Marc Cohodes To David Sacks: “Be Sure To Hire Some Great Lawyers” On Solana Gaffe

The online feud between famed short seller Marc Cohodes and Craft Ventures General Partner David Sacks continues to heat up as the former unearths a YouTube episode where the latter seems to be discussing how he made money off of the crypto platform Solana with Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya and venture capitalist Jason Calacanis.

“Take a Bow @DavidSacks @Jason @chamath and be sure to hire some great lawyers.. Something tells me you will need them. I didnt even know who Sacks was till he picked a fight with me,” Cohodes wrote in a tweet.

Cohodes highlighted a YouTube podcast episode recorded in late 2021 where Sacks, Palihapitiya, and Calacanis “filmed themselves joking about the vast sums of money they were making on the SOL trade.”

“It’s one thing to score billion-dollar windfalls in unregulated casinos, but it takes a special kind of hubris to openly brag about it on social media,” Cohodes noted.

Based on the transcript Cohodes provided, the participants are discussing their investments, specifically regarding Solana. Palihapitiya advises Sacks to clear his Solana position, and they joke about negotiating discounts and selling over text message.

“Hey, you’re f–king the whole thing up!” Sacks apparently said, to which Calacanis replied, “Ha, the whole Ponzi scheme!” but it is unclear if he is serious.

Sacks mentions that he is “HODL-ing,” a term used in cryptocurrency to indicate holding onto an investment.

Palihapitiya mentions buying hundreds of millions of dollars in Solana at a discount, and Sacks asks if he is holding onto his investment.

“Ish,” Palihapitiya said. Sacks replied, “Ish, okay. Yeah, me too.”

Sacks and Cohodes have been embroiled in an online feud stemming from the time that leading US banks like Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate Bank, Signature Bank, First Republic Bank, and Credit Suisse fell one by one as they faced bank runs that ran them illiquid.

In an interview, Sacks described the legislation passed under the Biden administration to have caused inflation; hence, the Federal Reserve’s response to hike interest which caused the banks to collapse due to high borrowing costs.

For Cohodes, the behind-the-scenes timeline needs to be looked at in terms of how Sacks was allegedly tipped off so he could pull out his VC’s money in Silicon Valley Bank before the eventual collapse.

Sacks shot back at Cohodes’ tweet that said it is “not the end of the world if 200-500 banks go under” by replying that the short seller is the “leading proponent for the ‘let it burn’ camp,” before referring to Cohodes as an “angry psycho.”

Cohodes retorted and doubled down on his point of query regarding how — and how much — Sacks pulled out before Silicon Valley Bank fell.

Later on, Cohodes zeroed in on Sacks and said to be looking into him and his companies in their role with the bank’s collapse.

Solana made its public debut in March 2020, marking the creation of its first block on March 16. Throughout 2021, Solana experienced a remarkable surge, with its token skyrocketing by 12,000% and reaching $250 by November. However, even prior to FTX’s collapse, Solana encountered a series of public challenges that raised doubts about its claims of being a superior technology.

On July 1, 2022, a class action lawsuit was filed against Solana. The lawsuit alleged that Solana had sold unregistered securities in the form of Solana tokens starting from March 24, 2020, onwards, and intentionally misled investors regarding the total circulating supply of SOL tokens. According to the lawsuit, Anatoly Yakovenko, the founder of Solana Labs, had loaned over 11.3 million tokens to a market maker in April 2020 without disclosing this information to the public. The lawsuit claimed that Solana had stated it would reduce the supply by this amount, but only 3.3 million tokens were burned.

As a consequence of FTX’s downfall, the token’s market cap plummeted from over $55 billion in January to just above $3 billion by the end of the year. Investors withdrew approximately $8 billion from Solana during FTX’s collapse.

In April 2022, Palihapitiya expressed support for the blockchain platform, believing it would disrupt global transactions, which are currently dominated by large payment companies. Earlier in 2021, Palihapitiya revealed his co-leading position in Syndica, an infrastructure developer for Solana, through an investment made by his venture capital firm, Social Capital.

The conversation Cohodes highlighted revealed a casual and brazen attitude towards their financial gains, leading Cohodes to question their ethics. As the feud continues to intensify, it remains to be seen how this new revelation will impact the ongoing conflict.


Information for this briefing was found via the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.

Leave a Reply

Share
Tweet
Share
Reddit