FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was recently indicted for violating campaign finance laws following his recent arrest in the Bahamas for wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. He was also charged with defrauding equity investors by the Securities and Exchange Commission, with SEC Chair Gary Gensler saying in a statement, "Sam Bankman-Fried built a house of cards on a foundation of deception while telling investors that it was one of the safest buildings in crypto."
The campaign finance scandal being exposed is enormous, and the unabashed influence peddling that Bankman-Fried and his executives engaged in as they attempted to influence policy over the cryptocurrency industry is both embarrassing and hugely problematic for the many politicians that received the money. But so far, little attention has been paid to the systemic flaws that enabled the unbridled pay-for-play scheme that we've seen unfold in recent weeks.
