Revelations in the book shed fresh light on the internal culture at FTX, once one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges.
The business converted real-world currencies into digital tokens, enabling consumers to speculate on cryptocurrencies’ rapidly fluctuating values without the checks and balances of the real financial system.
Thieves and hackers allegedly stole “just a bit more than $1bn” from the company last year only for Mr Bankman-Fried to describe the perpetrators as “people playing the game”.
In a document he sent to ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison, titled “ARGUMENTS AGAINST [entering a relationship]”, the chief executive told her: “In a lot of ways I don’t really have a soul.”
As well as funnelling tens of millions of dollars to the Democrats Mr Bankman-Fried also allegedly spent $10m (£8.2m) in a failed bid to get a fellow believer in the “effective altruism” philosophy movement selected as a Democratic Congressional candidate.
Effective altruism advocates that high earners should give away their wealth to utilitarian causes that benefit humanity as a whole.
FTX’s November 2022 collapse left hundreds of thousands out of pocket, including around 80,000 Britons.
Mr Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty on all counts. He could not be contacted for comment on the book’s claims.
If convicted on all charges, the cryptocurrency founder faces a potential maximum sentence of 110 years in prison.
