Tremors from FTX's collapse reverberate through the scientific community
The fall of crypto exchange FTX appears to have already begun to impact the hundreds of grant recipients across a variety of philanthropic organizations backed by the exchange.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried became known for backing a number of causes aimed at "humanity’s long-term prospects.”
One of these was the FTX Foundation and its FTX Future Fund, which publicly launched on Feb. 28 and reported on Jun. 30 that it had made 262 grants and investments totaling $132 million in projects — many of these involved in pandemic preparedness, among other scientific pursuits.
However, the leadership team of the Future Fund announced their resignation on Nov. 11 in a group post noting:
According to a Nov. 14 report from Science.org, there have been a number of grant recipients now concerned about their future following the FTX collapse, with SecureBio’s co-founder Kevin Esvelt suggesting that the firm is seeking emergency backup funding, stating:
Other recipients of the Future Fund’s money include Biotechnology firm Sherlock Biosciences which was awarded $2 million to study infectious diseases, biotechnology firm HelixNano which was awarded $10 million for vaccine research, SecureBio which was awarded $1.2 to develop better pandemic defenses, and Our World in Data which was awarded $7.5 million to track trends relevant to humanity’s long term prospects.
Related: What can blockchain do for increasing human longevity?
Another foundation funded by Bankman-Fried — Building a Stronger Future — has given the first tranche of a $5 million grant to the non-profit investigative reporting organization ProPublica, with more funds initially planned to be distributed in 2023 and 2024.
According to an email shared
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