According to court documents, Gabriel Bankman-Fried, the brother of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, had plans to purchase an island nation and build a bunker there to survive a global catastrophe.
The details were revealed in a July 20 filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, as reported by Cointelegraph ↗.
The filing alleges that Gabriel Bankman-Fried intended to use funds from the now-collapsed FTX crypto exchange through its charity arm, the FTX Foundation.
As per the court documents, Gabriel had written a memo to an FTX Foundation officer outlining a plan to purchase Nauru, a small Pacific island nation of around 12,000 people.
The alleged purpose was to establish a bunker “to get through some event where 50%-99.99% of people die [to] ensure that most EAs [effective altruists] survive” and build a lab focused on “human genetic enhancement.”
The memo reportedly stated:
“Probably there are other things it’s useful to do with a sovereign country, too.”
Prior to FTX’s implosion in November 2022, Gabriel had founded Guarding Against Pandemics, a nonprofit focused on pandemic preparedness. He supposedly stepped down from that role amid the crypto exchange’s collapse.
The court filing claims the FTX Foundation funded several projects “that served little purpose other than to enhance the public stature” of Sam and Gabriel Bankman-Fried, including a $300,000 book grant and a $400,000 grant to a YouTuber.
Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX’s disgraced former CEO, is facing criminal fraud charges related to the alleged misuse of billions of dollars of customer funds. His trial has been scheduled for October 2.
It’s unclear if Gabriel will provide any testimony against his brother, but FTX’s debtors are reportedly considering subpoenaing him for information on any potential financial benefits he received.
The alleged plan by Gabriel Bankman-Fried to buy an island nation and build an “apocalypse bunker” using funds from his brother’s now-bankrupt crypto exchange adds another bizarre twist to the staggering collapse of FTX.
It remains to be seen if Gabriel will face any legal consequences for his alleged role in the misuse of funds from the FTX Foundation. For now, the revelations are sure to further damage the reputation of the Bankman-Fried family as more details continue to surface about FTX’s implosion.
