I just heard that a guy I knew committed suicide over the FTX implosion. He was a weath adviser with a bunch of his clients' money tied up there.
FTX fucked with peoples' livelihoods, and by extension their lives.
Edit: just to clarify, it was his decision to park his clients' money there. But FTX spent a lot of money courting retail investors with slick campaigns. A superbowl ad that implied people were stupid not to participate. Big Silicon Valley VC firms imbued SBF with the aura of a wunderkind who could do no wrong.
Only if it makes you feel better. There's no degree of punishment that can be done to this person whom you've never met that can bring the dead that you knew back to life. There are no refunds for spending our civilization lionizing the massive accumulation of wealth by financial manipulation. The danger is in the system, not the random narcissist promoted into a position of power within it; there is an endless supply of narcissists.
It's a trick played on the living by the people in charge of punishment. If it were for the living, the living would have a lot more of a say than they do, and some of the millions that are spent on the process of punishment would go to the bereaved. The bereaved are the pretense.
The average peasant cares not for this cold utilitarianism. They want to see him drawn and quartered. This is not something imposed by the ruling class.
You are correct that it's only if the poster feels better. You are wrong about the reasoning. Unfortunately, sentencing takes into account the harm done, but not causing so much harm that the person then takes their life.
I don't want to sound negative, really. It's a great tragedy.
But when you are a wealth advisor, one of your jobs is to inform your clients about the inherent risk of all forms of investments you deal with. As for cryptocurrencies, your duty is to tell your clients all their money can evaporate in a second and they won't be able to do anything about it. If they don't like that, they can use other forms of investments. In my country it's even regulated: the client needs to sign a statement they were informed about it and they accept this risk. So no reason to commit a suicide because it's not your problem in the slightest.
Yes, I assume this is what actually happened. But unless it was a borrowed money, again this is not a reason to commit suicide. You can always start from zero and have a more or less normal life. If it was borrowed money, well, that person shouldn't be a wealth advisor.
> telling your clients it was a great idea with little risk.
Or even worse: Telling your clients they are invested in something else with a completely different risk profile when they were actually exposed to this.
Sure, as long as your emotions are driven only by the contracts you sign.
People sign a waiver accepting the risk when they go whitewater rafting, but that doesn’t stop it from being a potentially life-altering traumatic experience for a rafting guide when a kid falls out and drowns under the raft.
Likewise, if you care about your client’s financial well-being as a wealth advisor, and you make a choice that destroys years of your client’s savings, retirement, etc. it would be understandable to feel distraught about that.
I don't disagree with you, but someone died. So, yes, maybe we should display a bit of empathy and acknowledge the significant impact this loss can have on someone's life, even if it wasn't a good decision, instead of just saying that they deserve it.
<< Are we supposed to be sorry for the wealth advisers after their wealthy clients loose their money into crypto investments?
That is not the point at all. The point is punishment, especially in a public case like this one, because it is important for society at large to see fraud is punished ( and right now looks a lot closer to Madoff scam type than not ). If the society at large does not see it, it may start questioning the validity of the system and simply decide to throw the table over. This is not a good thing ( unless for one reason or another a person wants to topple a given society ).
With that mind, public ostracism should be on everyone's mind. Fuck, we don't have a problem with a guy spouting perceived wrongthink ( edit: I do, but thats another story ) being banned from a conference, but the moment guy manages to effectively make people part with millions of dollars, he is a speaker?
<< What value do you generate pouring money into bitcoin minning or fliping "worthless" coins ?
The same question can be asked about HFT, mass purchase of real estate to artificially raise prices or hoarding aluminum for the same reason. I personally think you are asking the wrong question here.
<< If you are wealthy and you invest into crypto you deserve to loose it all!
I have no real skin in this game despite having some exposure to crypto. I find this attitude counter-productive.
Financial advisor without professional insurance? Why would anyone do that? Shouldn't they be the people who know how to use financial products and services to protect themselves?
FTX fucked with peoples' livelihoods, and by extension their lives.
Edit: just to clarify, it was his decision to park his clients' money there. But FTX spent a lot of money courting retail investors with slick campaigns. A superbowl ad that implied people were stupid not to participate. Big Silicon Valley VC firms imbued SBF with the aura of a wunderkind who could do no wrong.