Sam Bankman-Fried Claims FTX Was Solvent, Says Bankruptcy Lawyers ‘Decimated’ the Exchange
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has resurfaced with renewed claims that the collapsed crypto platform was solvent at the time of its bankruptcy and that its legal team destroyed its remaining value.
In on X, Bankman-Fried said the company’s assets were sufficient to repay customers in full and that mismanagement by bankruptcy lawyers turned a recoverable situation into financial ruin.
“I’ve heard that some people in the replies are asking: Where did the money go? The answer is: It never left,” he wrote. “In fact, 98% of allowed FTX customer claims have already been fully repaid—with interest.”
Bankman-Fried maintained that those repayments were calculated in petition-date U.S. dollars and alleged that “when bankruptcy lawyers took over FTX, it had enough money to repay everyone in kind.”
He accused the legal team of mismanagement, claiming there was still enough money “to cover the entire $6.5 billion disputed claims reserve.”
He also referred to a recent legal development, alleging that bankruptcy lawyers had sought to delay repayments in 49 countries while “paying themselves and the government billions of dollars from the estate.” According to him, a new judge rejected that motion as premature.
Previous reports suggests that the misuse of customer deposits and fragile internal controls as the root causes of the collapse.
Court filings and examiner reports have yet to substantiate his claim that FTX was solvent when it filed for bankruptcy in November 2022.
A Bid for Presidential Pardon?
Analysts believe Bankman-Fried’s latest comments may be part of a broader effort to rebuild his image and position himself for a potential presidential pardon, .
At the time, odds on prediction platform Polymarket for an SBF pardon spiked shortly later than Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was released from custody. Traders increased their bets that Bankman-Fried could receive similar leniency, reflecting renewed speculation about his legal future.
FinanceFeeds also reported that Bankman-Fried’s return to social media has triggered noticeable market reactions.
Following a simple “gm” post from his account, the FTT token—once the native asset of the FTX platform—, according to the publication’s market data. In the past 24 hours, FTT is .
Bankman-Fried is currently serving his sentence at a that once housed notorious figures such as Al Capone. His recent post, coupled with renewed online activity, has fueled talk that he may be testing public sentiment ahead of possible appeals or clemency efforts.
Still, a pardon remains unlikely. Bankman-Fried’s conviction involved multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy tied to billions in customer losses—crimes that have historically faced significant resistance to political intervention.
