Some comments on recent FTX-related events

Some comments on recent FTX-related events — EA Forum 
 
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 by Holden Karnofsky Nov 10 2022 5 min read 80 644

 Building effective altruism Community FTX collapse Coefficient Giving FTX Foundation Effective altruism funding Organization updates Argentina Holden Karnofsky Writing advice Frontpage Some comments on recent FTX-related events Are the funds directed by Open Philanthropy invested in or otherwise exposed to FTX or related entities? The FTX Foundation has quickly become a major funder of many longtermist and effective altruist organizations. If it stops (or greatly reduces) funding them, how might that affect Open Philanthropy’s funding practices? Does Open Philanthropy also need to raise its bar in light of general market movements (particularly the fall in META stock) and other factors? So how much might Open Philanthropy raise its bar for longtermist grantmaking, and what does this mean for today’s potential grantees? Will Open Phil support FTX Foundation grantees who have financial needs related to these events? How does this impact Open Philanthropy’s Global Health and Wellbeing work? What do you think of allegations that FTX engaged in fraud and/or other unethical behavior? Separate from the details of the FTX situation, do you think that fraud could be justified if it raises huge amounts of money for good causes? 80 comments 
It appears that FTX, whose principals support the FTX Foundation , is in serious trouble . We’ve been getting a lot of questions related to these events.

 Edited to add (Nov. 13): based on continuing to follow coverage of this situation, I now think it’s very likely that FTX engaged in outrageous, unacceptable fraud. I am furious at the behavior of FTX leadership. I’m going to take some time to reflect on what this means for effective altruism and the effective altruist community. I’m not sure whether or when I will write up more detailed thoughts, so for now I will just point to a few statements by others whose general sentiments I resonate with: 

 

 Twitter threads by Rob Wiblin , Dustin Moskovitz , and Will MacAskill 

 Evan Hubinger’s excellent post, We must be very clear: fraud in the service of effective altruism is unacceptable 
 

 
I’ve made an attempt to get some basic points out quickly that might be helpful to people, but the situation appears to be developing quickly and I have little understanding of what’s going on, so this post will necessarily be incomplete and nonauthoritative.

 
One thing I’d like to say up front (more on how this relates to FTX below) is that Open Philanthropy remains committed to our longtermist focus areas and still expects to spend billions of dollars on them over the coming decades. We will raise the bar for our giving, and we don’t know how many existing projects that will a

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