Would-Be Crypto Sleuths Converge on Bahamas to Hunt for SBF

After the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, Crypto Twitter Influencers have converged on the Bahamas to search for former chief executive Sam Bankman Fried.

Since September last year, the now bankrupt exchange has been located in the Bahamas. It operates out of a luxury penthouse at The Albany Resort, a gated community on the island New Providence. Now, the neighborhood is the subject of impromptu investigations, ostensibly for the crypto community.

Ben Armstrong, who owns a popular YouTube channel called Bitboy Crypto posted this article. livestream of himself walking around the resort’s property, where he was eventually turned away by staff.

Armstrong visited other areas on the island in an effort to get more information. Armstrong posted a video of him at the residence. Washington Post reported SBF’s parents owned property.

Armstrong did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

To discover what information they might uncover, more influencers are coming onboard. YouTuber Gabriel Haines, who’s posted multiple viral rants about the calamity surrounding SBF and FTX on Twitter, successfully crowdfunded $10,000 to fly him and his family to the Bahamas.

Haines said Decrypt he’s currently on his way to the island, and while he isn’t confident he’ll be able to find SBF, he hopes his videos can provide some relief to a community still reeling from the swift shuttering of one the largest and most cryptocurrency exchanges.

“I want to make some good, fun content that people will enjoy,” he said. “People will have lost a lot of money in this, and I have gotten so many messages from people, how they’ve felt so much better from watching my videos about SBF and the whole collapse.”

Funds for Haines’ trip were gathered through the website Juicebox, a protocol that lets people donate Ethereum to certain projects. Over 60 payments were made on Juicebox to “Send Gabriel Haines to the Bahamas,” and it is currently the top trending project On the platform.

Haines said he became aware of the crypto community’s interest in sending him to the Bahamas after he viewed a poll posted by a twitter user in which 75% of the 2,000 respondents agreed that they should pool funds.

He added that the page on Juicebox was launched by another user independently after Haines said it would cost him around $10,000 to go to the Bahamas, and that the project’s ownership was transferred to his wallet after it had already gone live. 

“I think it’s a very unique thing that happened because I don’t know how often the content creators are funded to go to particular places to create content,” he said.

Referencing Armstrong’s decision to go to the Bahamas, Haines said it fulfills a need for information about what’s going on and addresses some of the crypto community’s frustrations.  

“I get why he’s doing it,” Haines said. “It feels like there’s no authority that actually cares.”

Following Bitboy’s misadventures flying to the Bahamas for SBF hunting has become a popular meme on Crypto Twitter. Many claim to be part of the group.