Behind the Bastards: How Sam Bankman-Fried Conned the Crypto World & The SBF Update (CZM Rewind)

Podcast: Behind the Bastards
Hosts: Robert Evans, Jamie Loftus (with producer Sophie)
Date: November 25, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode re-examines the meteoric rise and catastrophic fall of Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), founder of FTX and prominent figure in the effective altruism community. Robert Evans and Jamie Loftus break down how SBF conned investors, celebrities, and regulators, analyzing both the psychology and tactics behind his elaborate fraud. The episode then pivots to provide real-time updates on the post-collapse fallout: SBF’s legal troubles, family dynamics, and the broader ethical questions his saga raises around wealth, tech, and rationalization of harm.

Tone: Satirical, biting, and darkly humorous—true to Behind the Bastards’ style.

Table of Contents

1. Opening Reflections & Relatable Cons
2. Who is Sam Bankman-Fried? Early Life & Privilege
3. The Philosophy Behind the Grift: Effective Altruism & Utilitarianism
4. Launching the Empire: Alameda Research and FTX
5. The Great Ponzi: The Mechanics of the Fraud
6. Celebrity Endorsements and Media Manipulation
7. Collapse & Aftermath: How It All Fell Apart
8. Family Ties and the Stanford Enclave
9. Update: Legal Fallout, Island Bunkers, and Diaries
10. Final Thoughts and The Fate of SBF
11. Notable Quotes

1. Opening Reflections & Relatable Cons

Timestamps: 02:46–05:11

• Episode begins with classic banter, touching on public fascination with “bad guys,” recent news about Elizabeth Holmes, and the problematic nature of punitive justice.
• Quote:
  • Jamie: “People don't go—for the prison industrial complex in general…” (03:27)
  • Robert: “It doesn't make anyone better. To the extent that there's value…it's people who are like a severe ongoing danger…” (03:37)
• Satirizes public redemption narratives, referencing Holmes, and draws a parallel: “By this time next year, there probably is going to be an HBO documentary about this guy [SBF].” (07:06)
• Tone is irreverent and meta; hosts openly admit their jobs are embarrassing, linking the conversation to the embarrassment of crypto frauds.
• Sets up SBF as the next major public villain.

2. Who is Sam Bankman-Fried? Early Life & Privilege

Timestamps: 08:46–21:20

• SBF born in 1992 at Stanford. Both parents are prominent Stanford professors; mother Barbara focused on law and Democratic fundraising, and father Joseph Bankman, a Yale grad who tried to reform California’s tax system.
• Raised amid “America’s liberal aristocracy” with deep connections to elite academia (Stanford, Yale, Harvard, Columbia).
• At home, was immersed in high-minded, philosophical discussions from a young age.
• Satirical visualization of SBF as an insufferable child obsessed with Kant and utilitarian ethics.
• Quote:
  • Robert: “This is a child who at age 8, has strong opinions on Immanuel Kant.” (20:46)
• Robert and Jamie mock SBF’s background as “possibly the most privileged bubble imaginable.”

3. The Philosophy Behind the Grift: Effective Altruism & Utilitarianism

Timestamps: 21:24–47:00

• Parents raised SBF and his brother as strict utilitarians, constantly debating the “greatest good for the greatest number.”
• SBF’s formative moment: claimed it was weighing the ethics of abortion at age 12 (22:09), leading to a utilitarian pro-choice stance based on resource allocation, not bodily autonomy.
• Effective Altruism (EA) is introduced: the “do the most good with the least resources” movement popular in Silicon Valley and among mega-rich.
• Critique: Utilitarian/EA logic easily mutates into self-justification for greed and inaction on social policy—eg, paying taxes seen as less effective than “making as much money as possible to later donate as I see fit.”
• SBF’s “earn to give” journey is detailed: after college at MIT, and a stint on Wall Street, SBF devotes himself to becoming a billionaire for the perceived good of humanity, mentored by EA leader William MacAskill.
• Notable satirical quote:
  • Robert (reading from an article): “SBF listened, nodding as MacAskill made his pitch… [to] get filthy rich for charity’s sake. All the rest was merely execution risk.” (37:48)
• Jamie, exasperated: “I swear to God, I fucking hate these people so much.” (38:49)
• Breakdown of the rationalization: risk neutrality as a logical imperative, leading to extreme, reckless risk-taking explained away as ethical.

