RYAN Salame’s girlfriend Michelle Bond received around $400,000 in consulting fees from FTX Digital Markets – the firm her boyfriend was Co-CEO of.
But what is the story behind the high-flying CEO?
Who is Michelle Bond?
Michelle Bond went to Miller Place High School, in New York before going on to graduate from Stony Brook University.
She then went on to graduate from The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law.
She started her career in risk management at BNP Paribas in 1999 before moving to Raymond James as a financial advisor.
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Ater spending just one year there, she moved to FINRA as a regulatory analyst.
She then worked at law firms Hogan Lovells and WilmerHale before becoming a legal counsel for the US Senate.
In 2014, she became Head of Global Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy, spending four years in the role.
She then moved to Blockchain in 2018 to become Global Head of Policy before becoming the CEO of the Association for Digital Asset Markets.
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The Association for Digital Asset Markets according to Bond “is a private, non-profit, membership-based association of companies operating in the digital asset sphere that has developed a Code of Conduct to promote best practices across the industry that facilitate safe, secure, and efficient digital asset markets.”
Bond made $250,000 in 2022 from her role as CEO.
She also serves as a board adviser for Sucurrency which “connect innovators to more accessible financial networks and opportunities for real-world value creation via decentralized services.’
Michelle Bond ran to represent New York’s First Congressional District but lost the primary in August 2022 to Navy veteran Nick Lalota.
Bond described herself as “pro-life, pro Trump’s border wall and the police need to be defended, not defunded” during the campaign.
Bond also sees cryptocurrency as part of financial innovation.
Bond said: “I’m obviously pro-innovation and I think crypto’s important for a lot of different reasons – for jobs, and opportunities and economic advancement.”
Bond was endorsed by Donald Trump Jr and Senator Ted Cruz but secured less than 30 per cent of the vote.
Bond received around $1.1 million in campaign contributions. Although around $800,000 was her own money, according to federal campaign filings, over $300,000 was donated by other individuals including several executives from FTX and its sister company Alameda Research.
Bond had also worked as a consultant for FTX Digital Markets – the Bahamas-based FTX entity where her boyfriend Ryan Salame was co-CEO before it collapsed in November 2022.
The consulting payments are listed in her congressional candidate financial disclosure report.
She earned $200,000 in both 2021 and 2022.
Bond currently owns between $100,000-$250,000 in Bitcoin.
