The Fake Genius: a $30 BILLION Fraud.
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- ► Go to ntn.so/jamesjani to get Notion FREE & Notion AI for only $10/mnth.
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was supposed to be a billionaire genius running the world's largest Crypto exchange: FTX. In only a few weeks, his $32B empire crumbled, leading to his arrest. In this video, we unravel one of the decade's most significant cases of financial fraud.
[Credits]
Director: James Jani.
Creative Producer: Ayaz Ali.
Editors: James Jani, @feds.vids.
Motion Graphics: Santiago Garcia Ferreyra, Merce Garcia Ferreyra, Nick M, Michael Tantoro, Daniela Varon.
Research: Danny Hatcher, James Jani.
******
► Become a Patron for behind the scenes, Q&A's, and editing tutorials: / jamesvj
💻Where I began Learning How to Edit + Other Clases (Skillshare)
► skillshare.eqc...
📦 Download my Video Editing Templates:
► www.jamesjani....
📹 My Equipment:
► www.jamesjani....
🎶 Where I Get My Music:
►Epidemic Sounds - www.epidemicso...
► Artlist - artlist.io/art...
Stock footage & SFX:
► motionarray.co...
🔧 Helpful tool for RUclipsrs (TubeBuddy):
► www.tubebuddy....
💼 Job Opportunities:
► jamesjani.noti...
***
Let's Connect:
📸 IG: james.v.j // bit.ly/2TOaBBC
🐦 Twitter: @jamesvjani // bit.ly/2zYPrsT
******
All materials in these videos are used for educational purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement is intended. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of said material, please contact me via my email in the "about" page on my channel.
AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: there may be a few links in this description that, at no cost to you, will earn me a commission if you choose to click them and make a purchase 🙂
K. Armndrz
🚨 UPDATE: SAM BANKMAN-FRIED FOUND GUILTY OF ALL COUNTS OF FRAUD AND CONSPIRACY, after a month-long trial. Sentencing will be in March 2024.
►Support the channel: www.patreon.com/jamesvj
► Follow Me for Behind the Scenes, Updates, and Teasers:
📸 IG: james.v.j // bit.ly/2TOaBBC
🐦 Twitter: @jamesvjani // bit.ly/2zYPrsT
📦 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗠𝘆 𝗩𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀:
► www.jamesjani.com/shop/ruclips.net/user/sgaming/emoji/7ff574f2/emoji_u1f447.png
Great video James! You inspire upcoming creators like myself.
Great guy 💯❤️
Why support you monthly if you only make one video every 8 months? Or do you plan to start uploading more regularly?
@@lovegod8582 Because quality takes time. If you have worked on a project, you also get paid for the months, not for the result, right? If not, you have shitty contracts.
Where the hell have you been man!!!😢 welcome back
At which point do we call out Forbes? They've been promoting scammers for decades while still being taken seriously
Because it's a feature of capitalism. Not a bug. The originator of the "Ponzi scheme," Charles Ponzi himself, told investors he would buy postal reply coupons at foreign exchanges and sell them in the U.S. for a massive profit, just like SBF's original scam based on crypto exchanges in Asia.
Forbes really needs to fire whoever they put in charge of vetting people
Lol the Kylie Jenner self-made billionaire bit was ridiculous of Forbes
Was Forbes the one who asked users to turn off adblock with a huge page covering the screen and then served malvertisements to people?
True. It's clickbait.
My Uncle jumped in front of a train and committed Suicide as he lost his entire wealth with FTX. It was a devastating moment inside our family. He worked 3 jobs, saved up all the money, and invested in FTX.
I'm sorry that happened to him.
Jesus
My condolences, really sad for you and your family
Sorry but your uncle should not have invested everything on one thing. Even if FTX was still around not a good idea
Ouch.Hope your family is ok now
UPDATE: On March 28, 2024, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $11 billion.
He had nothing to forfeit lol
Lol
He will end up with 14 years then some house arrest at mommies and no one will ever get anything from him it’s sickening
25 years is short for his crime. Should have been 55 years.
His signature HJR-192 @@Coachprimesbuffaloes
CEOs before fraud charges: “I built this company brick by brick. I AM this company.”
CEOs after fraud charges: “I wish I had kept my eye on things and knew what the company was doing. I was barely involved, and had no idea.”
underrated comment
SBF was never an underdog, he was born to academic elites from Stanford, had a brother with enough clout to become director of an org that Sam defrauded, was enrolled in Mathematics Olympics programs and graduated from MIT. He had all the chips in the right place to become a narcissistic fraudster.
SBF is a literal mooch just like all those other richies
Well said, I agree
She's on telegrams
That was part of his lie...
Fully agree. I guess that's why the video starts out with "This is not one of those stories". Very fitting, honestly.
Cannot believe we get these high quality Netflix worthy documentaries completely for free. Ur the best james
Don't you think someone is behind all this? Everyone got paid to do this. There's no free lunch.
@@silviomp4M views is the person behind it ofcourse he gets funds to make videos but mainly the views probably
@@grogbrog Here in Brazil there's a company that sponsors/manages the top 40 influencers on Instagram, TikTok etc. People think it's all organic, but it's all orchestrated.
Netflix is shit.
@@bekiraltindal9053 We live in a time when garbage is considered gold just because garbage is beautifully wrapped up.
I love how people love to talk about how "do not judge based on appearance" and all but the moment they see Sam's car, outfit and how he basically treated his job like a vacation, all of them just fall all over him. Like the quote goes both way, don't think someone is bad OR good based on their looks.
The mainstream media fell down on this one. They saw all the celebrities with whom he hung out and were dazzled. By the time they thought to be more critical, it was too effing late!
There are 2 things people love to do more than everything else. One is to feel high and mighty, making themselves feel good by saying things like "do not judge based on appearance". The other thing? Hypocrisy, sanctimoniousness, double-dealing.
True. Look carefully into someone’s eyes and read body language. You will know if they are crooks or not.
do not be fooled by appearances and yet they lost the money that they gave to this charlatan
100
>have lots of money
>want more money
>get sucked in
>lose all your money
Many such cases!
Addicted gambling.. 😅
@@singingfor3683'Let's go gambling!'
The fact that I know NOTHING about Finance... NOTHING about crypto currency...
