Key takeaways:
- The author of “Moneyball” and “The Big Short,” Michael Lewis, is almost done writing a book about Sam Bankman-Fried.
- He said that he is “grateful” that FTX crashed while speaking to a crowd at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami.
On stage at Bitcoin 2023 , best-selling author and journalist Michael Lewis, known for writing “The Big Short,” “Moneyball,” and “The Blind Side,” shared his thoughts on the state of the economy and the quickly evolving world of cryptocurrencies.
Going Infinite: the Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon, a book on Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX, will be released on October 3, according to The Guardian.
Author Michael Lewis has conducted interviews with individuals close to SBF’s founder Bankman-Fried, as well as employees, investors, officials from the Bahamas, and U.S. regulators. Despite already selling the movie rights to Apple, Lewis is still working on the final manuscript, which is expected to be completed in a couple of months.
Lewis began writing the book prior to FTX’s bankruptcy and the subsequent fraud charges against the controversial cryptocurrency figure. In a recent talk in Miami, Lewis shared that the project originated from an unexpected phone call he received in 2021 from a friend who managed a Wall Street firm.
Michael Lewis has extensively travelled and conducted research for his upcoming book, making trips to the “Crypto Bahamas” and other locations to gather essential details. Since SBF’s arrest, Lewis has maintained regular biweekly conversations with him. SBF, the former CEO and billionaire in the crypto industry, is currently under house arrest, residing conveniently close to Lewis at his parents’ home.
These recent developments occur shortly after the FTX leadership files a lawsuit against Sam Bankman-Fried regarding a $220 million deal made prior to the bankruptcy. On May 17, FTX apparently purchased Embed through its American subsidiary, despite claims that they conducted minimal due diligence on the platform.
In his book “The Big Short,” Michael highlighted the inherent injustices and naive practices within the modern financial system that led to the 2007-2008 financial crisis. He pointed out that Bitcoin was designed as a way to escape the very issues that contributed to that crisis.
According to Lewis, by referring to the first line of Satoshi’s original paper, it becomes evident that Bitcoin eliminates the need for a trusted intermediary in financial transactions. The aftermath of the financial crisis fueled a deep mistrust towards traditional financial institutions, which remains a fundamental mindset within the cryptocurrency industry.
Bitcoin played a significant role in the recent Silicon Valley Bank crisis by offering an alternative financial system that operates independently from traditional banks.The crisis further highlighted the importance of Bitcoin as a potential solution to financial instability and as a means to circumvent the vulnerabilities and centralization of traditional banking institutions.
