A newly introduced lawsuit has alleged that the FTX Foundation planned to use the island nation of Nauru as a safe haven for effective altruists for “some event where between 50% and 99.99% of the people die.”
According to the lawsuit, filed by current FTX management, the plan to use the island as a giant doomsday bunker was discussed between the exchange’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, his brother Gabriel Bankman-Fried and another anonymous FTX Foundation official.
Specifically, the lawsuit alleged that the three were working on “a plan to purchase the sovereign nation of Nauru in order to build a ‘bunker/shelter’ that would be used for ‘some event where between 50% and 99.99% of the people die.’”
Supposedly, the aim of the plan was to “ensure that the majority of EAs [effective altruists] survive” a doomsday event, while also using the island nation to “develop ‘sensible regulation around human genetic enhancement’”.
“There are also probably other things that are useful to do with a sovereign country,” the memo cited in the lawsuit adds.
Located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, Nauru is the world’s smallest island nation with only around 12,000 inhabitants.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the nation was known as a hotspot for money laundering activities and was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in 2003.
Subsequently, the nation took steps to improve its international reputation, implementing stricter rules against financial crimes.
SBF known as a major donor
While running FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried was known for his interest in effective altruism, a philosophy that aims to support charities that can get the most for the money they have available.
Among other things, causes Bankman-Fried has supported include issues related to global health, pandemic prevention, and climate change.
Furthermore, the former FTX boss was also known as a big giver to left-wing politicians.
However, he later admitted that while he was very public about his donations to Democrats, he also donated to Republican politicians anonymously.
“All my Republican donations were shady,” he said shortly before his arrest late last year, adding that the reason for this was that journalists “get scared if you donate to Republicans.”
Public data indicates that Bankman-Fried was the second-biggest donor to the Democratic Party, after billionaire George Soros, in the 2021-2022 election cycle.
According to OpenSecrets, he donated more than $46 million to candidates and groups affiliated with the Democratic Party.