And the fact that I sat through the entire thing... And that too for A HOUR long video shows THE QUALITY of the video and the information presented.
BIG CHEERS TO THE ENTIRE TEAM 🔥
They always say... when an "investment" is on the regular news and the normal blue collar guy down the road is talking about it, you know it's a bubble and you should get out fast ! I am a BTC user and the only reason I know what regular users of BTC use it for is to buy stuff you can't normally buy in the shops so to speak. Nothing else
karlwithak. I disagree. If a video or media product can grab someone's attention and that person comes way satisfied from viewing it, then it wouldn't be "nonsense." And Finance in general is a subject worth exploring even among those who aren't necessarily interested in it. We all need and use money, after all.
You better me because I couldn’t even watch the video just the ending game
agree with siilver- excellent 👍
So true! I clicked only because the last time I saw a video like this, it led me down the Theranos scam years ago, and I was so proud when she was sentenced and the film came out and whatnot, and I could explain to other people what was going on
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why you don't sink your lifesavings into an unproven unregulated financial system endorsed by celebrities.
It amazes me how many people don't diversify. Like I'm hardly some big investor but even I've got a good diversification between asset types. It's one of the things that annoys me when the government steps in to try and protect me, for example with something like Lending Tree I knew the risks I knew they were personal loans but no the government says I can't invest in that unless I'm one of the elites. Let people fail, I'm tired of the hand holding to save the people who don't pay enough attention.
Emphasis on *UNREGULATED*. I genuinely feel for people who were pulled into the luring promise of fast money, but the old saying is so old because it always applies. If it's too good to be true, it probably is.
@@ChaosTherum It also amazes me how much people throw into the market that they can't afford to lose. I treat investment money as gambling money. If I somehow happen to lose all of it now, I would still be okay, but I'm also not dumping all my paychecks, bonuses and raises into one system.
The word 'celebrity' is probably the 2nd most offensive word beginning with the letter C.
@@tonyadams8812 crab
If the establishment and celebrities are promoting something, if it's hyped up and it's everywhere, it's not because they care about you. Stay away. Applies to everything and always turns out to be the correct choice, without fail.
Truly tragic that so many people got swindled!
It’s like Oprah and the block head Rock raising money for Hawaii. Hey poor people all you need to do is give to the rich so they can buy up land.
history repeat itself only in a different version, people never learn
i love when they lose money and get scammed,
Can be seen with ww2 where the biggest names weren't the profitable, but the one farthest away focusing on money.
The real winners of ww2 wasn't the allies.
It was the US who basically didn't participate or praise them selves so much.
They were mostly a businessman selling to Britain while keeping their interests inland and safe.
Pearl Harbor was a piss in Mississippi to them really. At the end of the war they had a booming industry and a broken world desperate for produce.
And boy did US make bank on Europe's behalf.
Facts. Happens literally every time.
Billionaires often promote the idea that money isn't the key to happiness, but in reality, money provides security and freedom.
By investing, they secure wealth for future generations, highlighting the importance of financial literacy and stock market investing for building a better financial future.
The common belief that a stable job leads to financial success contrasts with the approach of billionaires, who focus on entrepreneurship, investing, and building passive income streams through long-term strategies and calculated risks methods not typically taught in traditional career paths. Most people are unaware of these alternative principles that can lead to greater wealth
You get rich by making credit work for you. Nobody ever got rich by saving money.
That's very practical and smart goal, a wise man once said do everything you can to get outta debt, one of his tips to get rich is Investing.
Investing now will be the wisest thing to do especially with the current economic fluctuation and inflations.
Imagine you are looking to invest $1 billion dollars and the CEO of the company you visit starts playing video games during the visit… and this is somehow a green light? Never underestimate the stupidity of people when they think they can get rich quick 👍
She's on telegrams
mary3437
The username
I take it the greenlight was he was soooooo successful he could take downtime.
Yeah though anyone with a brain cell would walk asap
I truly think that we as a culture have been somewhat desensitized to oddness because of how the media loves to make tv shows and movies about “the eccentric genius”. ‘Oh he’s unprofessional but he’s really great at his job”, ‘he’s unconventional but he’s a maverick at xyz’. We overthink things and assume someone is being that way because what they lack in finesse they make up for in skill elsewhere. Sometimes it’s the case, other times it’s not 😅
My fav part of that is the account believed to be his is bronze. Legit 2nd lowest rank in game and laughably bad considering the massive amount of games played on the account. Just like the investing the only reason it impressed anyone was because they had no clue what was going on
The investors that looked at him sleeping and playing video games and still wanted to give him money and ask zero questions??? No sympathy over the money they lost for their decision
Bro. Do you know how many VCs have turned us down due to ammunition being a "liability" ... But they give this testosterone free beta male billions?
I think it's time we retake our country.
BUT sympathy for just ordinary people, who became victims of a fraudster
No sympathy for them either…he even looks like a weirdo and then when you add in his habits then you know he’s on the spectrum
"more powerful than a balance sheet, is a story" As an accountant, that pains me to the core. The amount of ppl that will blindly believe in someone/something with so little pushback or financial evidence is troubling.
One word.......GREED
The world runs on dreams, my friend.
@@arthurswanson3285 That may be, but in the world of business, those dreams must be supported by results.
@@arthurswanson3285 🤣
So... Are stock market still investable knowing crypto industry went down? Name one pls.
This is one of THE BEST Netflix-Level documentaries on scams I've ever seen yet!!!
Exactly. I'd watch this in the cinema big screen
Same
This is Ai generated slop content riddled with inaccuracies and outright lies, you need better taste kiddo ✌️
The whole thing about playing League of Legends during meetings makes me think: there is this widespread stupid belief that millionaires not only are “geniuses” who work 24/7, but that they have some sort of superhuman attention span and absurd multitask capabilities. People probably heard about SBF playing during meetings and thought “whoa, he’s so smart that he can play vidya and do business at the same time!”.
As if he were Lex Luthor simultaneously playing 5 games of chess and working at his lab.
Did you just use a chris-chan term? Gotta play the vidya, get me some china!
in reality his mind is autistic like a 5yo!! so he plays videogames like a 5yo because he really os retarded and or autistic
I play age of empires and zeus (ancient pc games) during team meetings because most people in corporate just spew bullshit. And people call me a star because i still have the best output and i am never late in delivering.
