Sam Bankman-Fried is the richest person in cryptocurrency, amassing more than $22 billion before the age of 30, according to Forbes.
So, how does he stay grounded amid all that wealth?
He said giving away some of his money — in cryptocurrency, of course — helps him remember what’s important.
“If the goal is to give yourself a lot of consumptive pleasure through money, you run out of ways that are efficient,” Bankman-Friend told USA TODAY. “If you look at the world’s problems, there are tens of trillions that could be spent.”
Bankman-Fried, an MIT graduate and former Wall Street trader, started a crypto trading firm in late 2017 and then a year later started FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that allows traders to buy and sell digital assets.
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Bankman-Fried said that during the past three years he’s given between $20 million and $30 million to charities that fight global poverty, malaria and cystic fibrosis as well as those that help animals. He said prior to that, he had given $1 million.
“I try to give a decent amount each year and part of that is to stay grounded and be connected to what I’m doing in the first place,” he said.
Bankman-Fried, ranked the 32nd richest person in America by Forbes magazine, has embraced “effective altruism,” a notion of doing the most good possible.
He’s not alone among young crypto investors who have given away some of the fortunes made in cryptocurrencies, digital money created and exchanged over a decentralized computer network where transactions are secured and verified through coding.
Bitcoin bull market
Several nonprofit organizations have been the beneficiaries, accepting cryptocurrency gifts through companies like The Giving Block, founded in 2018 by Wake Forest University graduates Alex Wilson and Pat Duffy.
Wilson and Duffy said their company was formed after the cryptocurrency bull market of 2017-18, which created a great deal of wealth for investors who were looking for ways to give back. Bitcoin, considered the original cryptocurrency, was created in 2009 on the heels of the Great Recession.
Charities that have used The Giving Block include Save the Children, No Kid Hungry, United Way and the American Cancer Society as well as a few churches.
The Giving Block’s client base has grown from 30 to more than 250 in the past year, according to the company.
Alex Wilson, the other co-founder, said individuals who have done well by investing in crypto can receive a tax deduction for their nonprofit or church gifts, which can reduce taxes of up to 37% when cashing out crypto investments.
Wilson added that many of the donors that use The Giving Block are millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) or Gen Z (born between 1997 to 2012)
Wilson said several nonprofit…
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