[edanm]

As someone kind of on the outside of all these movements, I think this is mostly a "founder effects" thing.

A lot of the initial people in EA came from the world of rationality. Classic LessWrong had 3 main topics that were actively discussed - AI risk, Rationality, and EA. It also happened that cryptocurrency became known and somewhat popular among some LessWrong visitors.

We're probably talking like 1% of LessWrong visitors, mind you - but a few of those became crypto-millionaires.

So that's why a bunch of people, who were interested in both AI risk and EA, and now have millions, are infusing the EA movement with cash. Or at least, that's the story as I understand it.