NYT’s ‘Sympathy Piece’ for FTX’s SBF Seems ‘Not a Good Idea’

The New York Times published an article on Dec. 26, 2022 that was titled as “In the Bahamas, a Lingering Sympathy for Sam Bankman-Fried,” and written by the journalist, Rob Copeland. He quotes local Bahamians who appeared to have mostly positive things to say about FTX former Founder, Sam Bankman-Fried.

But the online community with some cryptocurrency personalities has condemned his recent so-called “sympathy” article about the FTX former founder. In which one local resident opined SBF has a “good heart,” while the other local saying they “feel bad for him.” A resident interviewed for Mr. Copeland’s article even said it “doesn’t make any sense” that SBF alleged crimes landed him in prison.

Mr. Copeland’s article suggests that the glowing reviews of FTX former founder by locals stem from “his millions of dollars in donations to local charities, churches and government entities, including the police.” Meanwhile, SBF’s plans to build a hotel and his firm’s head office there were considered another positive by locals.

The Responses of Some Twitter Users on NYT’s Article

A twitter user, Cryptonator, wrote in its tweet that “SBF did it like Pablo Escobar: […] donated millions of dollars to a dizzying collection of Bahamian charities, churches and government entities — including the local police. And according to this NYT article, it worked: I think he had a good heart”

John Holowach, a twitter user who does crypto and stock analysis, referred to the NYT journalist and wrote “you should be ashamed for writing it.”

Fred, Co-founder at People4bernie, mentioned the article as “embarrassing.”

Daniel Marans, a Senior politics reporter, penned as “A lot of people are attacking this piece as some effort to paint SBF in a sympathetic light, but the reality is, accused criminals often are perceived differently by recipients of their largesse and that too is a story …”

Bong Capital, shared its support and wrote “Some great reporting here. Next up, the museums that are *really* feeling the pinch from the lack of Sackler opioid funding.”