Recent court filings show that the failed crypto exchange FTX had doomsday plans in mind – but the plans had nothing to do with the exchange — which has been described as a Ponzi scheme — actually failing.
According to the suit filed by attorneys from Sullivan & Cromwell, Gabe Bankman-Fried, the younger brother of Sam Bankman-Fried and a former top FTX lobbyist, considered purchasing the island nation of Nauru in the Pacific to establish a fortified apocalypse bunker state. The plan was to safeguard his “effective altruism” allies…and create a genetically enhanced human species.
The younger Bankman-Fried described the ultimate strategy in a memo, writing that the plan was “to purchase the sovereign nation of Nauru in order to construct a ‘bunker/shelter’ that would be used for some event where 50%-99.99% of people die [to] ensure that most EAs (effective altruists) survive.”
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During the heyday of the exchange, disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried advocated effective altruism, a philosophy that focuses on encouraging people to grow their wealth so they can make substantial contributions to humanity.
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According to the memo, his brother Gabe, along with an unnamed philanthropic officer from FTX, explored the idea of acquiring Nauru to not only create a secure base for those who subscribed to the philosophy but also because he claimed the island nation had “sensible regulation around human genetic enhancement,” that they could “build a lab there.”
According to a report from CNBC, a representative for Nauru has clarified that the nation has never been for sale.
As of this writing, it has not been confirmed whether the memo was written in jest or if the younger Bankman-Fried was actually planning to make superhumans out of the FTX crew. But, given Nauru’s history, the Bankman-Frieds were likely interested in the Pacific nation for different reasons.
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Nauru, located in Micronesia, northeast of Australia, has a history of being a haven for money laundering until 2002, when the US Treasury designated it a money-laundering state. In the late ‘90s, Russian banks illegally transferred billions of dollars to bank accounts in Nauru.
Gabe noted in the memo that “probably there are other things it’s useful to do with a sovereign country, too,” in case the world doesn’t end.
Information for this story was found via Qz.com, CNBC, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
