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FTX's Bankman-Fried Is Already a Political Mega-Donor. He's Doubling Down

Don't miss CoinDesk's Consensus 2022, the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12.

FTX exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried said in a podcast Monday he might donate up to $1 billion in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

  • In an interview on the Pushkin podcast “What’s Your Problem?” the multi-billionaire crypto entrepreneur said he would spend “north of $100 million” on future political campaigns. This record-breaking number would be a “soft ceiling” for his donations, he said.

  • An effective altruist, Bankman-Fried is worth $20 billion and has already donated $200 million of his net worth, according to the podcast interview. Much of that has gone to political efforts: He donated $23 million to a single Political Action Committee (PAC) this year.

  • His political donations have yielded mixed results. Bankman-Fried was one of the single-largest donors backing President Joe Biden’s victorious 2020 campaign. But his favored candidate in an Oregon congressional primary was trounced last week despite benefitting from $11 million in Bankman-Fried PAC money.

  • For 2024 presidential spending, “it’s gonna depend on who is running,” Bankman-Fried told podcast host Jacob Goldstein. “I’m going to be looking a lot less at political party from that perspective and a lot more about sane governance.”

Sam Bankman-Fried is scheduled to speak at Consensus 2022 in June.