Were Ryan Salame and Michelle Bond’s ambitions in crypto and politics too big to handle? Could they have avoided the scandal, or was their collapse inevitable?
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When ambitions meet greed
Ryan Salame and Michelle Bond were once the epitome of a power couple — wealthy, influential, and deeply embedded in Washington’s political and crypto circles.
Salame, a top executive at FTX, had the ear of powerful Republicans, with millions to support their causes. Bond, a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer, stood out as a prominent crypto policy advocate with ambitions of running for Congress.
Together, they seemed unstoppable — until the collapse of FTX in November 2022 brought their world crashing down.
Now, both are facing prison time, their once-glamorous lives unraveling into a tangled web of legal battles, accusations, and public disgrace.
But how did it all happen?
The beginning of the end
To understand the fall of Salame and Bond, we have to start with the implosion of FTX.
In November 2022, FTX, the crypto exchange once valued at over $32 billion, collapsed after it was revealed that billions of customer funds were missing.
Its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, had orchestrated one of the most catastrophic financial frauds in U.S. history. But the effects of FTX’s downfall didn’t stop with Bankman-Fried.
As investigators dug deeper, prosecutors uncovered a complex web of political donations, illegal financial transactions, and campaign finance violations — and Salame and Bond were right in the middle of it.
Salame, who had been CEO of FTX Digital Markets, played a critical role in the company’s political outreach. He had poured millions into Republican campaigns, making himself one of the top conservative donors in the country.
His political contributions totaled over $22 million, much of which was later revealed to be illegally sourced from FTX’s coffers. Salame’s donations were part of a broader strategy to gain political influence and push for crypto-friendly policies.
But by August 2023, the game was over. Facing mounting evidence, Salame pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
His actions, it turned out, were far from the above-board political donations he once claimed. He had funneled money through FTX to make large contributions in his name, violating multiple U.S. laws in the process.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who sentenced Salame to 7.5 years in prison in May 2024, called his actions ‘astonishing,’ highlighting how they had shaken the trust of America’s political system.
The political dream gone wrong
Michelle Bond’s story follows a parallel path to Salame’s but with its own unique twists.
A former lawyer with the SEC, Bond had established herself as a crypto policy expert, serving as the CEO of the Association for Digital Asset Markets. And her voice carried weight in Washington.
But like Salame, Bond had ambitions beyond policy. In 2022, she launched an ambitious bid for Congress, hoping to represent New York’s 1st Congressional District.
Armed with endorsements from political figures like Donald Trump Jr. and backed financially by her partner Salame, Bond’s campaign was meant to propel her into the political spotlight. Yet, beneath the surface, cracks were already forming.
While Bond publicly portrayed herself as a self-funded candidate, the reality was far more complicated. Federal prosecutors later revealed that much of the money supporting her campaign—upwards of $1.5 million—was not her own but came from FTX via Salame.
According to court documents, Bond accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from Salame to fund her campaign—money prosecutors argue was illegally sourced from FTX.
In August 2024, Bond was indicted on multiple counts of campaign finance violations, marking the start of her legal downfall.
The indictment detailed how Bond allegedly funneled money through consulting agreements and personal payments, all while maintaining the appearance of compliance with campaign finance laws.
She had once been the face of crypto regulation in Washington, but now, her career was in ruins. Even after stepping down as CEO of ADAM, the stain of the scandal followed her.
Her congressional campaign, fueled by crypto money, ended in failure, with Bond capturing only 27% of the vote in the Republican primary.
But her troubles extended beyond politics—the legal ramifications were now impossible to ignore.
One text exchange between Bond and Salame, used as evidence in court, painted a damning picture of their financial dealings.
In February 2022, Bond thanked Salame for paying off a consulting firm’s invoice, to which he replied, “If you’re thanking me for that, the expenses on you actually running are going to get me so much love <3.”
That love, however, wouldn’t last as both their legal troubles worsened.
The downfall of a power couple
Beyond the courtroom drama, Salame and Bond’s personal lives were unraveling just as quickly. The couple, who share a child, had been living in a $4 million home in Potomac, Maryland — a symbol of their success.
But with Salame’s guilty plea, that home is now set to be sold, with the proceeds going toward the restitution of FTX’s defrauded customers.
Salame claimed his guilty plea was part of an “implied deal” with prosecutors, suggesting that if he cooperated, they would leave Bond out of it. However, federal prosecutors denied this, and in August 2024, they indicted Bond anyway.
In a revealing interview, Salame admitted that his involvement in FTX had brought more harm than good to Bond. “Being in a relationship with me was going to be a problem,” he said. “It hasn’t been great for her, having me in her life.”
Salame’s regret came too late, with his prison sentence set to begin in October 2024 at a federal correctional facility in Maryland.
But Salame isn’t giving up just yet. He has pinned his last hopes on a presidential pardon, banking on a Republican victory in the 2024 U.S. elections to set him free.
In a candid interview, Salame hinted that his best chance lay with Donald Trump, given his previous political donations. “I’d be much more shocked if Harris would grant it based on, sort of, political things,” Salame said, referencing Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
Yet, whether or not a pardon is in his future, Salame’s reputation has already been permanently tarnished.
As Salame prepares for prison, Bond faces the possibility of her own jail time, depending on the outcome of her trial. However, despite her looming legal challenges, Michelle Bond hasn’t given up on her crypto ambitions.
In June 2024, Bond announced the creation of a think tank called Digital Future, aimed at shaping regulatory policies for digital assets and artificial intelligence.
According to Bond, the think tank would advocate for favorable regulations in an industry still reeling from the collapse of FTX.
However, Bond’s announcement was met with skepticism. With her indictment arriving just two months after launching Digital Future, many questioned whether she could credibly lead a think tank while under federal investigation.
While their story is far from over, their fall from grace will likely be remembered for years to come—a reminder of how ambition, greed, and a dash of crypto can spin even the brightest futures out of control.
Tổng hợp và chỉnh sửa: ThS Phạm Mạnh Cường
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