I'm seeing a pattern of misleading headlines wrt this. My guess is that it is PR at work to convince public that FTX was a victimless crime - this is to help SBF avoid his full sentence.
But sitting here, we can't really know why we're being lied to. All we can do is take note of the lies, and of who's repeating them.
When Bernie Madoff or Enron or any of the other major headline-grabbing frauds fell apart, the victims generally got back almost nothing. The fact that FTX is returning all of the user's money, plus interest, is quite unique and newsworthy.
Funny thing about madoff is that it is still ongoing, distributions have diminished but last one was this year: https://www.madofftrustee.com/index.php?mobile=false
Where madoff is a bit different is that they were more aggressive in taking money back that people took out. You’re really only getting back what you put in (and obvious losses through time value of money).
And madoff didn’t gamble with the money, he mostly just sat on it.
"That said, the repayments do exceed expectations. That is newsworthy. I just wish they could report that news factually."
So to flip it back on you: repaying the lowball marks, but not the actual full stolen value, is an interesting story on its own. No lies and exaggerations from the media are needed.
Also, where you write:
> "The fact that FTX is returning all of the user's money..."
No. This is not a "fact". This is a lie. You have been misinformed. That's my whole point. Do not call it a fact.