Prior to the crypto firm’s cash crunch, billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried spent tens of millions on politics

The crypto billionaire and two of his deputies pocketed nearly $69 million in the 2022 midterm elections. That money might have been better spent propping up his cryptocurrency exchange, which is now facing a liquidity crunch.

Crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried burst onto the political giving scene this election cycle, becoming the second largest billionaire donor to Democratic causes. In all, he gave $39.9 million, including $35 million to three different political action committees. Two of his deputies at FTX, his cryptocurrency exchange – gave almost $29 million more. But that giving looks awfully profligate now, following a single tweet Tuesday morning from the world’s richest crypto-billionaire, Changpeng Zhao (aka CZ), founder and CEO of crypto exchange Binance.

“This afternoon FTX asked for our help,” tweeted CZWHO Forbes estimates are worth $17.4 billion. – There is a significant liquidity crisis. To protect users, we signed a non-binding LOI [letter of intent]which intends to fully provide and contribute to covering the liquidity crisis.”

Bankman-Fried, and the cryptocurrency exchange that recently accounted for most of his estimated $16.7 billion fortune as of Monday, appears to be in desperate need of cash. The estimated 176 million FTX tokens that Bankman-Fried held through his stake in his trading firm Alameda Research, worth $3.9 billion as of Monday, had lost nearly 80% of their value by 3:00 PM ET on Tuesday afternoon, shaving nearly 3.1 billion dollars by Bankman. -Fried’s net worth. The crypto mogul agreed to sell FTX to rival Binance on Tuesday morning, attributes the takeover of “liquidity crises” that FTX is facing. Reports of FTX’s liquidity crisis have been circulating since last week then CoinDesk reported on the precarious position of FTX sister company Alameda Research’s balance sheet.

Bankman-Fried tweeted Tuesday morning that “we have reached an agreement with Binance on a strategic transaction for FTX.com,” adding that it would “clear up the liquidity crisis.” (Bankman-Fried and his two deputies did not respond Forbes’ request for comment.)

The $69 million that Bankman-Fried and his deputy spent on the 2022 interims likely would have done little to plug FTX’s reported financial hole, but it couldn’t have hurt. Bankman-Fried told Forbes last month that “ultimately I care more about policy than policy,” adding that “my giving has been bipartisan, and my goal is to help support good policymakers.”

Bankman-Fried has supported Republicans this cycle, primarily through his $2 million contribution to the blockchain and cryptocurrency-focused GMI super PAC. But the bulk of his giving, including $27 million to the Protect Our Future super PAC and $6 million to the House Majority super PAC, has gone to support Democrats. Bankman-Fried told Forbes last month that “much of this was for primaries, rather than D vs R general elections” ($33 million of his contributions were made in the first four months of 2022.)

Ryan Salame, co-CEO of FTX’s Digital Markets subsidiary, has spent $21.4 million in the November midterms, including $15 million to fund his own American Dream Federal Action super PAC. In September, Salame told Washington Examiner, his PAC would focus on preventing future pandemics and viral outbreaks, although its $11 million in independent spending to date has gone exclusively to support 14 Republicans. Another Bankman-Fried deputy, FTX director of engineering Nishad Singh, has spent $7.4 million this cycle, most of it to support Democrats, including about $2 million apiece to a pair of left-leaning super PACs: Women Vote ! and SMP (Senate Majority).

Much of the money likely ended up supporting candidates favorable to FTX and the cryptocurrency industry in general. But it won’t do the company much good if it ceases to exist (at least in its current form).