Beto O’Rourke sets up $100,000 fund from $1M SBF donation for FTX victims Beto O’Rourke sets up $100,000 fund from $1M SBF donation for FTX victims
O'Rourke campaign said it will hold on to $100,000 of the $1 million donation pending the outcome of investigations against SBF over campaign finance violations.
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Updated: Aug. 6, 2023 at 2:06 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
U.S. politician Beto O’Rourke who received a $1 million donation from collapsed FTX’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly set aside a $100,000 fund for victims of the FTX collapse.
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) had donated over $70 million to many U.S. politicians before his crypto empire collapsed on Nov. 11, 2022.
Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke was named among the politicians who received up to $1 million in donations from the disgraced FTX founder.
As criminal investigations against SBF intensified, many of the politicians opted to return the donations.
O’Rourke’s campaign disclosed on Nov. 29 that it had returned the “unsolicited $1 million donation” to avoid the ethical headache related to SBF’s donations.
However, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Jan. 25 that O’Rourke is still holding on to $100,000 from SBF’s donation.
As per the Free Beacon’s report, O’Rourke’s campaign records disclosed that a $900,000 refund was made to SBF back on Nov. 4, 2022. However, the remaining $100,000 will be placed in a fund for victims of FTX’s collapse.
O’Rourke campaign said it will hold on to the $100,000 pending the outcome of investigations against SBF over campaign finance violations.
Meanwhile, FTX had earlier called on the SBF’s donation recipients to return the complete funds.
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Christian Nwobodo
Christian is a crypto-curious nerd who loves to investigate how protocols work under the hood. Christian is interested in DeFi protocol research, token economics, and on-chain analytics.
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Bitcoin, a decentralized currency that defies the sway of central banks or administrators, transacts electronically, circumventing intermediaries via a peer-to-peer network.
Sam Bankman-Fried is the former CEO, and co-founder of defunct crypto exchange FTX and Alameda Research.