Benzinga - While speaking at Benzinga’s Future of Crypto event, investments in and by FTX were discussed as one of the biggest topics impacting the cryptocurrency sector. Kevin O’Leary was an investor in FTX and Anthony Scaramucci’s Skybridge Capital received an investment from FTX.
Both shared their takeaways from the event of FTX and what happened with Sam Bankman-Fried.
FTX Investments: Scaramucci said that many did not see warning signs with 25 of the greatest venture capitalists investing in FTX.
According to Scaramucci, some will now say they saw warning signs, but they likely didn’t.
“We can pretend otherwise, but none of us really knew,” Scaramucci said.
Scaramucci and O’Leary were asked about comments made by Chamath Palihapitiya on why he didn’t invest in FTX. Among his reasons was that FTX didn’t have a Board of Directors.
“He did have a Board of Advisors, one was Dan Loeb,” Scaramucci argued.
When pushed on this not being the same thing, Scaramucci said it depends on how you frame it and used the "you say tomato, I say tomato analogy."
“They can make stuff up, they can talk about it,” Scaramucci declared on Palihapitiya's words.
Scaramucci said he was always taught to disclose the conflicts of interest upfront.
“I’ve been on Wall Street for years, we have conflicts of interest.”
Why It's Important: O'Leary and Scaramucci are both upset at what happened with FTX and the impact it had on their investments. The two want to see the legal system play out and aren't sure if Bankman-Fried will end up spending time in jail.
Many top venture capitalist firms in the cryptocurrency space invested in FTX and believed in the vision of Bankman-Fried.
Watch the full inteview on Benzinga's YouTube channel and stay tuned for more from Benzinga's Future of Crypto event.
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