Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look in an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging

truth.

The Colsonston, I'm John Stone Street.

Earlier this month, cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bangman-Free pleaded not guilty to fraud

after the shocking collapse of his multi-billion-dollar crypto exchange, FTX.

It's a complicated case, but the central allegation is that Bangman-Free'd used money from one

of his businesses to pay off the debts of a different one.

Defrauding both investors and customers, the thought of it's been incredible.

Some estimates place what he owes investors at about $8 billion.

As he tells the story, 30-year-old Sam Bangman-Free'd never set out to be a billionaire business

tycoon.

While in college and MIT, he was approached by William McCaskillah, well-known philosopher

professor and author, who encouraged Bangman-Free to join a movement of philosophers and philanthropists

known as effective altruism.

Most effective altruists deny the existence of both the creator and that the universe

has any ultimate purpose, although there are some who do claim to be Christians.

Most believe that human beings are here by chance, but as long as we are here, we have

a moral duty to alleviate the suffering of the most people possible.

Mostly, that's meant in a mathematical sense.

Allegedly, McCaskillah convinced the promising young techie that he had a responsibility

to make as much money as he could, and then to give a lot of it away.

After all, not everyone can become a billionaire investor, and even fewer will become charitable

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