re: Crypto exchange FTX declares bankruptcy

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I hope the MLB umpires got paid.

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FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried got a thumbs up from Miami Mayor Francis Suarez during a joint appearance last year when an interviewer asked the 29-year-old mogul if a crypto company approaching a $25 billion valuation really had the financial staying power to fund the full 19 years on its $130 million sponsorship deal for the city’s basketball arena.

“It’s been a pretty good year for us, to the point that, frankly, we don’t need to rely on the other 18 years to have the funds for this,” Bankman-Fried said during the May 7 event at the 2021 Ethereal Virtual Summit. Bankman-Fried described a “phenomenal year” for the crypto industry “and us, in particular.”

Now Miami-Dade County administrators doubt FTX can afford its next $5.5 million payment on the arena, much less the remaining $100 million on a deal that Bankman-Fried brushed aside as a minor expense in his appearance with Suarez.

“I hope the next time we have someone who wants to put their name on the arena, we have a better vetting process,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner René Garcia, who cast the only vote against the FTX deal when it came up for a board vote on March 26, 2021.

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