SBF is building plans for a crypto empire: token, memoirs, and attempts to gain freedom
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former head of the collapsed FTX exchange, is not wasting time even behind bars. According to information from the convicted man's inner circle, he is already developing plans to launch his own cryptocurrency token after his release. This is not just a rumor — details have become known from his cellmates and close acquaintances.
Former inmate David Bunevac, who communicated with SBF, said that when asked about future plans, he gave a very specific answer: for "serious earnings," he would need between $50 and $100 million. Bankman-Fried mentioned a possible crypto project that, in his words, "everyone will flock to." Of course, it cannot be ruled out that this was a joke, but given his past, skepticism is warranted here. It is unlikely that investors will forget the $8 billion collapse of FTX.
In addition to ambitious plans, SBF is actively writing memoirs titled "Manfred" and takes daily medication for clinical depression and ADHD. His legal team and family are not giving up attempts to mitigate his sentence. Of the 25 years he was sentenced, he has served only two, but the appeals court has already rejected his request for a retrial. Now the bet is on a presidential pardon — in June 2025, SBF officially appealed to Donald Trump.
The parents of the former FTX head hired Republican consultants Brian Lanza and Corey Langhofer for lobbying. Bankman-Fried himself is trying to build an image of a Trump supporter: in 2025, he organized an unauthorized interview with Tucker Carlson, for which he briefly ended up in solitary confinement. After that, he resumed activity on X through his father, posting pro-Trump posts and calling himself a victim of the Biden administration's policies.
SBF's mother, Barbara Fried, is also actively seeking his release, but the judge has already demanded that she stop her excessive calls. Prosecutors even recorded a suspicious incident: one of the motions, allegedly sent from prison, was delivered via FedEx from an area near his mother's home.
Let me remind you that in late October 2025, Bankman-Fried claimed FTX was solvent at the time of its collapse, estimating the exchange's assets at $25 billion against liabilities of $13 billion. This claim is, to put it mildly, controversial, given the scale of the fraud uncovered during the trial.
Expert comment: The idea of SBF launching a new token after his release looks more like an attempt to save face and attract attention than a realistic business plan. The market remembers him as the architect of one of the biggest crypto crashes, and trust in any of his projects will be zero. However, the very fact that he continues to think in terms of "the next big thing" speaks to his unyielding ego and complete lack of remorse.