Difference is i am not a megalomaniac like sbf, i don't intend to give to charity i just don't cheat on my taxes, plus I'm atheist not a pedo jew who does financial crimes to fund the terrorist state of israel.
That was the opposite. People think millionaires are stupid so they don't need to concentrate. Him playing LoL is him trying to say "I'm like you, I don't care what they say either".
League should have been a red flag lmao
I love how this guy breaks everything down. He doesn't waste words, and he pieces out each bit of information into a very understandable story. This isn't exactly an easy to understand topic for me, but he made it so.
But he still has distracting background music and too loud
@@Dionysos_____AltersYour opinion. It's not distracting for me
Coffezilla has a big role in the unfolding of this heist. Havent heard this name on his documentary
100% agree
@@gineerpat8590Elaborate please, what role?
FTX is the prime example of what a giant house of cards the whole world of crypto is. People are just so desperate to believe that money can be made out of thin air, they'll deny reality right in front of their faces.
Money is made out of nothing but thin air my friend
Aren't all currencies made out of thin air? It might have been different when the US dollar was backed by physical gold, but now it just gets printed like toilet paper.
I think basically the entire financial sector is a house of cards, or just straight up bullshit
@@zeeochnee True & crypto is on top of the hill of BS.
It seems like bitcoin isn’t a scam itself but the exchanges are
A year later, and it still boggles my mind both that the FTX disaster happened and that anyone still thinks cryptocurrencies aren't a scam.
Not crypto: tokens are just tokens.
It is DeFi, the so-called use case for these tokens, that is the scam.
You have no idea. Sit down
@@Bluemusic66You said it like every single cryptobros and enefteebros on the internet said to anyone who are not willing to jump into it.
@@Bluemusic66Sounds like typical cryptobros and enefteebros on Twitter who will say it when people are not jumping into the bandwagon.
(For some reason YT decided to deleted my last comment)
There's a new cryptocurrency scam like every month and people still take crypto seriously somehow
I’m interested in the fact that almost no one had any questions about him, this suggests that society can praise anyone in isolation from his real qualities
And the exact opposite could happen as well. People who are talented, honest, but aware of uncertain outcomes, risk, got easily flagged "unsure" or unambitious. They get rejected by investors, they tend to rejected on job interviews as well. This guy might have went too far, maybe he did not understand the line of limits in between fraud and "smart move" however thousands and thousands like him are still out there. Doing very similar schemes like he did. They are just more careful, or don't play this big.
I feel like nowadays you have to be a big narcissist to be successful
@@dekurvajothere aren't thousands of people running exchanges to funnel money into politics laundered through other nations.
The mnindless fawning should have been a clue. But the media is still doing it with Bill Gates, so we've learned nothing. In fact, the template for selling the conman to the public is identical.
@@user-hm5zb1qn6g So true regarding Gates!
The reference to SBF's team as "potentially compromised" is the funniest euphemism ever for "kinda dumb" 😂😂
Yeaaah🤣🤣
Dude, are there awards for story telling? This was some masterpiece.
She's on telegrams
mary3437
The username
Samuel Benjamin Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, is an American entrepreneur who founded the FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
Despite speculation, there is no official diagnosis of autism for Sam Bankman-Fried. 0:07 [Discovery ABA]
The world's first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has the largest market capitalization. Its established network, limited supply, and growing institutional adoption make it a relatively safe haven in the volatile crypto market. [The Economic Times]
the guy at 25:35 turns out to be another big scammer. worth a documentary on his own. Great video. Keep up the great work!
I’ve seen several videos and news stories about SBF, and never quite understood what exactly he did. This is the clearest, most easily understood explanation of these events I’ve ever seen. You manage to explain the crimes committed without getting bogged down in crypto nomenclature, which is difficult for most people like me outside the crypto space to understand. Masterfully done.
I'm very thankful my natural suspicion of crypto made me avoid anything involved in that business, altho lots of people around me were getting all excited at the prospect of this new magical thing that nobody quite understood ! Basically it's invented value - I place some 'thing' out there in space & 'decide' it's worth so-and-so$ , then I tell the world all about it & offer to sell these 'things' because the value is going to go up - it's the absolute con. and I believe was successful mainly because people were too scared to admit they didn't understand it !
@veronicaroach3667 it didn't start that way. The idea behind "Bitcoin" and where it got it's imaginary value was on the foundation of being the world's first sovereign currency, money that isn't tied to any government or entity, nor can it be controlled by them. An autonomous self-governing system that cannot inflate or deflate it's total supply. It was meant to be a big "fuck you" to the 2008 financial crisis, which proved that even our most trusted institutions don't always have our best interests at heart. Of course, like all interesting ideas, we humans have a talent for fucking things up. Different cryptocurrencies started sprouting, all claiming to be "better" alternatives to Bitcoin. Suddenly sovereign internet money became an industry, and with that came the conversation of "crypto banks" and "crypto financing". Didn't take long for the industry to become the very thing it sought to destroy.
Omg, I so agree. I've watched several of these videos from other content creators and James is the only one who manages to explain it in a coherent way.
I couldn't even take in and comprehend Legal Eagles video on it, and usually I find he breaks things down in a way I can understand. This is the first and only video where I can say I vaguely understand the bones of it all.
it was more his incompetency than his moral bankruptsy, and theyre going to have a hard time proving intent unless they find actual text messages stating so.
I find it hilarious that the person who actually lost the money, while high on amphetamines gets no jail time out of it as long as she makes up a story that this was Sams plan all along :P
Caroline is the one who lost the money to ridiculously bad trades! And now all she has to do is tell a slight lie/exaggeration about Sam to get off the hook.
Hope the jury is paying attention, whichever way it turns out.
If James Jani were to make a 24 hour documentary on any subject, I would watch it without a break! What a story teller!
Ahhhh. The Simps. Your type is the problem with people. Simp up, boot licker. He doesn't produce these by himself. Why isn't you just can't like something. Instead you have to go straight to idolizing a stranger you know nothing about. Where does this mentality come from? Seriously. Athletes, musicians, actors, politicians, etc etc. You can just appreciate things people do, without going full on Fanboy, Stan, Simp, let me worship you cuz I'm brain dead mode.
Between him and coffeezilla , they are the best at breaking down these tough topics. I’m glad that they do.
