Morgan Creek CEO says Sam Bankman-Fried was a “useful idiot” used to “punish” the crypto-currency industry

On December 2, Morgan Creek Capital CEO and founder Mark Yusko explained in an interview that it’s entirely possible that FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was just a “pawn“or a “useful idiot“used for”punishing the industry“.

Mark Yusko of Morgan Creek: ‘This debacle is a fraud perpetrated by, I believe, someone above the useful idiots‘.

Since the fall of Terra LUNA and the large number of corporate failures that followed that event, a myriad of theories have been floated on these topics. The most recent collapse of FTX seems to overshadow all of the mistakes and malfeasance that took place after the Terra crash, and there are still many unanswered questions surrounding that event. A variety of people have offered their opinions on the FTX fiasco, including CNBC’s Mad Money host Jim Cramer, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Tesla CEO and Twitter chief Elon Musk.

On Friday, Mark Yusko, the CEO and founder of Morgan Creek Capital Management, told Kitco senior anchor and editor Michelle Makori that Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was a “pawn“. “They are merely pawns in a very large and elaborate system that was designed to launder money“, Mark Yusko told Kitco’s lead presenter. “It’s certainly possible that there was an intent by someone to make this an example for regulators to come in and punish the industry“, he added. Mark Yusko told Makori that decentralized finance, also known as defi, is threatening traditional finance.

Unlike traditional finance, which is typically controlled by large banks and financial institutions, defi is decentralized, meaning it is not controlled by a single entity. Bitcoin and defi challenge concepts such as fiat currency and central planning, Mark Yusko told the host of the Kitco show. Mark Yusko and many crypto supporters believe that defi offers a number of benefits, including greater accessibility, transparency and security. “Blockchain replaces trust with truth “, Mark Yusko explained to Michelle Makori.

“Who are the arbiters of trust today? Financial institutions, third-party intermediaries, a $7 trillion industry “, Mark Yusko elaborated. “They would like to not be disrupted by defi and digital assets. It is possible that a group of incumbents have tried to lobby for regulation to delay, obfuscate, or change the course of this disruption.“

Mark Yusko also pointed out that it’s possible that “someone above” SBF or Alameda Research’s Caroline Ellison worked to achieve a common goal, to the detriment of the crypto industry. “This debacle is a fraud perpetrated by, I believe, someone above the useful idiots. These two don’t play chess 10D“, explained Morgan Creek’s executive director.”Very large sums of money went to political candidates. There is evidence of [Sam Bankman-Fried] saying that he was going to give $1 billion in the next election“, added Mark Yusko.

Mark Yusko is extremely optimistic about bitcoin and in a May 6, 2020 letter interview the Morgan Creek CEO said he expects the leading crypto asset to reach $250,000 in five years. During the discussion, Mark Yusko also estimated that the price of bitcoin could also reach $400,000 to $500,000. During his interview with Michelle Makori, Mark Yusko noted that the U.S. risks becoming stagnant if it over-regulates the industry. “If we become too onerous in terms of regulation, [crypto] will simply appear in other jurisdictions,” Mark Yusko said. “So, bottom line, [crypto] will win“.