The Block CEO Resigns After Failure To Disclose Loans From Bankman-Fried's Alameda (theblock.co) 25
The Block Chief Executive Officer Michael McCaffrey resigned after failing to disclose a series of loans from disgraced former FTX head Sam Bankman-Fried's Alameda Research. He was the only person with knowledge of the funding at the company. The Block reports: Bobby Moran, The Block's chief revenue officer, will step into the role of CEO, effective immediately, according to a company statement. "No one at The Block had any knowledge of this financial arrangement besides Mike," Moran said in a statement. "From our own experience, we have seen no evidence that Mike ever sought to improperly influence the newsroom or research teams, particularly in their coverage of SBF, FTX and Alameda Research."
McCaffrey received three loans in total, the first of which was in the amount of $12 million and was used in 2021 to buy out other investors in the crypto news, data and research provider. He took over day-to-day operations as the CEO at that time. A second $15 million loan in January was used to help fund day-to-day operations, while another $16 million earlier this year was used to purchase personal real estate in the Bahamas. In addition to stepping down as CEO, McCaffrey will step down from the company's board, which is set to expand to three people.
McCaffrey received three loans in total, the first of which was in the amount of $12 million and was used in 2021 to buy out other investors in the crypto news, data and research provider. He took over day-to-day operations as the CEO at that time. A second $15 million loan in January was used to help fund day-to-day operations, while another $16 million earlier this year was used to purchase personal real estate in the Bahamas. In addition to stepping down as CEO, McCaffrey will step down from the company's board, which is set to expand to three people.
Crypto Clusterfuck (Score:5, Insightful)
I think we all kind of knew that the crypto "industry" (as if they produce anything of tangible value) was an incestuous pit toilet, but I guess I didn't realize just how much of one until FTX caked it's pants.
Kind of hoping each and every one of these guys takes it up the tailpipe for thinking that accounting rules and regulations don't apply to them.
Re: (Score:2)
This didn't age well, considering he was just arrested and is undergoing extradition to the US to face felony indictment.
Well done.
1:WTF is The Block? 2:Why do they write the story? (Score:5, Insightful)
And the story is what THAT COMPANY have to say about what happened ?!
WTF for journalism is this shit ?
Re: (Score:2)
I think it used to be called Square. Or maybe H&R Block. Or maybe they were just suing somebody else for using the name Block.
Who cares at this point though?
Re: 1:WTF is The Block? 2:Why do they write the st (Score:2)
They are not to be confused with âoeBlockâ (formerly âoeSquareâ).
âoeThe Blockâ is a crypto advisement company
Sounds to me like they were trying to leverage the brand power of Block/Square.
Url: theblock.co
Dicedot business as usual but... (Score:2)
...nearly no one complains about how the current editors turned what was once news for tech nerds into Yahoo with a cleaner interface.
As long as no one points that out it will stay that way.
CTD (Score:2)
Seems like there is a lot of Crypto Transmitted Disease out there. SBF sure spread a lot of it around.
Gotta be careful which wallet you put your coins into, and you wouldn't want any dirty coins in your own wallet either.
Re: (Score:2)
What even is this story?
Mods should consider getting a brain.
advertising. slashdot is a soapbox for anyone who can spare a few $, if you hadn't noticed.
however, don't be fooled, this doesn't mean that even these skewed and pathetic word salads don't offer some window into random aspects of our crazy world, and that we can't moan, opinion or laugh about it at length!
tbh, i find the whole crypto saga a bit bland, predictable, but still amusing. it's always better than russia or china bashing, or ip zealots, or, god forbid, programming language popularity contests.
I did pon see that coming (Score:2)
Crypto is just hackerspeak for "I am going to rob you, give me your cash"
First they rename to Block. (Score:3)
"He was the only person with knowledge of the funding at the company."
So they don't have an accounting department? Their entire business model is moving money around. Seems like there is no internal accountability. Use square at your own risk.
Re:First they rename to Block. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
"why isn't "Block/Square" Suing them for using a similar name, or visa-versa?"
Trademarks apply to specific fields, to wit:
a) Square which was a game comany, one of the progenitors of Square Enix, vs.
b) Square which is a payment processor developed by
c) Block, an financial services company, vs.
d) The Block, which seems to be in the field of racketeering.
Loan? Is that what they call it (Score:2)
And they’re expanding their board to ummm.3 people? So, in other words, they had no board. A board of directors is a COMMITTEE, not one or two people.
“Bad corporate governance” would be a massive understatement. That anyone put their money into these vehicles is amazing.
Re: (Score:2)
To buy personal property in the Bahamas. A “loan”. Um, yeah, sure.
Well. Seems the issue here is News Agencies have to disclose financial relationships with those they're reporting on... This is unethical that they did not and could cause legal troubles.
People get mortgages all the time. $16 Million loans are a bit less often... that must be some seriously nice property they financed, and maybe it was just that for some reason the bank wasn't willing to write the loan.
A loan? (Score:1)
You know what a loan is? It's a bribe. A loan is a non-taxable event, and a company can choose not to collect.
Astroturf Advertising (Score:2)
No one has even heard of this supposed 'The Block'. Check the financials, but who cares really. Anyway I wouldn't be surprised if there were ties between someone at Slashdot and this thing, and they're just trying to give it some advertising in the form of some cheap astroturf.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't doubt it and the editors behavior over time indicates zero fucks given. There is good reason most of the earliest users are long gone.
Re: (Score:2)
Don't say no one has heard of Block just because you forgot they changed their name from Square about a year ago.
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/21/12/18/0431236/hr-block-sues-over-squares-new-name-block [slashdot.org]
https://it.slashdot.org/story/22/04/05/1430214/block-confirms-cash-app-breach-after-former-employee-accessed-us-customer-data [slashdot.org]
https://slashdot.org/story/22/04/08/1636253/tesla-block-and-blockstream-team-up-to-mine-bitcoin-off-solar-power-in-texas [slashdot.org]
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/22/10/26/1158209/square-sells-acce [slashdot.org]
Re: (Score:2)
No one has even heard of this supposed 'The Block'. Check the financials, but who cares really. Anyway I wouldn't be surprised if there were ties between someone at Slashdot and this thing, and they're just trying to give it some advertising in the form of some cheap astroturf.
Well considering the news is the CEO stepping down because he was secretly taking loans from FTX I don't think that's the kind of news you want as a first impression of your company.
Unrelated, I found this part of the summary amusing:
In addition to stepping down as CEO, McCaffrey will step down from the company's board, which is set to expand to three people.
What kind of company has a board with two people?!? (I'm assuming it expanded from 2, not 1).
Re: (Score:2)
Why this matters. (Score:2)
Block is a fairly large payments processing company. They are on the NASDAQ. They are fiat money, in USD (real money).
FTX is a terrible contagion. No one want to be associated with them. It wasn't even a complex scheme, just fraud against too much available money.
Anyway, the Block CEO exposed the company to this contagion. So he's out.
Now then, why don't we hear other impacted parties coming out of the wood work with claims against FTX?
I believe it's avoiding "cake on face" and the contagion and just w