Economics/Class Relations

How a Pair of Fallen Crypto Kingpins Are Dodging Prison — and Rebranding

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In some ways, the great crypto collapse of 2022 feels like a long time ago. Sam Bankman-Fried is facing life in prison (a newly released photo suggests he isn’t adjusting very well to his new circumstances), and various other high-profile figures from that world have paid the legal consequences. But Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, the subjects of a 2022 New York cover story , stand as curious exceptions. The pair had lived intertwined lives: They were classmates at Andover and Columbia, and both did stints at Wall Street banks; together, they built a crypto hedge fund called Three Arrows Capital that, for a time, looked like it would make them among the richest people in world — until it unraveled amid charges of fraud, triggering a cascading collapse across the industry. You might expect that their next chapter would be prosecution and, perhaps, prison. Instead, both men, still in their 30s, have been bouncing around the globe, without ever making their whereabouts quite clear, ducking those who are trying to locate them. They have posted on social media about psychedelics and surfing and meditation and vague fantasies of operating a food truck. Zhu spent a few weeks in prison on a minor technical charge and has since tried to brand himself as something of a Nelson Mandela figure. They are also trying to build a new crypto empire, starting new companies and hyping them on social media. But people who have been involved in the next act tell New York’s Jen Wieczner that they don’t think anything has changed. “I come to find out these guys are pure sociopaths,” said one investor. “They are very comfortable with lying. I’ve never met people so comfortable doing it.”

—Jebediah Reed, editor, Intelligencer    

‘They Are Very Comfortable Lying’ How fallen crypto kingpins Su Zhu and Kyle Davies are dodging prison — and rebranding.

Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Anna Huix/The New York Times/Redux, Ore Huiying/The New York Times/Redux
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Categories: Economics/Class Relations, Law/Justice

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