Deaton Slams Michael Lewis as ‘Clown’ for Blaming CZ in FTX Debacle

The renowned American author and financial journalist Michael Lewis has found himself embroiled in stern criticism from the crypto community amid his comment on the bankrupt FTX exchange.

In a recent interview, Lewis opined that FTX had a solid and viable business foundation. In his view, if no one had raised doubts about FTX’s business operation and triggered a run on customer deposits, the exchange would still be generating substantial profits.

Prominent X user Sean Tuffy shared a snippet of the interview with the crypto community, leaving a remark of astonishment at Lewis’ comment.

“They had a great real business. If no one had cast aspersions on the business, if there hadn’t been a run on customers deposits, they’d still be making tones of money”

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!

pic.twitter.com/VmSBvx9y1w

— Sean Tuffy (@SMTuffy) October 2, 2023

Expectedly, the statement from the American author elicited massive reactions from the crypto community members, who found it to be beyond reasonable logic. John Deaton, founder of CryptoLaw.us, reacted, calling Lewis a clown.

Deaton described Lewis as a joker for blaming Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) for raising the alarm about the circumstances surrounding FTX. The lawyer expressed that Lewis’ attributing FTX’s troubles to the whistleblower rather than the exchange’s fraudulent actions is a gross misrepresentation.

This 🤡 literally blames @cz_binance by saying if no one had cast aspersions on the business causing a bank run FTX would be making money tons of money today. He can’t be that stupid. https://t.co/QxxdGO0kvI

— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) October 2, 2023

Furthermore, another commenter, dubbed Anderson, speculated that certain members of the U.S. Congress might be dissatisfied with Zhao’s uncovering of FTX, believing he disrupted their lucrative deal with Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder of FTX.

“I think US Congress members are angry that CZ ruined their cash cow, SBF. If he didn’t say anything, maybe the Ponzi could have continued for a few more months,” Anderson remarked.

Besides, some other commenters argued that it appears Michael Lewis received substantial amounts from FTX to promote the exchange, regardless of the mess the platform had created.

“Tell me you got money from FTX without telling me you got money from FTX,” X user Micah remarked.

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