I'd watch a 4 hour history of toilet paper.
Same
But it would take him 2 decades to produce it would seem^^
the whole "look, he drives a corolla and wears regular clothes" thing is hilarioussssss. you think thats gonna make me relate to the mega-elite? lol!!!
There are analogs: Warren Buffett (the biggest beneficiary of Obama's bank bailouts) "is a good guy who is just like the commoners because he still lives in the same little bungalow in Nebraska." Bill Gates is a good guy because he's spreading vaaaaagzeens to Africa. It's all part of the salesmanship to get us to hand over our money/take the dose.
I can't even afford a car, what makes them think a *Toyota Corolla* is relatable?
What makes me laugh is the whole making sure new investors saw him sleeping on a beanbag in the office .
If I saw that , I would just leave , it screams incompetent and slob
@@amagimofumofu6549 Exactly. Why would I trust my crypto with a guy who looks like a hobo?
@@SunshowerWonderlab i can barely get an iPhone 15😂 like
What amazes me is how little due diligence was done by the professionals. Shows both how little they know and how at risk our investments really are.
My favorite part about this entire drama is that I was apparently living under a rock during the entire thing. I had no idea FTX even existed, much less that it went under (until the headlines were all over youtube).
It's not like I wasn't aware of the crypto space either, I stuck my toes in it and then immediately realized that I don't want to gamble my money away on some tech-bros money laundering schemes.
I still to this day have no idea how their entire existence flew above my head lol. I guess it worked out for me, somehow. I knew of coinbase, kraken, binance, etc, and yet not these guys. I confuse myself.
Same here 😄
ZOGonzo Circle-Signers have their fingerprints on almost everything.
No this is literally me and what I kept thinking while watching the video
@@Aanike09 i didn't watch the ZOGonzo kyx robbing my people. i'd rather watch ww2 footage of my people doing what ..WAS NEEDED TO DO at the time......now back to das finale finale solutione
You are a smart man. NFTs and Crypto are all scams.
I love how people think that looking kinda shaggy and wearing plain comfortable clothes is unique among smart/wealthy people and somehow makes that person more trustworthy than the average rich person.
It's cause they look closer to the "common man". This is a psychological trick - "They look like me = they can relate to me better"
No they trusted him because he was very good at what they where looking for .These investors you think your better than where and alot still are alot richer than you
Just another shady Ju-boy like Madoff...
Don't love that.
@@minigrande1939huh
Not only are you closing the way for scammers, but also educating the public and making them aware. well done *VAULT GUARD EXPERT* .
The first one hour+ long video I watch on RUclips without ever stopping. Netflix quality or even better James. Amazing work by everyone, including editors, yourself and whoever else was involved in the making of this awesome documentary. Exceptional work! 👏👏👏
I swear to God if this guy gets off because his lawyers could convince the jury that "he's a nice guy and he didn't mean for any of this to happen" I don't see him surviving that long. Somebody is gonna hunt this guy down. I've heard of people that lost so much because of this guy, I just can't imagine him going back to a normal life.
The good news is that he wasn’t even offered a plea deal for a lighter sentence, which suggests the prosecutors are VERY confident in their case. EDIT: Trial's over. Jury only took 4 hours to find him guilty on all 7 charges. Lmao
@@sirel33 I wouldn't go so far as to say "very" confident. They may be but there are more factors behind whether or not a plea deal is offered than simply trying to guarantee some sort of conviction.
With such a high profile case it could be that they want to make an example of him to put some fear in to those in the crypto world or the prosecutor simply wants to make a name for himself. This is also all under the assumption that his lawyer wasn't making it obvious he would never accept a plea or otherwise antagonizing the prosecution before such a thing would even be on the table.
Disclaimer: I haven't been following this story in a long time so if something I said was covered in some way somewhere I wasn't aware.
Bruh will finally get that haircut and be unrecognizable
@@salehdidit haha that's why he never got a haircut !!
grim reaper got a poster of him!☠️
He is kind of a genius at fraud:
1) tapped into altruistic capitalism group for investment, given their belief of not accumulating wealth for themselves and probably saw his company as a good way to increase their impact,
2) cultivated a “nerd” image to get ppl’s guard down; who’s ever been defrauded by a nerd?
3) donated/paid influencers such as Brady, O’Leary and politicians to get mainstream users for his Ponzi.
Great tips for future scammers
Yeo! Do not be conned because the exterior = nerd. A con man/woman is a con man at the end of the day!
thanks for the tips
He was better than anyone else at making billions the way he did. Regardless of method.
Have you reached even a million in valuation? Have you even created and grown businesses? No you are all here just dopamine hijacked outrage addicts who are convinced by your industrialized "schooling" that you are wage slavee who can't figure it out...... its not that hard when you are immersed in code and technology ecosystems. You learn by creating.
He is much better than any of you ever will be... even after the fraud. You know us who are pursuing these things.... we do not care if an exchange fails.... we are gathering certain things to take down the old order.
He graduated from MIT, he’s far from stupid. The nerds are not to be messed with in a world of technology.
@@TechOutAdam he’s an ivy scum, along with Do Kwon
This documentary was absolutely riveting! Really well done! Keep it up!🙏💯
She's on telegrams
mary3437
The username
Lesson learned, NEVER leave your coins in a exchange, move them to a cold wallet with your security keys.
Your ability to break down a huge, complicated subject matter and making it compelling, while setting up story-beats in a way that makes sense contextually is something others should pay attention to.
Coming from an old lady, "when it's too good to be true, it probably is." Very sad for the investors. Great video, held my attention.
That’s what I thought immediately! And my grandmother taught me that. 🥰
Thanks!
This was a very well done video. I appreciate your professionalism and I just subbed. ✌️
Damn you just donated $49.99 wow. You must be rich
Send me too buddy
@@Neroisimmortal I wonder if he donates to chairty too
@@Melnokina.-. we never know but one thing i know for sure is that i'm broke🙂
Larry David's superbowl ad is genius because he got to that sweet FTX $$ but he also can't be held responsible for endorsing them because he literally told you not to invest in their exchange.
Funny but true
Yes but we all know Larry is the king of sarcasm. Most get that.
