It is now crystal clear that Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, was open to excessive risks. However, Sam’s passion goes far beyond risky deals with shitcoins. In fact, it is reflected in a much more ordinary but still unexpected way – online gambling.
According to Bahamian sources close to SBF, the ex-CEO of FTX got carried away with crypto casinos this summer. It came shortly after his Alameda Research fund lost massive amounts of money due to the Terra/Luna collapse.
“Sam started playing blackjack at high stakes, something he had never done before. An MIT graduate with a mathematical mind. He should have known that the house always wins”.
The source added that it took them a while to figure out why Sam had a new interest.
“Back then, no one knew about Alameda’s problems yet. In retrospect, it seems that he expected to recover the fund’s money with gambling. As the saying goes, risk a little to make a lot. Apparently, he was out of luck.”
But did SBF risk a little? According to Nansen, over $100 million in Ethereum and USDT were transferred from Alameda-controlled addresses to verified online casino wallets in the span of four months. As we know today, a limited number of executives in the Bahamas accessed Alameda and FTX wallets. All the deposits were made to such casinos as Stake, LTC Casino, and Bitcasino.
“He played only on a few websites. As he explained, there were no problems with withdrawals, and they allowed him to play anonymously. FTX users would not be happy to find out where their money ended up”.
SBF and Twitch
SBF has never made a secret of his passion for online games. It’s a known fact that he could easily play a League of Legends match even during an important meeting.
“On the Fields of Justice, I find peace. I play a lot more than you’d expect from someone who routinely trades off sleep vs work. Without thinking, I’ll enter a game, and draft, and start,” Sam wrote on Twitter.
Here is the full thread if you are interested in all his thoughts on the matter.
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On the Fields of JusticeI find peace pic.twitter.com/DyPMfIJqEc
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) February 4, 2021
It is believed that if a person is brilliant at one thing, they are likely to be good at other areas too. However, it appears that SBF was neither good at trading nor any good at LoL. As a recent Financial Times investigation has shown, on both of his accounts, “sambf” and “TSMFTX SBF”, he reached only Bronze III and Bronze II tiers, respectively, which indicates a mediocre skill level.
Fans of online games spend hours not only playing but also watching streams on platforms like Twitch, where they can learn from more experienced players. That’s where SBF encountered Roshtein, a popular online casino streamer who, like the ex-CEO of FTX, enjoyed playing at high stakes.
“Yeah, he liked watching those streams. The guy plays for hours daily, betting thousands of dollars per round. That’s the level of SBF,” said the source. crypto casino no kyc
Like SBF, Roshtein is not doing so well lately. In October, Twitch changed its policy, banning streams from Stake and several other online bitcoin casinos. Initially, the company’s decision was explained by the issues with another streamer who gambled away the money of his peers. However, in light of the SBF exposure, this story can be seen much differently. What if Twitch, the platform accused of encouraging the underage audience to gamble on multiple occasions, decided to avoid association with the falling crypto empire and the possible negative consequences of it?
“Sam Bankman-Fried liked to throw money around, making risky deals with crypto tokens, investing in multi-million dollar partnerships with stadiums and eSports teams, and, as it now turns out, gambling at high stakes. That wouldn’t be so bad if his entertainment wasn’t funded by FTX customers. What other expensive hobbies of the former FTX head are left to be discovered?” Bloomberg Markets editor Joe Weisenthal said.