Stephen Findeisen, better known as Coffeezilla, a YouTuber and crypto journalist has voiced criticism regarding Michael Lewis’ latest book centered around Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder of FTX, who is currently facing trial for alleged fraud involving billions of dollars.
In a post on X, Coffeezilla on Tuesday revealed that he has completed reading Lewis’ book titled “Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon.”
Coffeezilla said he was left “speechless” by the book’s focus on questioning the intentions of bankruptcy lawyer John Ray, rather than critically examining SBF’s actions.
“Finished reading Michael Lewis’ new book so you don’t have to. You were not misled by the 60-minutes interview. It is a full-out defense of SBF. He spends more time questioning the intentions of the BANKRUPTCY LAWYER John Ray, than he does SBF,” said Coffeezilla on X (formerly known as Twitter).
The book provides an account of FTX’s journey under Bankman-Fried’s leadership and delves into its operations from initial success to eventual downfall.
However, Coffeezilla suggests that the book presents a positive image of the disgraced FTX founder, contradicting the narrative conveyed through court filings and the evident losses suffered by worldwide investors.
This comes as Jury selection for the trial of Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX began on Tuesday in the Southern District of New York.
Bankman-Fried is being charged with two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
He was also charged with conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States and commit campaign finance violations, each of which carries a maximum sentence of five years, as per the Justice Department.
During a recent interview on “60 Minutes,” Lewis disclosed some intriguing insights. He revealed that Bankman-Fried had contemplated the legality and cost of preventing Donald Trump’s potential candidacy in 2024.
Lewis disclosed that Bankman-Fried had been given a potential dollar figure of $5 billion as a price tag for such an action.
According to Lewis, “So he did get an answer. There was a number that was kicking around. And the number that was kicking around when I was talking to Sam about this was $5 billion.”
In an interview with Coffeezilla on YouTube, Bankman-Fried admitted that “FTX didn’t separate funds that allowed for generalized withdrawals. The dollars were fungible from different buckets.”
FTX owed its debt to its customers in funds that the company didn’t have where Bankman-Fried pulled out cash from the balance sheet.
Produced in association with Benzinga