Warren Buffett once said "Be fearful when everyone around you is greedy". Not a lot of people learned and internalised his statement during the crypto boom. To a guy like me who gets bored easily, Every single video made by James is like a black hole of a documentary. It sucks you in and it makes you dig more and more in your own time about the subject. Seriously engaging work that deserves more recognition. Bravo James. Bravo!
Warren even said crypto will not last “meaning “ it’s a scam and he was right !!
Investing is not so easy my friend. Especially in crypto. I took a loan for 5K. I gambled that on crypto. I swear i lost all my money like six times. I was fked. I kept trying kept investing and slowly but surely i made my way up to 500K. 500K!! in like 4 years. Boy it feels like 40 years. It is so stressful. My 500K then turned to 20K. Isn't that crazy? Then i turned that into 33K and now i'm at like 48,4K. I dont care what people say about crypto it changed my life. I'm happy we have bitcoin and ethereum and bnb and all other crypto currencies. They change people's lives. I gave the person i borrrowed the 5K from 16K as a thank you gesture. I could have never done that without this space.
@@adambreezy251 good for you! Happy someone did!
your 500k turned to 20k but you started with 5k,this is the issue with Crypto,many others would start from 100k.... this is gambling and should be taxed as such.@@adambreezy251
@@adambreezy251 should have spread the 500k in low risk unit trusts accounts and start-up businesses. By pacing yourself and remaining humble you'd really be set for life. You live and you learn. Just do better next time and don't invest too much money in such a short time in very risky investments. Peace.
Every single economic downturn I know of outside of 2020 have one thing in common, speculators. It's always a speculative bubble, and the damage is determined by how big the bubble got and what markets it existed in. It literally always ends badly.
She's on telegrams
mary3437
The username
financial capitalism is an unmitigated disaster that only pays off for the ultra rich and unscrupulous. it is just straight path to ruin.
The pacing, the feeling of mystery and investigation, the storytelling.... mind-blowing
People want a nerd to wave a magic computer wand that'll make them rich. People are suckers who think life is a movie.
They just live on social media, their heads are so far up their asses they can't breathe🤣
UPDATE: SAM BANKMAN sentenced to 25YEARS IN MARCH 28, 2024!
hell yeah
Needs to do more years than that
Free my boy Sam Bankman. If someone from the inside didn't leak stuff FTX would've been bigger beyond belief
@@hitmee398bigger how lol. Did you not even do your own research? They didnt even have close to enough funds to even have people withdraw funds
out in 6 years
Oh God, as another video creator, I cannot even imagine how much work went into this! Awesome job on storytelling / editing. What I love is that James is just casually sitting as if he was chatting with us.
Well looks like AI did most of the work 😂
@mayermiklos I concur
The Bloomberg doc on this was unbearable. Way longer than it needed to be and filled with a bunch of needless AI transitions. Whereas yours was super well done; straight to the point and all the graphics were not only tame but in support of the story. Thank you
It just goes to show, put your money in any company, be it a bank or company, it can disappear tomorrow, regulated or not, however as it has been proven, time and time again, Bitcoin in your wallet increases in value every year, more than any other assets. Forget the noise, i.e. ups and downs, that's markets, in the end, your $'s are with you, no one is taking them. See ya'll on the 🌙 🚀🤑
@@สุกัญญาเนื่องจากจันทร์
Tell me you didn't watch the video without telling me you didn't watch the video.
@@สุกัญญาเนื่องจากจันทร์Go away, cryptobro. Or should I say, crypt0 bot. You can't even touch the moon's surface if you can't even breath there.
Watching this video again about a year later, and I just want to say, should you see this comment, that I have been watching your videos since you, a young man, were a really young man! Haha. It’s been fun to watch you grow both as a man and as a content creator and a documentarian. I have no doubt that your parents, be they (hopefully) still alive or if one or both have passed into eternity, are insanely proud of you.
Keep it up, James. I’m looking forward to seeing you continue to grow and continue excelling at your craft!
I knew this kid and his buddies were full of crap the first time I ever heard about him. He was claiming about how he wants to do “so much good for the world” and help people while donating money to rich and insanely corrupt politicians. That’s not how it works.
Sounds a bit like Meghan Markle 😂
anyone that has ever read Watchmen knows that when someone is out to create an "altruism utopia" is dooming us all.
Imagine put your savings into something just because Paris Hilton and Jimmy Fellon did
Like Bill Gates, keeps on talking about giving away all his money. Yet continues to get hoard more wealth each year...
You are strange
People say we're not living in a simulation yet this dude was in the cypto space with the words Bank and Fried in his name. Cmon.
Haha😂😂
Lol
Its called an aptronym, like Usain Bolt
My exact thought 😂
Never heard of him before this moment. His name screamed caution. Why! why! why! do people ignore their instincts?
Occupational name, bud.
He rose as fast as he fell. When rich people say they want to “save the world”, I cringe. They mean “ change the world “ to the way they see it by manipulating.
Yep
Bill Gates, case in point.
As they say, there's really no such thing as an ethical billionaire, no matter how much uber rich "philanthropists" try to whitewash things
exactly. so fast. i worked in an exchange as well, and it was only a few months that ftx got big. to me it was just another exchange, nothing ground breaking lol so i didnt give a fck. im glad i didnt lol.
@@rhemmielNa man he tried to create the malaria vaccine. Compared to most he's got good projects.
i remember so many celebrities posting about NFTs and then all of a sudden they just stopped
If they thought smearing shit all over your face made you beautiful, rich, and famous, they would do it in an instant.
Celebs are idiots.
This guy is the perfect example of how sick this world is.
people who claim to be "victims" are the example of how sick this world is.
@@thesorrow88 how much did you lose on this ponzi scheme ??
@@HoangNguyen-go1ne So our world of having to look around you back and trust nobody at all is such a great world? Our world is one tiny step up from the law of the jungle face it. No wonder teen su ! cide is so high when they look at what they have to look forward to in life.
@@mikesully110 your comment make no sense. First of all, stop generalizing my comment there is no "trust nobody at all" in that, I talked about this particular case of crypto currency "business" and anyone who participated in it. Second, there is no trust in this crypto frenzy to begin with. Since Crypto currency is not a legitimate business, people who put their money into that aren't investor and such, they are gamblers. They jumped into it to get rich quickly, obviously, there are no free meal in this world. Thus, I wouldn't refer to any losing gambler as "victim" at all.