4. Launching the Empire: Alameda Research and FTX

Timestamps: 47:00–64:48

• SBF leaves Jane Street to “minimize his risk by maximizing his risk”—escalating financial gambles as an ethical mandate.
• Cryptocurrency boom in 2017 provides the perfect, unregulated playground.
• SBF exploits a Japan/Korea “kimchi premium”—buys bitcoin low in the US, sells high in Asia with the help of EA friends overseas.
• Launches Alameda Research with fellow utilitarian wunderkinds (e.g. Caroline Ellison and Nishad Singh).
• Robert mocks an article’s “industrial-scale dick-riding” in portraying SBF et al. as compassionate geniuses.
• FTX, a crypto exchange, is established, targeting average investors who want get-rich-quick schemes but don’t understand the risks.
• SBF’s core innovation: create a “bank” (exchange) without actual regulation or transparency—bins all lessons learned from the Great Depression in favor of speed and scale.

5. The Great Ponzi: The Mechanics of the Fraud

Timestamps: 64:48–71:11

• FTX offers “15% annualized fixed rate loans… no downside,” promising impossible, guaranteed returns—a classic Ponzi scheme.
• Hosts break down the red flags: promises of stability and solvency are inherently false, and parallel Bernie Madoff’s fraud.
• SBF’s pitch: profits are “guaranteed,” losses are “enforceable under US law” (untrue given crypto’s deregulation).
• Jamie and Robert draw the analogy to casino-style gambling, lampooning SBF’s logic as indistinguishable from drunk Vegas “math,” or, as Robert says: “You are using hundreds of words and high-minded bullshit rhetoric to be be like, gambling is the best way to make money.” (71:18)

6. Celebrity Endorsements and Media Manipulation

Timestamps: 11:10–13:40; 91:00–94:49

• FTX ropes in celebrities (Larry David, Shaquille O’Neal, Tom Brady, and others) for Super Bowl ads.
• Class action lawsuits filed against celebrity promoters after FTX collapse.
• Discussion of how SBF “conned” media and the elite: pouring millions into sponsorships (sports arenas, ad campaigns, university partnerships) to build false legitimacy.
• Jamie on Shaq: “Shaquille O'Neal will put his name on anything...including crypto and Halloween.” (12:26)
• Examination of “confidence” tactics—if users see FTX on an NBA arena, they’re reassured their crypto is safe.

7. Collapse & Aftermath: How It All Fell Apart

Timestamps: 94:49–103:05

• FTX and Alameda’s books completely cooked: no accounting department, approvals via encrypted messages, majority of user funds either lost or vaporized via gambling.
• Classic “confidence game”—once enough people tried to withdraw funds, the house of cards fell; paper wealth vanished overnight.
• SBF’s net worth plunges 94% in a single day, FTX valuation goes from $32 billion to nearly zero.
• Jamie draws comparisons to Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes; SBF’s business chaos eerily similar to her reckless, consequence-free mismanagement.
• Funniest detail: FTX’s outside accounting firm existed exclusively in the metaverse.

8. Family Ties and the Stanford Enclave

Timestamps: 150:01–160:24

• Parents deeply enmeshed in Stanford’s elite community, both ethics professors.
• Post-collapse, SBF on house arrest at the Stanford-owned home; bailout co-signed by Stanford affiliates.
• Stanford tries to keep a low profile, despite his physical presence and public spectacle (students posting his location, etc.).
• Family accepted millions in FTX-funded Bahamas real estate, claiming ignorance of details.
• Joe Bankman’s “ethics” track record includes teaching Peter Thiel how to avoid $1B in taxes.

9. Update: Legal Fallout, Island Bunkers, and Diaries

Timestamps: 117:08–182:50

• SBF arrested in the Bahamas, extradited to the US; faces up to 115 years in prison.
• FTX nonprofit arm attempted to purchase the island of Nauru for a “bunker” to save effective altruists from the apocalypse—a real scheme detailed in internal FTX communications (121:44—130:43).
• EA and rationalist circles lampooned for self-serving math justifying mega-wealth and genetic “enhancement” schemes.
• Legal circus post-collapse:
  • SBF ignored legal advice, published a Substack to “exonerate himself” (unsuccessfully).
  • Violated bail conditions repeatedly, ultimately jailed awaiting trial after leaking ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison’s diary to the New York Times to smear her as she cooperated with prosecutors.
• National media and Stanford social circles become obsessed with SBF’s physical and metaphorical “containment.”
• Ellison, like SBF, was more a “patsy” than true co-conspirator, given much lower compensation and used as smokescreen.
• SBF’s extended EA/Stanford network implicated in the donations, cover-ups, and muted whistle-blowing.

