Sam Bankman-Fried’s X Account Claims FTX Was Never Bankrupt

An account used by Samn Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has claimed the exchange was never insolvent, echoing arguments raised during his trial. 

FTX claims the estate still owns $8 billion, three years after the dramatic collapse of the exchange. 

FTX Was Never Insolvent 

An account used by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has shared a link to a document claiming the company was never insolvent, raising similar arguments that were raised during Bankman-Fried’s trial. The 14-page document, reportedly written by Bankman-Fried and his team, claims the exchange did not go bankrupt because of a scheme to commit fraud and misappropriate $10 billion in customer funds. Instead, it argued that FTX faced a liquidity crisis that was on track to be solved by the end of the month. However, this was disrupted by FTX’s external counsel, who seized control of the platform.

“FTX was never bankrupt, even when its lawyers placed it into bankruptcy.”

The document echoed an interview given by Bankman-Fried to conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson. Bankman-Fried had said there was enough money to pay every creditor when the exchange collapsed. 

FTX’s Purported Assets

The document claims FTX had $25 billion in assets, along with $16 billion in FTX equity value against $13 billion in liabilities. It further argues that had lawyers not sold off assets it had invested in, FTX and its sister firm Alameda Research would have holdings worth around $136 billion. That would entail a $14.3 billion stake in artificial intelligence (AI) startup Anthropic, and a $7.6 billion investment in Robinhood. Other assets include investments in Ripple and Bitcoin mining firm Genesis Digital Assets. 

The FTX Recovery Trust has filed a lawsuit against Genesis Digital Assets to recover $1.15 billion that it claims Bankman-Fried misappropriated. The document also claims that if FTX and Alameda Research were still around, the FTT token would be worth almost $22 billion. Prosecutors alleged during Bankman-Fried’s trial that the FTT token was used to prop up Alameda Research. 

Will Bankman-Fried Receive A Pardon?

Conservative activist Laura Loomer has claimed there is a “massive and well-funded” effort to persuade President Donald Trump to pardon Bankman-Fried. Loomer stated on X, 

“There is a massive and well-funded lobby effort to get this criminal pardoned. He’s going to pretend like he was a victim of Joe Biden and the Democrats after he funded all of the left’s campaigns. Don’t fall for it.”

Speculation of a pardon for Bankman-Fried grew after former rival and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao received a pardon from President Trump. While sentencing Bankman-Fried, Judge Lewis Kaplan had stated, 

“A thief who takes his loot to Las Vegas and successfully bets the stolen money is not entitled to a discount on his sentence.”

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.