@@mikesully110 " Our world is one tiny step up from the law of the jungle face it"
Trolling is for the weak, stop it.
1-hour plus documentary, huh? Bring it on, James
stewish people :/
You’re the ONLY ONE PERSON EVER that can skip from 9 years ago to 3 months to 11 months and then 3 years but tie this bitch back together like it was in a car crash and constructed it back together better than before lol. Wow. I was absolutely sucked in. This was the best piece of art I’ve seen in a while. Thanks.
Imagine you get arrested and someone calls you the devil in nerds clothing 💀
They did bro dirty
I am not a finance person, but how is it that so many supposedly brilliant and experienced finance people did not do basic due diligence sufficient to notice the company HAD NO ACCOUNTANT? Come on!
Not having an accountant wasn't an oversight. Clearly.
Mind blowing!
Because it was the fraud from the start, just another way to fleece gullible cattle (i.e. Goyim) .
Maybe because wall street backs most media and so ofc wants to be painted as geniuses they certainly aren't in reality
Do you know any legal people though? What happened to SBF? I mean there were charges and then it all went silent.. on the back of all the apparent corruption of private entities and politicians in the US I think we will never hear anything.. another Ghislaine Maxwell, evil person engaging in evil activities with.. nobody.. its over.. go away now.
The head of Binance just stepped down and will plead guilty to federal charges of money laundering. The company will also pay a $4.3 billion fine. You called it.
Not the same thing, Sam ran with billions of customer funds. Here the government is forcing CZ to pay billions of customer funds to them
@@Anarchistarchitect Well, SBF was stealing Customer Funds. The government ordered Binance to pay a large fine for breaking the law. If they pay it with Customer Funds, they’re stealing customer funds to. 😂
@@mattmurdock5424 I don't know if they are using customer funds to pay the government. What I'm saying is ftx clearly offended the customers which is wrong. I don't think offending the government is bad or at least anything comparable to stealing from customers, I still think you shouldn't leave most your money or assets with a bank or exchange ❤️
As someone who followed this entire storyline in real time, you did such a great job summarizing everything. No stone left unturned.
I feel there is more to be explored with the political ties and how it afforded him so much credibility in the beginning and now lenience. I can’t help but expect his punishment would be far worse had he not ‘donated’ millions to a political party.
Yea you can make another vid alone to dive deeper into the conspiracy. For example, Gary Gensler was extremely favorable to SBF but hated CZ. SBF was Caroline's boyfriend and Caroline's dad was Gary's colleague back when they went to MIT. And Sam's parents were professors at Stanton who had their own connections. Sam was extremely well connected and knew all the right people from the top private schools. There's also evidence that he helped the DNC launder money for the war in Ukraine. @JWPshenigans
“As someone who is fully cap” is how you should’ve started off your sentence , because those of us who knows he was apart of the Biden cabinet funneling crypto money to Ukraine , hmmmmmmm, FRAUDULENTLY under “alphabet protection”
It also helps to be politically connected. Any mention of Sams multimillion dollar donations to the DNC and the business with Zelenski? Not in the mainstream media.
Sucha good video!!
Your storytelling is unmatched. Just found your channel and cannot stop watching
James coming out with two of the best documentaries of 2023. 👏
Not too hard if you spend 8 months making one video.
The crypto one was alright but he’s wrong about BTC.
@@lovegod8582do it then.
Put it in his butt if you love him so much 😂😂
@northwood1990bro wants james in his butt
OMG honored to have made a brief appearance 🤣 0:36:30
The part you covered at the end regarding the everymen who lost their life savings or years, nay, *decades* of work is what I think needs more coverage by the media. Even though you could see red flags with crypto and whatnot from miles away, FTX really pushed that narrative of "trust us", only to be the least trustworthy of all. I feel like this is one big learning lesson that if a company shows up out of nowhere and ends up everywhere, we need to be highly scrutizing towards their legitimacy.
Crypto is about not trusting people.The mantra "don't trust, verify" is a cornerstone to cryptocurrency. FTX is a cautionary tale of trusting centralized actors, not against crypto.
They deserve to lose their money. Majority of those crypto investors are lunatics, lazy, and anti-bank cult that ironically invest in banks such as FTX.
I hate these segments and feel like waste of time, if you are dumb enough to invest all your money in single thing (no matter how safe, let alone crypto) there is no solvation for you.
*D I V E R S I V F Y*
The whole point of crypto is to not use organizations like FTX. FTX is not crypto, it's an organization that tried to sell you crypto.
@@Pikayumyums "Crypto is about not trusting people." Yep. That's why i don't trust example that BTC or any crypto in that extend is worth a dime. It's fucking scam all of it. People are just too fucking stupid to see it before its too late.
the quality of your documentaries is through the roof
the legend is back
I see u in everybody’s comment section
I am
Good to see that scam artists like jordan enjoy watching docs about other scam artists
Takes one to know one
@@polymathx_ shhh they don't know
Holy hell, what a story!
Super impressed with the creator's ability to break down some complex subject matter and make it understandable. Great job.
SimPolComPlexFDfloPpyCyThornRiwZ?!
I'm regretting paying money for Netflix to watch documentaries while people like you make a wonderful videos. keep it up please.
You know, you can cancel your Netflix subscription.
i cancelled netflix after their weird amber heard apologetics video
Mate I subbed to Netflix like twice when big shows was on like don't f with the cats and the lion king, ultimately I thought Netflix was shit.
I just watch RUclips, podcasts and free channels on my TV. I don't understand why people pay monthly for shit shows when the best, indapendantly, forward thinking and creative videos are on RUclips for FREE. Gotta love RUclips ❤
your editing is so top tier, immediate subscribe. i never heard of the dude before, but watches the whole thing because the editing was amazing. whoever edits your vids, either you or someone else, kudos
It goes to show that some of the most educated and successful people in the world got duped by a real geek, that I wouldn't have believed for a minute. These folks throw money at anything and don't even really check it out. They get inspired for one second and put a monster like this up front.
It's funny investments can go from:
"you should not be afraid to risk and invest as life itself is a risk by itself"
to:
"you should not mindlessly throw your money to something that looks dump"
really fast! It really makes you wonder if most people are truly so "smart" as they seem to be.
Ass
All of this could have been avoided.
