Crypto Leaders Slam Forbes Defense of SBF’s $8 billion Fraud

* Ripple CTO David Schwartz and others condemned a Forbes article minimizing Sam Bankman-Fried's fraudulent actions. * The article reframed crimes as speculative errors, prompting backlash over journalistic integrity and ethical concerns in crypto. The cryptocurrency community, led by Ripple Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz, confronted a Forbes article that defended Sam Bankman-Fried, the convicted founder of the collapsed FTX exchange. On July 25, 2025, Cointelegraph reported on the widespread criticism, while Coin Edition also covered the community backlash. The response stemmed from Forbes’ portrayal of Bankman-Fried’s actions as speculative missteps rather than deliberate fraud. Furthermore, the article characterized his lobbying efforts in Washington as beneficial for the cryptocurrency industry and framed the FTX FTT token as an equity-like investment, not as customer deposits. David Schwartz condemned the Forbes article, describing its reasoning as nonsense. He stressed that while technological innovation is valuable, it does not justify actions that breach clear legal and ethical boundaries. Schwartz highlighted Bankman-Fried's fraudulent practices as indisputable violations, particularly his misappropriation of client funds without consent. He warned that such narratives have broader implications, stating that equating fraud with failure damages the entire cryptocurrency industry's reputation and diminishes trust in its ecosystem. The crypto community rallied behind Schwartz's remarks, and Neeraj Agrawal of Coin Center amplified the controversy by highlighting the article on X (formerly Twitter), which sparked intense backlash. Consequently, many questioned Forbes’ journalistic integrity and its decision to present a narrative that downplays the gravity of Bankman-Fried's offenses. The community consensus pointed to the need for accountability, arguing that illicit behavior should not be reframed as visionary risk-taking, given the harm it caused FTX customers and the broader crypto market. According to CoinMarketCap, as of July 25 at 16:08 UTC, XRP (XRP) is trading at $3.043. Its 24-hour trading volume has decreased by 5.51%.