American comedian and political commentator John Stewart has criticized the global financial center of Wall Street, accusing it of corruption and comparing its activities to the machinations of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.

Speaking with Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban, Jon Stewart shared his thoughts on the “ups and downs” of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. According to Stewart, Bankman-Fried did not become an important player in the crypto industry because of FTX or investment company Alameda. This was because Bankman-Fried had millions of dollars to give to the political system, Stewart said.

“The goal of Bankman-Fried was to bring discord into certain parts of the financial system, that is, into the cryptocurrency industry. And when I look at the intricate work of Wall Street, it’s not much different from what Bankman-Freed was doing, ”said the American TV presenter.

Mark Cuban agreed, adding that FTX’s activities were no different from Congressional stock trading and Wall Street conflicts of interest, referring to “legalized corruption” in the US. As Cuban put it, “money buys power.” He cited the case of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who bought the social platform Twitter/X. And in the case of Bankman-Freed, he “bought” the politicians, Kuban said.

“It takes a couple of scams to burst the bubble. Now the participants in the crypto space will act together, but this will not happen in government and politics. Everyone is still corrupt,” Kuban said.

Earlier, lawyer John Deaton, who defends the interests of crypto companies, also spoke about his suspicions that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler could be in cahoots with Bankman-Freed and protect FTX from regulatory scrutiny. Last week, a court ruled that Bankman-Freed should return to prison due to bail violations.