SBF's Political Pivotal: From Biden's Biggest Backer to GOP's Secret Supporter

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the disgraced founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has a history of supporting both Democratic and Republican candidates, despite his recent public disavowal of the Democratic Party. SBF, currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for his role in one of the largest financial frauds in American history, has been vocal about his disappointment with the Democratic Party and his view that the Republican Party is "far more reasonable."

SBF's political donations have been substantial, with tens of millions of dollars going to both Democratic and Republican candidates. In the 2022 midterm federal elections, he publicly supported Democratic candidates to the tune of $40 million. However, evidence from his trial revealed that he also spent a significant amount on Republican candidates through FTX executives and back channels.

SBF's political donations date back to at least 2020, when he was the second-largest individual donor to Joe Biden's presidential campaign, behind only Michael Bloomberg. He also donated $5.2 million to political action committees (PACs) supporting Biden. In 2022, SBF spent nearly $40 million on Democratic causes, a sum surpassed only by American investor George Soros.

Michael Lewis, author of the book "Going Infinite," which recounts the rise and fall of SBF, said in a CBS interview that SBF viewed former President Donald Trump as an existential risk to democratic stability. Despite this, SBF reportedly investigated whether it would be legal to pay Trump $5 billion not to run for president. The talks were still ongoing when FTX began to implode.

In a Feb. 18 interview with The New York Sun, SBF said he had always viewed himself as "center-left," which is why he wanted Biden to win over the socialist Democratic candidate Senator Bernie Sanders in 2020. However, by 2022, he said he had become "really frustrated and disappointed with what I saw of, you know, Biden’s administration of the Democratic Party."

SBF characterized his "dark" support of Republican candidates as a means to achieve progress on pro-crypto policies. He claimed his trial was subsequently politicized under a Democratic administration unfriendly to the crypto industry. He also called into question the conduct of Judge Lewis Kaplan, the federal judge overseeing his trial