Is it possible that the author of the book and the later film The Big Short
is actually in on the scam?
Today, we're going to take a look if Michael Lewis plays a bigger role
in the scandal between FTX, the stock market and the SEC.
If that sounds good, stick around.
Let's get it!
Alright, guys. Welcome to BitBoy Crypto!
My name is Ben.
Today, we're going to be taking a look at something I never thought we'd be taking a look at.
The Big Short
A movie from earlier in the 2010s that describes the real estate housing crash,
why it happened, why there was scandal.
And the author of this---Michael Lewis.
It's been pointed out there's some very big inconsistencies
that you're going to want to have to see to believe.
So let's start out here.
The Big Short author has been embedded with SBF for six months.
Now, very interesting,
keep in mind here that Michael Lewis himself,
he actually didn't know this was an insolvent exchange
and he was writing with SBF for six months.
Did he know more than he is leading on?
Michael Lewis, who's famous for writing The Big Short and Moneyball, baseball movie,
has reportedly been embedded with the bankruptcy crypto exchange's
former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried for six months and will pen a book telling the inside story.
According to the email,
the author plans to focus on the rivalry between SBF and Binance CEO CZ,
or Changpeng Zhao.
Weird.
Isn't that the same narrative that Kevin O'Leary is spinning and Jim Cramer is spinning?
And they're involved in Alameda?
Very questionable.
Whom he likens to Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader of crypto.
I want you to think about this.
SBF as Luke Skywalker,
that should be your first clue that something is extremely wrong with Michael Lewis.
So let's go to this thread by Nic Carter.
Now, everybody remembers the Backstreet Boys.
They had a lead singer named Nick Carter.
He's Nick with a k.
This is Nic with just a c.
And if you know people named Nic,
the ones with no Ks,
they're no good.
That's why this guy has me blocked on Twitter.
So we had to do screenshots, Nic!
You douche.
"So let me get this straight."
2014, Michael Lewis publishes Flash Boys, a book designed to promote IEX.
The book is panned by most people with knowledge of HFT.
March of 2022,
FTX and IEX, in a pre-partnership, hold joint meetings with the SEC,
very important,
aiming for safe harbor in US operations.
April 2022,
FTX US announces an investment in IEX.
Weird. They're putting money into the same thing
that Michael Lewis has invested in and has a book about.
May and June of 2022,
Michael Lewis begins closely shadowing SBF in order to write a hagiography,
I don't even know what that is,
presumably similar in tone to Flash Boys.
Lewis invited to the Bahamas, the Super Bowl, yada yada yada.
Summer of '22,
our boy Gary Gensler, most corrupt guy in Washington DC,
meets with IEX.
FTX lobbying Congress hard.
May to November of 2022,
Michael Lewis has full access and visibility into SBF, FTX and Alameda
on account of his shillpiece,
completely fails to blow the whistle, raise any alarm, report any red flags.
Hmmm.
Once again, just like Gary Gensler, either Michael Lewis is completely corrupt,
or he's an absolute idiot.
November 2022, FTX collapses.
November 2022 as well, Michael Lewis shopping movie rights.
Then we have this.
December 2022, SBF was arrested, returns home for bail.
Michael Lewis meets with SBF during his house arrest in December 2022.
Now, huh.
I wonder if maybe they're passing messages back and forth.
Maybe that's the point of the meeting.
We're going to see why I believe that is true here in a moment.
"What I want to know,
how in the hell did Michael Lewis notice nothing amiss during his 6-month tenure?
Is it just a coincidence Lewis wrote a shillpiece for IEX
and was writing one for FTX, and they struck a cozy partnership?"
What was Michael Lewis' role?
Connect back here,
still having meetings with SBF.
Very interesting.
We also have Tom Emmer here, as you can see.
Tom Emmer had a lot to say on this on a podcast.
If you guys want to check it out,
there is apparently a place where you can go and you can search IEX in the transcript.
There's so many unanswered questions about this.
This is a story that Congress people are paying attention to.
Then we come here.
Exclusive.
How FTX bought its way to become the most regulated crypto exchange.
And you know what I was thinking earlier today?
I had a meeting with a guy this morning.
And I was kind of telling him about what was going on with FTX and how all this relates.
Now, we go back to the federal Bitlicense plan that Sam Bankman-Fried was enacting.
And what you come to understand is it wasn't just about centralized exchanges
becoming the benefactor of regulation.
What is the difference between a centralized crypto exchange
and a decentralized crypto exchange?
Which SBF was trying to kill.
The decentralized exchange,
it's impossible to get access to the customer funds.
Centralized, access to customer funds.
Which is, all the capital they use to make trades were your money.
So keep that in mind as well.
How FTX bought its way in, let's check this out here.
Before it collapsed earlier this month,
FTX stood apart from many rivals in the largely unsupervised crypto industry
by boasting it was the most regulated exchange on the planet
and inviting closer scrutiny from authorities while it paid them off.
Looking at you, Dan Berkovitz.
Looking at you, Gary Gensler.
Now, company documents seen by Reuters reveal
the strategy and tactics behind founder SBF's regulatory agenda,
including the previously unreported terms of a deal announced earlier this year
with IEX Group,
the US stock trading platform featured in Michael Lewis' book Flash Boys
about fast, computer-driven trading.
Wow!
Michael Lewis loves fast boys.
The partnership gave the 30-year-old executive the opportunity to lobby IEX's regulator,
the SEC.