If only the western world had the balls to NAME THE NOSE.
Myself and my inner circle weren’t duped. We aren’t educated either. We just know Crypto is BS, and the ones pushing it were lying.
I learned the “auction market theory” and it saved my butt many times.
*something is ONLY worth what someone is willing to pay for it.*
@@st.michaelofcigarillo2845 Name it
Giving Gary Wang - the person who supposedly (single-handedly) built the entire infrastructure of FTX - 10% of ownership, whilst keeping 90% to himself was such a red flag 🚩.
At least I hope Gary Wang did not go to jail with that Dbag.
Really? I have no idea about stuff like this but I feel like this is common somehow
Yeah, one gets the impression that SBF was the "public figure" and Gary Wang was the guy who actually run things in the background and SBF just went along with it.
What percentage of the price of your shirt do you think the person who made it got?
That's capitalism baby.
Brotha thats every company ever
EDIT: youre gonna get less than 10%
My favorite version of FTX documentary on RUclips
“Effective altruism” is just something rich people invented to pretend they’re not assholes lol
It's worse than that, they believe that they are the enlightened few who can save the world if only they had all the control
The implication that they are uniquely capable of judging effectiveness.
"You plebs might strive to be altruistic, but your social position belies your intellectual incapacity for complex analysis, the meritocracy has spoken, you have been judged ineffective."
poor people are just assholes without money
There's a logical fallacy. Effective altruism is part of human nature - without it, we'd still be running around caves with clubs 🙂
this is America
I think true altruism exists far less than we'd like to believe :/ beautiful video James!
I find my Christian friends are far more altruistic than the others.
It does not VIRTUE signal, True Altruism, the way that SBF does. They may TOUGH choices, take incoming, and make real sacrifices. I have seen Musk do that. SBF never did
It exists but it’s always quiet. It’s the little things & never a display & never ever by Billionaires
Don't let this make you believe that. It exists on a huge scale. Just not with billionaires, and capitalism doesn't reward it.
He should be in jail for life,but he pay the democrats politicians and they protect him
Whenever James uploads, you know it's going to be quality ❤
oh my it's AnimeBallsDeep in the wild! Can I get a shoutout? jk....unless
@@mash6205bro 💀
Yooooooo satoru freaking gojo
totally agree with you.
@@halalboy7592 and JIIIIIGEENNNN
Kudos to James for the writing and timeline established here. Jumping around for each related piece is respectable effort.
This is hands down one of the clearest, most well-researched, well-edited and captivating video essays i have seen on such a complex topic. I am currently on a video essay rabbit hole and I think yours is the best I've seen yet. Well done! Looking forward to more videos like this in the future ^^
Yeah he’s amazing
Too bad that the same level of journalistic expertise was not used to investigate SBF several years ago.
I suggest you watch his "Crypto: The World’s Greatest Scam." video. Research and story telling at its best!
In the case you want something else to watch, I recommend BobbyBroccoli’s 3-part series on Hendrik Schön. As well as his video on Viktor Ninov, a man who faked multiple discoveries of new elements. Happy viewing!
@@OllieRy321 i absolutely love his Victor Ninov, it's the only reason I know anything about half-lifes and alpha decay chains despite hating chemistry lol. i didn't know he had a series on Schon tho, will check it out!
SBF’s story shows how ‘legitimate’ media houses lend legitimacy to grifters… if anyone had asked the right questions earlier, so much could have been avoided.
Cool the antisemitism
@@longiusaescius2537what are you on about?
@@HydraInk "he doesn't know"
@@longiusaescius2537answer the question, you're being difficult for no reason
@@HydraInk "I heart SBF"
I can't imagine the amount of effort you've put into making this incredible documentary.
It was many people's effort actually
*Many weeks of work!*
You are so right! But the biggest contributor was SBF 😉
Logged in to let you know how much work you (and a small team possibly) put into this. This is incredibly well worded and presented. That doesn’t even cover it really. You MUST be proud of this aren’t you? Phenomenal
I literally witnessed this entire saga unfold in real time when this all happened but watching this RUclips video was a damn rollercoaster and beautifully put together!
@@firstnamelastname8217 there’s a difference between following the story as it’s happening, researching it and getting deeply invested in a story opposed to just hearing the breaking news articles happen weekly. Take your sarcastic dumb comment elsewhere.
Holy heck I burst out laughing when Sam said that he and others "behaved ethically". I mean sure being a bunch of drug abusing, theiving, sociopaths is ethical in a certain sense if you perform enough mental gymnastics.
Silicon valley ethics.
Indeed. They didn't even have an accountant for one entity!
Most insane thing to me is that they used a random number generator for the size of their insurance account 😂
No bro you dont get it, he played nintendo and wore sneakers, he must be the good guy!
welcome to crypto, where everyone is a mental gymnastics expert with a single digit IQ on how the world, finance, and regulation actually work
First he was Sam
Then he was Bankman
Now he's fried.
What in the actual production quality is this??? Just discovered your channel and I'm 100% CAPTIVATED by every aspect of your videos. Netflix needs to give you a 8 figure deal for sure. Keep it up!
It's official...he's been signed by nexflix for a 25 million dollar deal
I honestly dont want him to go that mainstream but also if he has to eat let him eat from Apple. He needs to stay independent and like many individuals I know pushing Supa-dupa- ingenious content they will show us they don't need Netflix they can do it on their own these are the types of people who can end up making Netflix bankrupt or end up buying these companies out. Long story short Muhammad and Jesus gets more love than the Bible and Quran is what I am saying in essence and why is that? . Wouldn't you agree we give Apple and Prime so much love but did they really put in all that work? (not taking anything away from Netflix I know the story of Netflix I respect the game u can't disrespect Netflix either they pulled a few fatalities out of a huge hat to be where they are today). I appreciate you for this comment the man needs his flowers he did it again my wife actually stayed awake throughout this whole video at times she was at the edge of her seat lol
@@muntasirrose3097 Dang Mohammy
and Yung Jeezy
I know, right? James Jani's quality is off the fucking hook. Look at some of his earliest videos - their good, but garden variety. He's grown to become a master.
this deserves to be on Netflix. You are Steven Spielberg of RUclips.
This man is like Quentin Tarantino. Takes his time to make one video which is like a very well-made movie. Quality over quantity. Props James Jani for your brilliant mind and work!
