Did you know many of the biggest financial and money YouTubers who promoted FTX worked with the same talent agency?
As we witness the collateral damage caused by FTX unfold and the federal criminal charges against the crypto exchange’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried stack up, many are asking how so many people fell for this Ponzi-like scam. As with any “successful” financial scheme, FTX was a confidence game – and the game only works if the “players” are duped into thinking things are safe.
Enter FTX’s promoters and pumpers.
Chris Norlund is the creator of a daily news YouTube channel and host on Busan BeFM Radio.
Celebrities including centi-millionaire financier Kevin O’Leary, football star Tom Brady and basketball stars Steph Curry and Shaquille O’Neal all attached their images to FTX. Larry David played a crypto-skeptical curmudgeon in a much applauded FTX Super Bowl ad last year. Many of these well-known names are now facing a class-action lawsuit.
As actor Ben McKenzie has repeatedly said about his peers who used their fame to advertise for crypto projects, if you convince someone to buy into a Ponzi scheme, you’ve participated in a Ponzi scheme. Selling a cryptocurrency called “ethereumMAX” is not the same as posing for Pepsi Max photoshoots.
See also: Kim Kardashian Settles SEC Probe for $1.26M for Hyping EthereumMax
However, there is another group of people who need pointing out: social media influencers. In an age of bifurcated attention, where people are more…
