In his newest try and defend his popularity to the skin world from behind bars, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the previous CEO of FTX Buying and selling Ltd, got here out as we speak, February 20, to problem the narratives that led to his conviction on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy.
The previous FTX CEO, at present serving a 25-year sentence at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Heart, posted a “10 Myths About Me & FTX” thread claiming FTX was by no means bancrupt, clients are being “made complete” with above 100% repayments, and that his November 2023 trial was principally unfair.
He even spared time to handle the rumors of a sexual nature leveled in opposition to him, which have drawn comparisons with the overt nature of the sexual experiences linked with the convicted fixer, Jeffrey Epstein.
The reality, in keeping with Bankman-Fried, was: “There have been no polycules or orgies.”
2) Fable: There have been polycule orgies
Fact: There have been no polycules or orgies
I by no means partied or took trip. FTX owned the penthouse; I spent $50k renting 10% of it for six months. My private consumption and donations have been lower than—and got here from—earnings. pic.twitter.com/jAmRJdTu2d
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) February 20, 2026
The 119% reimbursement declare is closely disputed
The primary statistic Sam Bankman-Fried (informally generally known as SBF) used to again his claims was that FTX clients are receiving between 119-143% of their authentic holdings.
Nevertheless, skeptics have issues with that determine as a result of it appears to be calculated from the day FTX filed for chapter.
Utilizing that valuation, a buyer holding one Bitcoin on FTX would get round $17,000 within the chapter distribution (119% of the November 2022 valuation).
However, if that particular person held the identical Bitcoin on one other trade, that Bitcoin would now be price $100,000, that means a deficit of $80,000 or extra.
Chapter regulation requires November 2022 valuation date
Beneath US chapter regulation, claims are to be valued as of the petition submitting date. This means in FTX’s case, the date would stay November 11, 2022, when crypto costs had crashed as a result of trade’s collapse.
In keeping with the testimony of John Ray III, the chief of FTX’s restructuring crew (and beforehand oversaw Enron’s liquidation), FTX had recovered between $14.7 billion and $16.5 billion in belongings. The restoration additionally features a 13.56% fairness stake in AI firm Anthropic in addition to the liquidation of actual property holdings.
From the authorized reimbursement plan, 98% of consumers (that’s, these with claims beneath $50,000) would obtain distributions inside 60 days as soon as the plan grew to become efficient in September 2025. As such, greater collectors would obtain their distributions at a distinct time.
Cooperating witnesses obtained diminished sentences after guilty pleas
Sam Bankman-Fried’s tweets additionally claimed Judge Lewis Kaplan gagged him, threw him in jail earlier than trial, and banned proof of solvency from the case.
In keeping with court docket information, Bankman-Fried was convicted in November 2023 after a federal jury discovered him responsible on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. He would later be sentenced to 25 years in jail in March 2024.
There have been additionally rumors of polyamory and intercourse events flying round on the time of the scandal. The allegations shared an analogous model to these leveled in opposition to monetary mogul Jeffrey Epstein, who, in keeping with current information launched by the DOJ, helped to fund tasks like Bitcoin, Coinbase, and Blockstream, going as far again as 2014.
Nevertheless, Bankman-Fried’s X thread has successfully shut down these rumors of sexual impropriety.
Prosecutors introduced up the testimony of his ex-girlfriend and former CEO of Alameda Analysis, Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang (co-founder of FTX), and Nishad Singh, the previous FTX engineering director, during the trial.
The cooperating witnesses received diminished punishments, with Caroline getting a two-year sentence, Wang additionally sentenced to time served with supervised launch, and Singh spending no time in jail.
Bankman-Fried additionally claimed that the court suppressed proof of solvency and that legal professionals “took over” the corporate to generate their charges. He additionally claimed that he had secured funding affords that may have lined the liquidity hole and allowed withdrawals to proceed.
The court docket information, nonetheless, revealed that after John Ray III took over from Bankman-Fried because the CEO, his crew found that FTX’s monetary information have been incomplete and inaccurate, alongside systemic failure of inner controls.
President Trump has dominated out the potential for a presidential pardon for the convicted govt who was a identified Democratic donor. The FTT token has additionally seen sharp spikes and falls since SBF’s nearly each day streak of publicly steering the narrative round his trial and conviction.
