Julien Bouteloup Grills SBF in Rekt's First Video Interview

Four weeks after launching, the outlet has already picked up more than 2,600 followers, published 12 investigative pieces, and built a growing base of behind-the-scenes contributors.

The backstory to this episode traces back to the outlet's earlier Whale Hunt piece, which examined crowd psychology and on-chain trading behavior. In its wake, Blue Kirby deleted his account, and SBF agreed to sit for an interview to give his side of events. Covering both perspectives is the stated policy here, so giving SBF room to respond was considered only fair.

SBF was, at the time, still a relatively fresh figure in crypto — one who built a reputation during the DeFi summer for aggressive trading and his role in the SushiSwap saga. Blue Kirby had likewise gained prominence that same summer, riding the momentum of the YFI rally, before falling from grace after losing his position at Yearn and drawing community backlash over a poorly-received ICO attempt. SBF's retweet promoting that ICO was the unexpected connection that raised questions and ultimately prompted this investigation.

In rektTV's first-ever episode, Julien Bouteloup presses SBF for more than an hour across a wide range of subjects — Blue Kirby, Cream Finance, SBF's on-chain trading activity, SushiSwap, and beyond.

Julien Bouteloup conducted this interview for rektTV on 15.10.2020. Viewers arriving via Twitter can watch the full video on YouTube here.

Timestamped topics from the conversation:

01:18 — SBF recounts beginning his career at Jane Street Capital.

02:39 — Bouteloup asks how SBF separates his activity at Alameda from his role at FTX.

06:34 — Bouteloup asks SBF to explain why he disputes the accuracy of the earlier rekt article.

07:15 — SBF argues there's a reasonably strong case for adjusting FTT's collateral factor.

07:36 — SBF says much of the commentary on FTT as collateral has been one-sided and under-researched.

09:39 — Bouteloup asks for SBF's summary take on SushiSwap.

10:53 — SBF says he was caught off guard when the SushiSwap situation unfolded.

11:50 — SBF estimates the Sushi transfer at around 11 million.

12:51 — Bouteloup asks whether SBF ended up holding SushiSwap's keys without realizing it.

13:18 — SBF states he had no involvement in developing SushiSwap.

13:47 — Bouteloup notes that, to some observers, SBF looks like the driving force behind Sushi.

14:10 — SBF describes the day's events as chaotic, calling it "completely bananas."

14:22 — SBF recalls being asleep when someone announced that Nomi Chef would hand over the keys.

14:50 — Bouteloup asks if SBF ever heard directly from Hayden Adams.

15:29 — SBF says Adams was clearly unhappy about SushiSwap and glad to see it fail.

15:45 — SBF argues UNI would never have launched had SushiSwap not happened.

16:55 — Bouteloup asks whether that implies UNI buyers were being foolish.

17:26 — Bouteloup asks whether SushiSwap is still being actively developed or left as a static AMM.

18:37 — Bouteloup asks SBF to walk through the timeline of what happened with C.R.E.A.M., noting how upset people were.

20:00 — Bouteloup raises the $80 million in FTT that was placed into C.R.E.A.M.

20:53 — Bouteloup points out that FTT is an FTX-controlled, centralized token being used within a supposedly decentralized system.

21:42 — SBF addresses the shorting allegations.

24:29 — SBF says the situation becoming public was never the intention.

27:29 — Bouteloup asks how sensitive FTX customer data is kept away from the Alameda team.

30:08 — Bouteloup asks if SBF would repeat the C.R.E.A.M. move exactly the same way.

30:51 — Bouteloup notes that C.R.E.A.M.'s CEO was reportedly fine with the $80 million FTT deposit.

32:21 — Bouteloup remarks that SBF tends to want a seat on any multisig going.

35:08 — Bouteloup brings up SBF's involvement in the Yearn controversy tied to Blue Kirby.

36:14 — Bouteloup asks about the Blue Kirby ICO and whether SBF was asked to retweet it.

40:27 — SBF says crypto executives struggle to communicate openly with the community.

41:52 — Bouteloup asks SBF's opinion of what happened to Blue Kirby.

42:35 — Bouteloup asks whether SBF was active in crypto back in 2017.

43:06 — Bouteloup asks why SBF got involved with the Blue Kirby ICO at all.

45:48 — SBF describes the Blue Kirby ICO as a clumsy launch rather than an intentional rug pull.

50:50 — Bouteloup asks about SBF building his own multisig and forking Blue Kirby's ICO.

51:23 — Bouteloup asks SBF to explain Serum and its broader vision.

52:26 — SBF gives his views on Ethereum.

56:23 — Bouteloup asks about FTX's overall vision.

58:19 — SBF discusses what the long-term end goal actually is.

1:00:20 — Bouteloup asks whether Solana could function as the high-frequency-trading layer for ETH 2.0.

1:01:04 — Bouteloup raises the idea of porting or forking any Solidity or Vyper smart contract onto Solana.

1:01:22 — SBF suggests the best layer 2 sometimes doubles as a layer 1 in its own right.

1:01:44 — SBF contrasts Loopring's more relaxed approach with Serum and Solana's ambition to host an entire financial ecosystem on one chain.

1:04:40 — Bouteloup mentions he used to identify as a Bitcoin maximalist.

1:05:34 — SBF says there are other networks besides Solana that interest him.

1:07:21 — Bouteloup asks whether SBF sees himself as a hero or villain within the crypto community.

1:07:59 — Bouteloup asks if SBF still identifies with effective altruism.

1:08:07 — SBF says all the money in question will eventually be donated.

1:09:16 — Bouteloup leads into asking for SBF's "best move," while noting it shouldn't be treated as leaked alpha.

1:12:24 — SBF states that, before yield farming took off, DeFi's entire historical volume was less than a single busy day's volume on FTX.

1:13:48 — SBF describes current TVL figures as heavily inflated, largely a product of wash trading.

1:17:17 — SBF outlines his long-term vision for Serum.

1:18:09 — SBF calls the idea of a centralized exchange operating a decentralized exchange an interesting concept.

1:19:09 — Bouteloup points out that CZ, of Binance, sits on FTX's board.

1:21:10 — Bouteloup asks about any working relationship with BitMEX.

1:22:47 — SBF closes by describing Serum's underlying philosophy.