Former crypto billionaire and Democratic Party megadonor Sam Bankman-Fried addressed his fallen crypto empire’s alleged ties to the Ukrainian government in an interview Nov. 29.
He discussed a wide range of subjects with crypto YouTuber Tiffany Fong, including speculation about the Ukrainian government allegedly investing taxpayer funds into his crypto exchange FTX that later went to Democratic campaigns.
Bankman-Fried belittled the rumors, saying “I wish I could have pulled it off,” referring to allegedly laundering Ukraine funds for the Democratic Party nearly 14 minutes into the interview.
He added “I wished I was part of an international conspiracy that interesting” and questioned the motive Ukraine would have for allegedly laundering funds to the Democratic Party.
Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Transportation Alex Bornyakov addressed the allegations in a Nov. 14 tweet, calling it “nonsense” and clarifying “Ukraine’s gov never invested any funds into FTX.”
A fundraising crypto foundation @_AidForUkraine used @FTX_Official to convert crypto donations into fiat in March. Ukraine’s gov never invested any funds into FTX. The whole narrative that Ukraine allegedly invested in FTX, who donated money to Democrats is nonsense, frankly 🤦♂️
— Alex Bornyakov (@abornyakov) November 14, 2022
Speculation has been fueled by FTX’s work with Aid for Ukraine to convert cryptocurrency donations into Ukraine’s currency that went from early March to April of this year, Associated Press reported. Donations were sent from FTX to the National Bank of Ukraine and no crypto was stored on the exchange, AP confirmed. (RELATED: Federal Prosecutors Had FTX On Their Radar Months Before Collapse: REPORT)
Financial records demonstrate Sam Bankman-Fried was a large donor to the Democratic Party in the 2022 election cycle. He was the sixth largest midterm donor overall, sending over $36 million to the Democratic Party, watchdog group OpenSecrets recorded.
He resigned from his position as CEO of FTX a few days after a report from crypto website CoinDesk alleging misuse of customer funds. FTX filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month and Bankman-Fried claims to have $100,000 left in his bank account, Axios reported. His net worth was measured by Forbes magazine to be $17.2 billion, with his wealth peaking at $26.5 billion.