Arthur Hayes Talks Mao Zedong, FTX; SBF Replies
Arthur Hayes, one of crypto's most prominent and eccentric personalities, has penned the final chapter of his "White Boy" series - a collection of Medium articles aimed at criticising former FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF).
Hayes, the co-founder and former CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, touched on a wide spectrum of topics in this last essay published on his blog on Friday, including his Vitiligo condition, Mao Zedong, the "KGB spider named Vladimir Putin," and the FTX debacle.
Referring to SBF as the "white soy-boy," Hayes argued that the TradFi industry "unconsciously" placed SBF in a position of power within the crypto industry because it was facing a threat from "reactionary techno-currency called Bitcoin (the hardest and purest form of energy money ever created)."
"The TradFi system concocted a series of stereotypes that tricked their plebe brains into assuming SBF and FTX were to be trusted," Hayes wrote.
Hayes also noted that SBF was "very clear about his belief that operating a centralised crypto business was the best way to earn the most amount of money in the shortest amount of time so that he could give it all away for the betterment of humanity." However, Hayes pointed out that he has a "big problem" with allocating agency to a "bunch of highly educated people who come from predominantly elite Western Universities."
"They don’t represent the interests of all of humanity — no organisation does. But their hubris in believing they alone can divine the methods necessary to preserve and save our species is nauseating," he said.
I obviously disagree strongly with many of the specific FTX-related claims here, but:
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) January 7, 2023
I largely agree with your higher level point.
It's a variant on something I heard again and again oversees.
I think you might be a bit surprised by my perspective on it.
Hayes four-part rant seemed to have finally gained the attention of SBF, who replied to Hayes on Twitter stating that he agreed with Hayes' "higher level point" without actually providing any opinions despite also stating that Hayes might be "surprised" by his perspectives.
Hayes' out-of-the-box opinions are a commendable attempt at rebuilding his reputation. However, it's still a bit rich coming from him, considering the fact that he too is a criminal and has spent a good portion of his crypto career being hunted down by regulators and sued by investors. Last year, Hayes was sentenced to 6 months' detention by a US court for breaching the Bank Secrecy Act.
However, Hayes did raise an interesting and rather valid point in the first essay, in which he stated that SBF created a likeable persona to hide his intentions.
"He created the persona we know as SBF in a bid to fool us all. And it worked, until the callous hand of the market caught up with his flagrant disregard for risk management," Hayes said.