FTX ambassadors received a 30% commission on the trading fees of new users they recruited from the broker in Africa, plus an additional US$500 (R$2,500) monthly. Now these same ambassadors receive only death threats.
About a year ago, in November 2022, FTX was declared bankrupt after a flood of withdrawals showed the exchange was insolvent. Much of the customers’ money had been funneled to Alameda Research, another company founded by Sam Bankman-Fried.
In short, everyone lost money, from household names – like Gisele Bündchen, Tom Brady, Stephen Curry and Shaquille O’Neal – to anonymous customers from all over the world.
“I received a call from one of the ambassadors I worked with”said a former FTX ambassador speaking to CoinDesk. “He cried because the users he referred invested 20 million naira because of him. Not just your own money. People just thought they could save money on FTX and win.
At the current price, the 20 million naira is valued at R$1.28 million. However, the Nigerian currency has lost half its value against the real in the past year, so the amount could exceed R$2.5 million.
FTX ambassadors receive death threats
Referral programs are common in the cryptocurrency market. When a user signs up through your affiliate link, you will receive a portion of the commission. In the case of FTX ambassadors in Africa, they received 30% of their affiliate fees, plus a monthly bonus of US$500 (R$2,500).
However, the opportunity soon turned into a trap after a raid revealed that Sam Bankman-Fried was running a major scam and not a serious business.
“This specific ambassador has been off the radar for five months”said another ambassador at Coindesk. “People want to get their money back. People don’t want to understand that this brokerage has gone bankrupt. What they understand is that they joined this brokerage because of the ambassador.”
“They say, ‘You preached it, you talked about it in every possible way.’ They say, ‘we want to know where our money is. I am going to kill you. If you don’t give me my money, I’m going to look for you, I’m going to hunt for you.”
According to a document seen by Coindesk, the ambassadors even had a contract with FTX. An archived page shows that the ambassador program included celebrity photos and promised 40% commissions.
“Become a brand ambassador and join the FTX family. You’ll be in good company with the likes of Steph Curry, Tom Brady and Shaq[uille O’Neal] and Naomi Osaka.”
In Africa, the program attracted the attention of several students looking for additional income, who distributed FTX outside universities and some events “meetings for cryptocurrency traders to learn and connect”.
Sam Bankman-Fried has fooled everyone and now he can fool the judge and jury
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried managed to fool everyone. Besides recruiting celebrities for his scam, he also managed to secure investments from giants like Binance, Sequoia Capital, SoftBank, Paradigm and even BlackRock. Therefore, it is clear that their ambassadors, who are now under threat, have also been deceived.
According to Robert Kiyosaki, author of the book ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’, Bankman-Fried is so fast that he can now fool even the judge in charge of his case.
“Sam Bankman-Fried defrauded some of the most famous investors in the world, including Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank and Jim Kramer of CNBC.”said Kiyosaki last Friday (26). “Will the SBF fool the judge and jury like the Fed Chairman and Treasury Secretary fooled the world?”
SBF: SAM BANKMAN FRIED has fooled some of the most famous investors in the world, investors like Mr. Shark Tank’s Wonderful, Kevin O’Leary and CNBC’s Jim Kramer. Wonder if the SBF will fool the judge and jury like our Fed Chairman and Treasury Secretary fooled the world? Are we a ship of…
— Robert Kiyosaki (@theRealKiyosaki) October 27, 2023
Sam Bankman-Fried has been on trial in the US in recent days, but his sentence has not yet been announced. The former billionaire has been in prison since December 2022, but was extradited to the US in the following months.
Source: Live Coins
Barry Siefert is an accomplished journalist and author at The Nation View. He is known for his expertise in the field of cryptocurrency, and has written extensively on the topic. With a background in finance and economics, Barry has a deep understanding of the underlying technology and market forces that drive the crypto industry.