10. Final Thoughts and The Fate of SBF

Timestamps: 183:36–186:16

• SBF’s prospects in court are gloomy; prosecutors seek to re-add dropped charges.
• Robert: “I think there’s a pretty good chance he does hard time. He fucked with too many people. He fucked with the money, and he fucked with it in too dumb of a way. So I think he's screwed.” (183:53)
• Jamie: “He doesn't even have… that media narrative… Everything reinforces he's completely incompetent and malicious in every way.” (185:29)
• Hosts reflect on the cyclical, self-justifying nature of Silicon Valley grift—expect SBF to resurface with a new scam in a few years, just like other disgraced founders.

11. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On privilege & weird childhoods:

• “This is a child who at age 8, has strong opinions on Immanuel Kant.” – Robert (20:46)
• “I just had a vision of a child sitting at like, a hole dinner and saying derivative. And then someone going, oh, that's amazing.” – Jamie (20:59)

On EA and rationalist bullshit:

• “What they are doing here… is assigning a number that you have made up. There is no objective value… so that whatever it is you want to do with your money, you can justify numerically as the scientifically best way…” – Robert (134:31)
• “The greatest good is me smiling a little bit.” – Jamie (136:28)

On SBF’s con artistry:

• “Classic confidence game… if users see FTX on an NBA arena, they’re reassured their crypto is safe.” – Robert (94:49)
• “He's a confidence man… as long as people are convinced their money is safe and most of them don’t try to pull it out, then you can keep the con going.” – Robert (93:09)

On the SBF update:

• “He has not had a wonderful time… considers his trips across the country to go to court in New York the highlight of his life.” – Robert (181:21)
• “Stop fucking Sam Bankman Fried. That's my… Yes. Yes. This is very bad gross behavior.” – Jamie (181:15)

On effective altruism after the fall:

• “If effective altruism can be said to have a Pope… it’s Will McCaskill. When FTX collapsed and Sam got arrested, he was quick to put out a statement of outrage… Now, the only reason I would hesitate to call this horseshit… is that horseshit, by virtue of being inanimate waste, possesses a fundamental honesty that McCaskill is incapable of.” – Robert (143:43)

On Stanford privilege:

• “Everything you find about these people is friends talking about, ‘It's so shocking this could happen…’ They were so concerned about ethics. They raised their sons like little adults… How could this have gone wrong?” – Robert (159:12)

Key Timestamps for Reference

• 03:37 Prison industrial complex/Elizabeth Holmes parallels set up
• 08:46 SBF’s privileged early life
• 13:41 SBF’s parents and academic background
• 21:24 Utilitarianism/EA family dinners; how childhood shaped worldview
• 38:49 “I swear to God, I fucking hate these people so much.”
• 47:00 Early career, effective altruism, and career “risk math”
• 64:48 FTX’s Ponzi structure revealed
• 71:11 Gambling analogies and media manipulation
• 91:58 The role of celebrity, naming rights, and regulatory capture
• 94:49 How the fraud collapsed, the lack of basic infrastructure in FTX
• 121:44 Nauru bunker scheme explained
• 150:01 SBF’s parents, Stanford, and bail arrangements
• 171:25 SBF leaks Caroline Ellison’s diary; legal repercussions
• 183:53 Will SBF get off? Hosts’ predictions

Conclusion

With their trademark sharp wit and thorough research, Robert Evans and Jamie Loftus deliver a scathing critique of Sam Bankman-Fried, effective altruism culture, and the enabling milieu of Silicon Valley and elite academia. The case of SBF becomes both a cautionary tale and a darkly funny emblem of how rationalization, privilege, and the promise of “doing good” can mask the deepest, dumbest kind of greed.

This episode is essential listening for anyone following tech scandals, crypto meltdowns, or the psychology behind modern financial frauds. It’s also a punchy reminder that in late-stage capitalism, the math always seems to add up for the guys in shorts playing League of Legends on company time—until it doesn’t.