‘FTX Was Never Insolvent:’ SBF’s X Account Sparks Chaos From Behind Bars
Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) long-dormant X account unexpectedly got here again to life on Thursday evening, posting a hyperlink to a 14-page doc claiming that FTX was “by no means bancrupt.” The add, which appeared years after the change’s collapse and the founder’s 25-year jail sentence, rehashed acquainted speaking factors from his 2023 trial whereas injecting a contemporary dose of conspiracy.
The doc, allegedly written by SBF and his staff, insists that FTX’s downfall was not on account of a $10 billion fraud as a Manhattan jury concluded. Instead, it was on account of a “liquidity disaster” that would have been “resolved by the top of the month” if not for “exterior counsel” who supposedly derailed the method.
Prison Walls Can’t Stop the Spin
It claims FTX held $25 billion in property and $16 billion in fairness worth in opposition to $13 billion in liabilities on the time of its collapse, and argued that had legal professionals not stepped in, its portfolio would now be price an eye-popping $136 billion, together with stakes in Anthropic, Robinhood, and Ripple.
The publish rapidly stirred up a storm throughout crypto circles. To many, it sounded much less like a confession and extra like a follow-up to SBF’s previous interviews, particularly his March chat with Tucker Carlson, the place he insisted there was “sufficient cash” to repay everybody. The new doc matches neatly into his ongoing declare that he’s a sufferer of political focusing on moderately than the mastermind of one in all crypto’s greatest frauds.
Just weeks earlier, SBF, or somebody posting for him on GETTR, alleged that his arrest was politically motivated and went on accountable his pivot towards centrist politics and donations to Republicans. He even accused the Biden administration and the then-SEC Chair Gary Gensler of timing his arrest to silence him earlier than a key crypto invoice vote and a deliberate congressional testimony.
Critics, nevertheless, aren’t shopping for the redemption arc. Legal specialists and former FTX collectors had been fast to point out that the claims are much like the arguments rejected in court docket and contradict the forensic audits that traced billions in lacking buyer funds.
The crypto group wasted no time pushing again in opposition to the convicted exec’s newest try to rewrite historical past. Venture capitalist Adam Cochran summed up the trade’s temper bluntly as he tweeted, “Shut the fuck up, Sam. You stole.”
On-chain investigator ZachXBT additionally called out SBF’s claims as “misinformation” recycled from his trial days. ZachXBT identified that FTX collectors had been paid based mostly on crypto costs on the time of the change’s November 2022 chapter, not at at present’s far larger valuations, that means many customers who held property like SOL or BTC nonetheless took heavy losses. He added that the rise in worth of FTX’s illiquid investments is a pure coincidence and never proof of solvency.
“SBF is simply attempting to weaponize the truth that each FTX asset / funding has gone up from picobottom Nov 2022 costs once they factually couldn’t pay out customers on the time of chapter and as a substitute level the chapter staff because the true villain.”
Trump Pardons CZ While SBF Waits for a Miracle
Despite receiving a 25-year jail sentence, SBF and his household proceed to insist he was wrongfully prosecuted. His dad and mom, Stanford professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, are reportedly exploring choices for a presidential pardon from Donald Trump.
Interestingly, Trump additionally pardoned Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who as soon as performed an important function in triggering FTX’s downfall. In November 2022, CZ introduced on X that Binance would promote its $529 million price of FTT. The revelation, which adopted a CoinDesk report exposing Alameda Research’s heavy dependence on FTT, was sufficient to trigger panic amongst buyers and large withdrawals from FTX. The subsequent liquidity disaster resembled a digital-era financial institution run.
Though Binance briefly thought-about buying FTX to comprise the fallout, it backed out after due diligence, which left SBF’s empire to break down inside days.
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