Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) long-dormant X account unexpectedly came back to life on Thursday night, posting a link to a 14-page document claiming that FTX was “never insolvent.” The upload, which appeared years after the exchange’s collapse and the founder’s 25-year prison sentence, rehashed familiar talking points from his 2023 trial while injecting a fresh dose of conspiracy.
The document, allegedly written by SBF and his team, insists that FTX’s downfall was not due to a $10 billion fraud as a Manhattan jury concluded. Instead, it was due to a “liquidity crisis” that could have been “resolved by the end of the month” if not for “external counsel” who supposedly derailed the process.
Prison Walls Can’t Stop the Spin
It claims FTX held $25 billion in assets and $16 billion in equity value against $13 billion in liabilities at the time of its collapse, and argued that had lawyers not stepped in, its portfolio would now be worth an eye-popping $136 billion, including stakes in Anthropic, Robinhood, and Ripple.
The post quickly stirred up a storm across crypto circles. To many, it sounded less like a confession and more like a follow-up to SBF’s past interviews, especially his March chat with Tucker Carlson, where he insisted there was “enough money” to repay everyone. The new document fits neatly into his ongoing claim that he’s a victim of political targeting rather than the mastermind of one of crypto’s biggest frauds.
Just weeks earlier, SBF, or someone posting for him on GETTR, alleged that his arrest was politically motivated and went on to blame his pivot toward 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 before a key crypto bill vote and a planned congressional testimony.
Critics, however, aren’t buying the redemption arc. Legal experts and former FTX creditors were quick to point out that the claims are similar to the arguments rejected in court and contradict the forensic audits that traced billions in missing customer funds.
The crypto community wasted no time pushing back against the convicted exec’s latest attempt to rewrite history. Venture capitalist Adam Cochran summed up the industry’s mood bluntly as he tweeted, “Shut the fuck up, Sam. You stole.”
On-chain investigator ZachXBT also called out SBF’s claims as “misinformation” recycled from his trial days. ZachXBT pointed out that FTX creditors were paid based on crypto prices at the time of the exchange’s November 2022 bankruptcy, not at today’s far higher valuations, meaning many users who held assets like SOL or BTC still took heavy losses. He added that the rise in value of FTX’s illiquid investments is a pure coincidence and not evidence of solvency.
“SBF is just trying to weaponize the fact that every FTX asset / investment has gone up from picobottom Nov 2022 prices when they factually could not pay out users at the time of bankruptcy and instead point the bankruptcy team as the true villain.”
Trump Pardons CZ While SBF Waits for a Miracle
Despite receiving a 25-year prison sentence, SBF and his family continue to insist he was wrongfully prosecuted. His parents, Stanford professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, are reportedly exploring options for a presidential pardon from Donald Trump.
Interestingly, Trump also pardoned Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who once played a crucial role in triggering FTX’s downfall. In November 2022, CZ announced on X that Binance would sell its $529 million worth of FTT. The revelation, which followed a CoinDesk report exposing Alameda Research’s heavy dependence on FTT, was enough to cause panic among investors and massive withdrawals from FTX. The subsequent liquidity crisis resembled a digital-era bank run.
Though Binance briefly considered acquiring FTX to contain the fallout, it backed out after due diligence, which left SBF’s empire to collapse within days.
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