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Revealing the True Face of SBF: The Real Experience of an Alameda Engineer, What Irresponsible Behaviors Has FTX Exhibited?

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Revealing the True Face of SBF: The Real Experience of an Alameda Engineer, What Irresponsible Behaviors Has FTX Exhibited?

Ten months have passed since the collapse of FTX. Adi, a former engineer at Alameda Research who has recovered from the trauma, shared his observations after becoming an employee under SBF on social media, attempting to reveal the truth for the victims of FTX.

First Impressions of FTX and Alameda by SBF Employees

"As an engineer at Alameda Research, my life savings have been stolen by my former boss Sam Bankman-Fried. Now, after recovering from the madness of FTX's collapse over the past few months, I am ready to tell my story," Adi said.

Adi first mentioned the scene when he became an employee of SBF. At that time, Adi had just resigned from Google, and within the tech community, Alameda and FTX were not well known. He only knew that many early employees of the company graduated from UC Berkeley.

The office was unremarkable, located on the fourth floor of a regular office building in downtown Berkeley, and the company's name was not even listed on the directory.

The office as described by Adi

When Adi first walked into the office, SBF was sitting at the desk in the middle of the trading area playing "League of Legends" while answering the phone. Adi described this as SBF's typical style, and this area was also Alameda's trading area.

Although from external appearances, SBF has shifted to full-time management of FTX, the two companies are highly interconnected in reality. Shared offices, social activities, and housing arrangements between the two companies are common.

SBF's Grand Vision and Future Plans

Upon entering the office for the first time, Adi was unsure who SBF was talking to on the phone, but he overheard some snippets from SBF: "Decentralization is the future, the most valuable thing you can do for yourself is to let go of everything and immerse yourself in the world of cryptocurrency."

"This is the first of many contradictions I have seen in Sam. On one hand, he praises the benefits of decentralization and permissionless finance to anyone who will listen. But a custodial, KYC-required derivatives exchange is not exactly a paragon of decentralization," Adi said.

On that evening, SBF revealed plans to move the company to the small island of the Bahamas, although Adi knew nothing about the Bahamas, SBF mentioned, "Do you know that FTX's annual revenue exceeds 10% of the Bahamas' GDP?"

As Sam explained, FTX's vision goes far beyond a cryptocurrency exchange, with plans for a vaccine factory in the Bahamas, FTX executives engaging in political donations strategy, the importance of not letting China lead in basic biotech research, and initiatives on anti-malaria mosquito nets and vegetarianism.

After hearing all this, it was clear that every action taken by SBF, whether it's Alameda, FTX, the Bahamas, or policy recommendations, is part of a grand plan to continually expand its sphere of influence and become a force for good that sweeps across the globe.

"It's not just a company, but an effective monument to altruism," Adi said.

Irresponsible Behavior Within FTX and Alameda

As a hopeful new employee, Adi was attracted by SBF's vision and also wanted to make a contribution to the world, but over the next year and a half, life changed in unimaginable ways.

Adi's life in the Bahamas

Despite enjoying a life of wealth that seemed straight out of a movie and rubbing shoulders with celebrities, sports stars, and politicians, Adi also witnessed irresponsible behavior:

  • Risk management was hasty for a company handling billions of dollars in capital.

  • Technical debt that made any software engineer shed tears.

  • Millions of dollars wasted on expenses, with an arrogant attitude that nothing would happen.

As everyone knows, SBF did not build a vaccine factory, nor did he eradicate malaria. Investors, users, and employees, those who trusted him the most, suffered financially, and the half-built ruins of FTX headquarters were scattered on the beaches of Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas.

Adi mentioned that in the past few months, he has seen many speculations related to FTX and Alameda on the internet, but not all of them are true. In reality, what kind of people are SBF, Caroline Alameda, the former CEO, and others? Was all of this just a scam? What was life like in the Bahamas? Adi believes people have the right to know the truth.

However, the experiences within FTX and Alameda are too complex to fully explain in a single post. If people are interested in insider information about the companies, Adi mentioned that he will share regularly and continue to monitor developments.