The deal and others--
That deal and others illuminate one of FTX's broader goals---
quickly crafting a congenial regulatory framework for itself
by acquiring stakes in companies that already had licenses from authorities,
shortcutting the often drawn-out approval process.
FTX, this is a quote, has the cleanest brand in crypto,
the exchange proclaimed in June document presented to investors.
Then we have this article.
Michael Lewis expects IEX to overtake the New York Stock Exchange.
Doesn't this sound like a forex trading site pump and dump?
That's what it sounds like to me.
But what's even more fascinating,
if you come over here to Terry Flanagan,
I don't know anything about this guy,
but look at the date.
2015
Right after he wrote the book.
And that gives us context to understand this didn't happen.
IEX hasn't become close to becoming a big player on the scene,
and yet they're behind the scenes still working with regulators.
That did not happen!
And people want to kill me over saying Bitcoin is going to get to $100K
and it didn't get there.
Then, man, somebody really needs to get on Michael Lewis for this nonsense.
Michael Lewis, author of controversial book Flash Boys,
expects the trading platform IEX Group
to be bigger than the New York Stock Exchange in five years.
Been almost eight years, bud.
Nothing.
Lewis said regulators have begun investigations into HFT since the publication of Flash Boys,
but market forces will ultimately cause change.
"I am not sure how serious these investigations are,
although the suit from the New York Attorney General is very serious," Lewis added.
"The exchange they have built is flourishing,
it is making money,
venture capital is being thrown at them,
and investors can measure savings which creates market forces."
Now, here's the IEX website.
[mockingly] Man, what an incredible website!
Look at this.
Look at this exchange, man.
This looks like one I would definitely use.
Look at these two guys.
Oh, my gosh, boxes and lines.
More like lines of cocaines off a stripper these guys are doing
with all the money they got probably giving bribes to the SEC.
Now, here's very--
here's something very interesting.
We have this article here by Politico Magazine back in 2016.
What 'The Big Short' Gets Wrong
Now, I went down here because here's what you have to do.
You have to really look at The Big Short now and say,
were there things that they were intentionally hiding
that Michael Lewis was intentionally getting wrong to lead the public astray?
So we come down here to this.
I thought this was really fascinating here.
Where it talks about stupid versus evil.
The movie goes back and forth. I just watched it. I know.
I watched it last night.
The movie goes back and forth in between being
"Oh, the people are just idiots"
to then "Oh, the people are evil geniuses."
There's a part in this movie where Steve Carell's character talks to a stripper
and you start to understand what people were thinking during these times.
Let's go and check out what this stripper had to say.
Okay. Look.
If home prices don't go up, you are not going to be able to refinance,
and you're going to be stuck paying whatever your monthly payment is
once it jumps up after you teaser rate expires.
Your monthlies could go up 200%, 300%.
James says I can always refinance.
Well, he's a liar.
Actually, in this particular case, James probably is wrong.
200%?
On all my loans?
What do you mean all your loans?
We're talking about two loans on one house, right?
I have five houses.
And a condo.
Did you catch what he says there?
Remember this.
Stupid versus evil.
What is it?
Are these stupid people? Are these evil people?
Well, the stripper here says,
you know, that she's got all these mortgage rates and her guy said she can just refinance.
Well, Steve Carell's character here says,
"He's a liar,"
and then says, "Well, in this case, he's wrong."
So, what is it?
Are the people behind us, are they liars or are they idiots?
He's portraying them as both.
Well, what is it?
The truth is,
at the top, at the highest levels of the housing scam,
they were all evil.
They talk about it later in the movie, okay?
The idea that all of the big players knew the US government would have to bail them out
because they owed too much money to regular people.
The idiots were the people at the bottom
that were not looking into what they were doing really.
But at the highest levels,
the corruption, it's pure evil.
No one at the top was innocent.
And they all knew exactly what they were doing.
That's why, Goldman Sachs, we're coming for you.
Speaking of evil,
back here to the US SEC,
well, they voted to advance stock market overhaul proposals.
Now, what's so evil about this?
The US SEC on Wednesday voted, this just happened on 14th,
to propose some of the biggest changes to American equity market structure
in nearly two decades, aimed at boosting transparency and fairness
while increasing competition for individual investors' stock orders.
Ronan Ryan, president and co-founder of exchange operator IEX Group Inc. has said
the reforms were a constructive and positive effort to improve transparency,
increase competition and ensure that investors can access the best prices available in the market.
IEX
Michael Lewis
Right on the heels of Sam Bankman-Fried being involved in regulation.
Now, they're right back making comments with the SEC.
Days, this was days before Dan Berkovitz stepped down from the SEC as general counsel
because he was taking bribes from Sam Bankman-Fried.
These people are dirty.
And remember this.
They are not naive.
Here's a reminder of the way these people play business.
Yeah. B of A said they had a power outage. And Morgan Stanley said their server crashed.
Huh.
Weird.
Yeah, well, I would call it improbable.
So, where do you have our position marked?
I think it's the same, Mike.
What? Can explain that to me, please?
Because how can the value of an insurance contract
not be affected by the demise of the very thing it insures?
They're independent market. They're not always correlated.
I know it sounds odd, but these are very complicated products.
They are correlated!
Once again,
today, you've got our government,
you have the big banks playing dumb
just like they were before,
but, in reality, they're all evil.
If you guys like this video, make sure to smash the like button.
Don't forget to subscribe to the channel.
That's all I got.
Be blessed.
BitBoy out.