Ukraine aid laundered through FTX to fund Democratic campaigns, reports allege
The collapse of a major cryptocurrency company has exposed a possible link between taxpayer-funded Ukraine aid and Democratic political campaigns and causes.
FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange valued at $30 billion up until last week, has filed for bankruptcy after an article in CoinDesk reported that much of the company’s capital was in the form of FTT, the company's proprietary cryptocurrency. Following the report, users demanded $6 billion in withdrawals, sending the company into a liquidity crisis. Rival crypto exchange Binance, who had been in talks to acquire FTX, announced it was backing out of the deal after seeing the company’s books.
30-year-old FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was worth over $15 billion, lost his entire fortune in two days.
But more than being a 30-year-old billionaire, Bankman-Fried was one of the Democratic Party’s largest megadonors, second only to George Soros. Since founding FTX in 2019, Bankman-Fried has donated over $40 million to Democratic campaigns and causes, including key lawmakers in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who are charged with regulating the crypto industry.
In May, Bankman-Fried said he was willing to spend over $1 billion to keep Democrats in the White House in 2024.
Another one of Bankman-Fried's projects was Aid for Ukraine, an organization set up by the Ukraine government to accept donations in cryptocurrency. Bankman-Fried's FTX converted those donations into fiat currency, ostensibly by storing the cryptocurrencies on its own exchange.
Since January 2021, Congress has supplied Ukraine with $54 billion in aid, much to the chagrin and confusion of American taxpayers. While a handful of Republicans voted against the aid packages, every Democrat voted in favor. Taxpayers have been stymied as to why the United States is heavily involved in the Russia-Ukraine war, though now some suggest the answer is linked to FTX.
Reports are alleging a laundering loop involving Democrat-pushed aid to Ukraine, Ukrainian involvement in FTX, and FTX’s heavy donations to Democratic congressional campaigns and causes.
To add to the mystery, Bankman-Fried's mother runs Mind the Gap, a dark money organization which has funneled millions of dollars to Democrats.
“There’s a reason you haven’t heard of Mind the Gap: Its ‘raison d’être is stealth,’” reported Vox.
FTX is listed as a partner company of the World Economic Forum.
