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I happened to catch the Odd Lots podcast episode where Matt Levine and SBF of FTX were co-guests soon after it first came out [1]. Matt's reactions were pricele

by JTon 4y ago

I happened to catch the Odd Lots podcast episode where Matt Levine and SBF of FTX were co-guests soon after it first came out [1]. Matt's reactions were priceless. Well worth the listen now, considering FTX blowup [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZYqL79GDXU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZYqL79GDXU

bombcar 4y ago
Levine has said that he was a fan of SBF based on that podcast, btw. Someone posted about it earlier today. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33594284 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33594284 I think people would do well to remember that Levine's job is NOT to do your due diligence for you; he's an entertainer.
- dwohnitmok 4y ago
  The point about being an entertainer is a good one. Nonetheless, after reading that I came out with more respect for Levine. With FTX in shambles, it would've been easy to go with the flow and lean into how he predicted the whole thing with his Ponzi question, but Levine instead honestly comes out and says that he actually liked SBF more after that interview.
- robocat 4y ago
  > he's an entertainer That is a gross cynical misrepresentation. He appears to me to be a financial geek, interested in the mechanics of finance for its own sake, and who finds comedy (often dark comedy) in the mechanics of our financial systems. Philosophically, we can’t be 100% sure of his motivations to publish his insights, but everything of his that I have read points to the reason primarily being that he finds it fascinating, a nearly purposeless academic joy.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    There's nothing wrong with being an entertainer, it's just something to keep in mind. In other words, don't make major financial decisions based on Levine not saying it is a good or bad idea.
    - tasuki 4y ago
      > In other words, don't make major financial decisions based on Levine not saying it is a good or bad idea. He puts such disclaimers on basically everything he says. What should I base my major financial decisions on?
  - shaklee3 4y ago
    he's a former M&A advisor at Goldman Sachs, so he has a lot of background and knowledge in everything he writes about.
HDThoreaun 4y ago
I really don't think anyone was confused about yield farming being a Ponzi. Everyone who was in it just thought they'd get out before it blew up. Not really related to FTX blowing up.
- noelsusman 4y ago
  This distinction keeps getting lost in all this. Exchanges like Celsius and Voyager were pretty explicit about the fact that they were taking your crypto and lending it out to people to generate yield. Anyone with a brain should have realized that involved some risk of losing your assets, especially when you compare their rates to what was available elsewhere at the time. Those exchanges blowing up because of bad loans was entirely foreseeable and not surprising. But that's not why FTX blew up. They went down seemingly due to straight up fraud and/or theft. FTX users had no indication that FTX was doing anything other than holding their assets and collecting transaction fees. They're completely different situations.

by JTon 4y ago

bombcar 4y ago

Levine has said that he was a fan of SBF based on that podcast, btw. Someone posted about it earlier today. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33594284 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33594284 I think people would do well to remember that Levine's job is NOT to do your due diligence for you; he's an entertainer.

dwohnitmok 4y ago
The point about being an entertainer is a good one. Nonetheless, after reading that I came out with more respect for Levine. With FTX in shambles, it would've been easy to go with the flow and lean into how he predicted the whole thing with his Ponzi question, but Levine instead honestly comes out and says that he actually liked SBF more after that interview.
robocat 4y ago
> he's an entertainer That is a gross cynical misrepresentation. He appears to me to be a financial geek, interested in the mechanics of finance for its own sake, and who finds comedy (often dark comedy) in the mechanics of our financial systems. Philosophically, we can’t be 100% sure of his motivations to publish his insights, but everything of his that I have read points to the reason primarily being that he finds it fascinating, a nearly purposeless academic joy.
- bombcar 4y ago
  There's nothing wrong with being an entertainer, it's just something to keep in mind. In other words, don't make major financial decisions based on Levine not saying it is a good or bad idea.
  - tasuki 4y ago
    > In other words, don't make major financial decisions based on Levine not saying it is a good or bad idea. He puts such disclaimers on basically everything he says. What should I base my major financial decisions on?
- shaklee3 4y ago
  he's a former M&A advisor at Goldman Sachs, so he has a lot of background and knowledge in everything he writes about.

HDThoreaun 4y ago

I really don't think anyone was confused about yield farming being a Ponzi. Everyone who was in it just thought they'd get out before it blew up. Not really related to FTX blowing up.

noelsusman 4y ago
This distinction keeps getting lost in all this. Exchanges like Celsius and Voyager were pretty explicit about the fact that they were taking your crypto and lending it out to people to generate yield. Anyone with a brain should have realized that involved some risk of losing your assets, especially when you compare their rates to what was available elsewhere at the time. Those exchanges blowing up because of bad loans was entirely foreseeable and not surprising. But that's not why FTX blew up. They went down seemingly due to straight up fraud and/or theft. FTX users had no indication that FTX was doing anything other than holding their assets and collecting transaction fees. They're completely different situations.