❤❤😂brooo it's the elegance in the making of his video...in a year he makes about 2/3 videos...and he keeps getting better
If he was like Quentin Tarantino, he'd have shown Bankman's toes.
It's funny because most " experts" would say that he's doing RUclips the wrong way because he's not posting videos twice a week.
Except he didn't even research the key event of the Terra collapse enough to know that Terra was not a token 😂
The two tokens involved were LUNA and UST
@@pinkaddiction13 I don't agree with that statement. He's not an "influencer" or funny content creator etc... Things like this may take some time and I'm sure most of his audience is mature enough to understand.
love the way you covered the entire story. The animations and explanations were top-notch. Keep up the good work.👍
In a world where mediocrity often prevails, James videos are like a beacon of excellence. His attention to detail, creativity, and passion for his work have not only met, but always exceeded all expectations. It is clear that he poured his heart and soul into his videos, and the results speak for itself. His dedication, expertise, and unwavering commitment to excellence have truly left me astonished.
Finish him.alredy jesus
There are so many inaccuracies in this video it's not even funny, yet you praise his attention to detail. Normie, get off the internet.
the quality is great, the timing is really off this time.
In Denmark we had a company called IT Factory. It was a huge scam and they never delivered anything, and they even managed 1 billion DKK (per capita it equals 63 billion USD) in orders before being caught. That was a huge amount of money for a scam.
I work as a Problem Manager in IT and spend my time asking questions to get to root causes relative to the risk of the issue. A similar issue in the FTX case that I can see relates to the case of IT Factory was industry trust bias. When a company that you trust approves of a supplier/investment/partner, your company is likely to forego the work to check that company. The banks and customers in Denmark trusted each other's background checks of IT Factory to a grave fault.
Just like with FTX, this bias allowed the trust to run like a wildfire until someone questioned it and actually did the check.
Similar thing happened with Theranos. The company was a complete scam, but it was able to get away with it for so long due to the big name investors behind it as well successfully getting Walgreens, one of America's biggest and most well-known pharmacy companies, to partner with it.
Reminds me of Enron
Social Proof on steroids
This for me goes to show the fraud that is celebrities endorsement. Means sh*t, and yet people still associate famous people with trust.
I'm genuinely confused by this, I mean they're doing it for a paycheck why do people equate that with being trustworthy? It clearly works for many I just don't understand why
@@mamacito1795 You're simply overestimating the average joe's intellect. Most people are NPC, going through life with no intention, running after the next dopamine hit. The average human is easily manipulated.
And brains. It’s incredible. To so many, money=smart or military = smart even though military is often peoples only option for a lot of different reasons.
Who couldve ever guessed someone would scam people out of an unregulated and decentralized form of more or less gambling? Oh the humanity.
We are living one of the biggest financial scams of our time. If not the biggest. Insane. This needs to be a movie when it plays out completely.
ZOG's been jue-ing us for centuries. check your mind to see that truth. fingerprints on almost everything. greedy control-freak pedo-island-hiding gimps have no place on this Earth.
Binance is worse. Just wait.
@@KenjaTimuI can't wait. My altruistic contribution is my desire to watch them all go down.
It may never end….
This will start all over again like a never ending nightmare
For an update, SBF’s bail has been revoked and he is now in jail awaiting trial. According to his lawyers, SBF is living off of bread and water because the jail will not abide by his vegan diet. Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving guy.
It's unfortunate this did not cover how Caroline and the others got immunity, while SBF walked out on a fake 250 million bail and how he was not charged with campaign finance fraud. It seems there are very few people that have the balls to show how corrupt the US Government actually is.
Lol they can give him vegetables lol they are doing him dirty 😂😂😂
@@JoshuaKimbrough SBF, The Fat Veeegan.
According to his lawyers. Ha
Because he tried to intimidate witnesses and violated his terms for house arrest. Dude is a straight fraud.
This should be categorised as a premium documentary. Awesome story telling. Great work!
I have watched SBFs story before, but I just love how you tell stories that I had to watch your vrsn. Well done sir!🙌🏽🔥
CNBC gave this guy a platform and said he was legit. CNBC should be sued.
nas daily too
It'll never happen, they'll probably lawyer up real quick and create interference to save face
@@stealthagentkc Nas daily especially
tbf.....if people believe anything that msm/'influencers' spews in your general direction to be 'legit' then some important logical thinking is lacking in your day-to-day-decision-making.
:)
Unless they outright lied then they are in no way responsible.
Bad journalists maybe, but not responsible.
People should do their own research before investing and not buy into hype.
Shoutout to Michael, Daniela, Nicholas, Santiago, and everyone else who helped put this all together! Your team is brilliant
Also him sleeping in the office is a big red flag too. Yes, the first thought that comes to mind is that a CEO sleeping in the office means they are hard-working and cares for the business. But in fact it shows that this CEO is an unhealthy workaholic who probably can't manage their own life and work hours, and probably willingly or unwillingly expects all employees to work overtime too.
It also can be a sign that CEO doesn't know how to delegate, the company is under-staffed or business processes don't work properly
Does that include Elon Musk??
Dude....Basically every big name CEO slept in their office lol.
Elon, Andrew, Mark, Bill, Carnegie
Sleeping in his office should have been a clear indication of unsustainable lifestyle, therefore an unsustainable business. The worst part is people can be told it's going to be unsustainable and still jump in thinking they'll be the ones to score and get out before it sinks
@@Kanearcher65 Dude literally every single billionaire slept in their office.
Elon, Jeff, Carnegie, Bill all worked till the point they slept in their office.
I think of all the red flags in this scenerio, sleeping in your office isn’t one of them. A lot of hardworking (and not so hardworking) people sleep in their offices. It doesn’t mean anything. You could pick a hundred other things that he did wrong to point out.
ALL OF THESE CONS have one thing in common: Belief in some form of Superman.
Berny Madoff, SBF, Elon Musk, Elizabeth Holmes, Cheeto Jesus . . .
A good thing to keep in mind while watching this is that almost the entirety of the FTX/ crypto boom-bust saga took place during the pandemic. Everyone was struggling and desperate for money, and sadly were caught up and swindled in the hype train of it all. I highly doubt FTX would’ve made it past 2021 if not for that factor.