Fried was a regular in Washington D.C. where he testified before Congress and met with lawmakers and regulators. He was also a donor to left-leaning media companies, sparking suggestions the media has failed to adequately hold him to account following FTX’s meltdown.
Bankman-Fried had previously said he would donate $1 billion to political candidates before rowing back the pledge. However, he has emerged as one of the largest Democrat donors in recent years, spending a reported $36 million in the latest midterm elections mostly via the Protect Our Future Pac.
In an interview posted to YouTube this week, Bankman-Fried claimed to have donated to both Democrats and Republicans.
“I donated about the same amount to both parties,” Bankman-Fried told the crypto YouTuber Tiffany Fong, adding all his “Republican donations were dark.”
This week, the U.S. Senate began the first in a series of hearings into FTX’s collapse and have said they intend to hear from Bankman-Fried.
