Unless you were blissfully detached from the news cycle a few months back, you undoubtedly heard about the disastrous implosion of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange and hedge fund helmed by Sam Bankman-Fried. The news story dominated headlines in November 2022 – a cautionary, almost Shakespearean tale of greed, fraud, backdoor plots and corporate intrigue.

The hammer of justice was swift and decisive for Bankman-Fried, who faces a litany of charges for his fraudulent actions. (At the time of writing, Bankman-Fried is facing four fresh charges of conspiracy, collusion and “straw” donorship, per the BBC).

It’s one of this century’s highest-profile scandals and Bankman-Fried will rightfully pay for defrauding customers of millions of dollars. But it isn’t where the story ends – and it shouldn’t be where your outrage ends either.

Who Is Adam Jacobs?

Enter Adam Jacobs, the Global Head of Banking and Payments for FTX, a higher-up in the company with a checkered past in related enterprises.

Jacobs arrived at FTX following a string of failures at companies like Spend.com, Spendcoin, i-house, Blockchain University and others. You’d be forgiven for not knowing any of these companies, because, as the Tech Times exposé (linked above) points out: They all promptly collapsed. Some folded under the weight of allegations; others were swiftly swept under the rug, showing nothing more than a dead link to prove their existence.

But the 30-year-old professional rose above it, somehow – landing a (then) prestigious gig as the global head of a multi-billion-dollar operation.

Why Adam Jacobs Matters

Thinking aloud, you might say, “well, Jacobs sounds like an egregious example of failing upwards, but why does he matter? Surely, he was brought to justice like the rest of FTX’s primary actors.”

No, he wasn’t. In the intervening four months since the FTX collapse (a blink of an eye in terms of judicial processes), Jacobs has benefited from the scandal in two separate ways. And therein lies the outrage.

Adam Jacobs, former Global Head of Banking and Payments for FTX, was recently named Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Nuvei, a large, publicly traded payments fintech. Just four months following massive fraud revelations from his former company. And the cherry on top: Jacobs left FTX with a $15 million severance after the company imploded, pulling his money ahead of defrauded customers and investors. Savvy industry watchers are already crying foul, noting Jacobs’ conspicuous ties to Nuvei during his stint at FTX (he’s the Nuvei contact on FTX’s list of creditors, for one).

It’s Time to Question Adam Jacobs’ Ties to Sam Bankman-Fried

Until this point, Jacobs could (and probably will) hide behind plausible deniability. He might claim that he was unaware of Bankman-Fried’s fraudulent activity, or that his capacity as Global Head of Banking and Payments had little overlap with the company’s top brass.

That’s not good enough. Jacobs’ online location places him in the Bahamas at that crucial time when FTX orchestrated its fraud in the Caribbean nation. Pictures paint a clear portrait of Jacobs and Bankman-Fried as buddies. And Jacobs struck up several of the partnerships that FTX eventually defrauded (like the Visa partnership) in what appears to be an “I’ll set them up, you know them down” relationship with Bankman-Fried.

Bankman-Fried is going down – that’s great. But why is someone so seemingly instrumental in Bankman-Fried’s misdoings getting off scot-free, with a hefty severance and a shady new position? For those reasons and more, it’s high time to question ex-FTX Exec Adam Jacobs and his relationship with Sam Bankman-Fried.