--- title: "Sam Bankman-Fried Admits the “Ethics Stuff” Was “Mostly a Front”" description: "In Twitter DMs, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried appeared to admit that his \"effective altruism\" bent wasn't as effective or altruistic as one would think." date: "2022-11-17" modified: "2022-11-17" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/sam-bankman-fried-ethics-stuff-front" categories: - "Finance" - "Future Society" tags: - "effective altruism" - "ftx" - "sam bankman-fried" - "the digest" --- # Sam Bankman-Fried Admits the “Ethics Stuff” Was “Mostly a Front” ![In Twitter DMs, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried appeared to admit that his "effective altruism" bent wasn't as effective or altruistic as one would think.]() *\Image: Craig Barritt/Getty Images for CARE For Special Children\* ## Effecting Change The disgraced former head of the crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, built his formidable public persona on the idea that he was a new type of ethical crypto exec. In particular, he was a vocal proponent of "effective altruism" — the vague-but-noble concept of using data to make philanthropic giving as targeted and helpful as possible. But in a direct message, *Vox*'s Kelsey Piper [asked Bankman-Fried]() if the "ethics stuff" had been "mostly a front." Bankman-Fried's reply: "Yeah." "I mean that's not \*all\* of it," he wrote. "But it's a lot." ## Truth Be Told If the concept of becoming rich to save the world strikes you as iffy, you're not alone — and it appears that even Bankman-Fried himself knows it. When Piper observed that Bankman-Fried had been "really good at talking about ethics" while actually playing a game, he responded that he "had to be" because he'd been engaged in "this dumb game we woke Westerners play where we say all the right shibboleths and everyone likes us." Next time you're thinking of investing in crypto, maybe it's worth taking a moment to wonder whether the person running the next exchange might secretly be thinking the same thing. **More on effective altruism:** [*Elon Musk Hired A Professional Gambler to Manage His Philanthropic Donations*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()