- France's Galthie defends Jegou, Auradou Six Nations selection after rape case dismissal
- England hooker George ruled out of Six Nations opener
- Alcaraz rues 'biggest mistake' after Djokovic defeat in Melbourne
- Scholz vows to 'defend free trade' after Trump tariff threat
- Rain-triggered landslide kills 17 in Indonesia
- Dutch researchers employ unique e-bike to make cycling safer
- Djokovic beats Alcaraz in Melbourne blockbuster as Sabalenka survives
- Ageless Djokovic tames Alcaraz to power into Melbourne semi-finals
- Robinson takes Kronplatz giant slalom as Brignone crashes out
- Europe rights court rejects appeal of Romania vote annulment
- Returning Dupont brings 'aura' to Galthie's France for Six Nations
- Prince Harry trial against Murdoch UK tabloids delayed
- Blast kills one person at Barcelona port
- Mbappe says mental shift helped change his Real Madrid 'situation'
- Easterby pinpoints challenge if Irish are to make Six Nations history
- France's arch film provocateur Blier dies at 85
- EU, China warn against trade friction at Davos after Trump return
- Man City sign teenage Brazilian defender Vitor Reis
- Bangladesh probe reveals children held in secret jails
- 'No expectation' for Gatland's struggling Wales in Six Nations
- France talisman Dupont bringing Olympic gold to Six Nations
- Syrians return to homes devastated by war
- Brignone tops times in first run of Kronplatz giant slalom
- WHO 'regrets' Trump decision to pull US from organization
- At Davos, EU vows pragmatism with Trump
- Gutsy Sabalenka beats Pavlyuchenkova, wind to reach Melbourne semis
- Sabalenka survives to set up Melbourne semi with 'emotional' Badosa
- China says committed to WHO, Paris climate deal after US pulls out
- Taut Munich Olympics thriller explores media and terror
- 'Sucks always' as error-strewn Paul laments missed Melbourne chances
- Rain-triggered landslide kills 16 in Indonesia
- Pharrell pursues Paris landmark takeovers with Louvre show
- EV sales slip in Europe in 2024 in overall stable car market
- Afghan Taliban government announces prisoner swap with US
- Stuttering PSG face moment of truth in Champions League
- Fire at Turkey ski resort hotel kills 10, injures 32
- Israel-Hamas truce holding though Trump doubts it will last
- Trump takes US reins with flurry of executive orders
- Zverev beats Paul and a feather to reach Melbourne semis
- Celtics crush Warriors, Cavs cruise past Suns
- Trump 'not confident' Gaza deal will hold
- Ohio State holds off Notre Dame to clinch US college football crown
- Gauff 'not completely crushed' by Melbourne quarter-final loss
- 'Too hard': Vietnam's factory workers return to country life
- China, EU, Ukraine leaders take Davos stage under Trump shadow
- Love and rights: Thailand's same-sex marriage milestone
- Gauff stunned as Djokovic, Alcaraz square up in Melbourne blockbuster
- Trump 2.0 boosts interest in Davos: World Economic Forum chief
- EU's legal weapon facing the heat from US big tech
- 6.0-magnitude earthquake shakes Taiwan
Sam Bankman-Fried, 29, heads crypto exchange worth billions
Sam Bankman-Fried donned a suit and tie this week, abandoning his preferred hoodie and dark T-shirt for a hearing before US Senators.
The lawmakers had summoned the 29-year-old multi-billionaire on Wednesday to discuss the regulation of digital assets in his capacity as co-founder and CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX.
Less than three years after its founding, the company was just valued at $32 billion, a capitalization that puts it close to giants Coinbase and Binance.
The personal fortune of Bankman-Fried, a vegan who sleeps four hours per night and who has become a public face of crypto money, is estimated at nearly $25 billion by Forbes magazine -- placing him among the top 70 richest people on the planet.
"It's been pretty bipartisan," the young boss told AFP of the hearing. "A lot of Senators are really interested in learning more about the space and learning how there can be more federal oversight."
- From Hong Kong to the Bahamas -
Son of Stanford Law School professors and a graduate of the elite Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Bankman-Fried worked as a broker on Wall Street before turning to cryptocurrencies in 2017.
He observed large variations in price between the online platforms where people can buy and sell crypto money and took advantage of the gaps by buying and selling digital assets at very high frequency.
The difference in prices in 2018 was 5-25 percent between American and Japanese exchanges, he said, which meant that simply by moving assets from one platform to another he could make money.
"There was enormous demand for crypto coming out of Japan, and not nearly as many liquidity providers," he added.
The young entrepreneur created a cryptocurrency investment fund, Alameda Research, moved to Hong Kong and then launched FTX with Gary Wang, who is now the platform's chief technology officer.
Bankman-Fried now lives in the Bahamas, where taxes are almost nil, and the platform has its headquarters in the Caribbean nation too.
He defends his choice of location by the fact that it is "one of the few countries that has a comprehensive licensing regime for cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency exchanges."
In media appearances and on Twitter, where he goes by SBF, Bankman-Fried has been a vocal advocate for smoother access to the crypto market for the general public, particularly in the United States.
"It would be healthy for everyone involved if there was a regulatory pathway to getting licensed and bringing federal oversight," he said.
A subsidiary for American clients, FTX US, opened in 2020.
The success of FTX has enabled the platform to forge prestigious partnerships, including with the newly retired American football legend Tom Brady and his wife, the Brazilian ex-model Gisele Bundchen.
The company will also run an ad during the American football finale Super Bowl on Sunday, promising to give away a number of bitcoins that will be determined by what time the commercial airs.
- 'Effective altruism' -
Bankman-Fried, who said he maintains a spartan lifestyle, identifies with the beliefs of "effective altruism," a movement which aims to use careful analysis to figure out how to use one's resources to help others the most.
"It's not just like, how do you do some good with your life, but if you want to do as much good as possible what do you focus on," said Bankman-Fried, who has pledged to give away almost all of the wealth he will have made.
He estimates that he has already donated between $50-100 million to causes such as the fight for animal welfare, combatting neglected tropical diseases and reducing global warming.
Cryptocurrencies have faced withering criticism over the argument they contribute to Earth's catastrophic warming because their extraction process requires so much electricity, which can come from fossil fuels.
Bankman-Fried said he believes the process of creating the cryptocurrency as well as the transactions will increasingly be done using renewable energy.
Aware of the staggering sums of money he's raising, Bankman-Fried, who was among the largest donors to US President Joe Biden's 2020 campaign, has no problem with the amounts being made public.
"If you're trying to have a lot of positive impact in the world, it's probably going to be things that people end up seeing," he added.
Ferreira--PC