SBF is preparing to launch his own token after his release: a $100 million plan
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who is serving a 25-year sentence, is already making plans for life after his release. According to information obtained from his cellmates and close associates, SBF sees launching his own cryptocurrency token as a key element of his return to the industry.
According to former inmate David Bunevacz, who shared a cell with Bankman-Fried, he estimated the necessary starting capital for "serious earnings" in the range of $50 to $100 million. The businessman mentioned a certain cryptocurrency project that, in his words, "everyone will flock to."
"Maybe he was joking, and probably no one will flock to him. But who knows," Bunevacz commented, leaving room for doubt about the seriousness of SBF's intentions.
At present, Bankman-Fried has served only two years of his 25-year sentence. He takes daily medication for clinical depression and attention deficit disorder, and is working on memoirs titled "Manfred." Simultaneously, an active legal and PR campaign is underway to reduce his sentence.
On June 12, 2025, an appeals court rejected SBF's request for a case review, and on June 8, it was reported that he had appealed to Donald Trump for a presidential pardon. The parents of the former FTX head hired Republican consultants Brian Lanza and Corey Langhofer to lobby for his release.
As part of the strategy to mitigate his sentence, Bankman-Fried is trying to position himself as a Trump supporter. In 2025, he organized an unauthorized video interview from prison with Tucker Carlson, for which he was briefly placed in solitary confinement. Later, through his father Joseph Bankman, he resumed activity on X, posting pro-Trump messages and calling himself a victim of the crypto policies of the Joe Biden administration.
SBF's mother, Barbara Fried, is also actively seeking her son's release, but the judge has demanded she stop her excessive calls to his office. Prosecutors noted that one of the motions allegedly sent by Bankman-Fried from prison was delivered via FedEx from an area near his mother's home.
As a reminder, in late October 2025, SBF claimed that FTX was solvent at the time of its collapse: assets totaled $25 billion against liabilities of $13 billion. These figures, however, remain a subject of dispute.
Expert commentary. The idea of launching a token by a person convicted of the largest fraud in the crypto industry looks more like an attempt to maintain relevance than a realistic business plan. Even if SBF manages to get out early, investor trust in any of his projects will be virtually zero. The market does not forgive such mistakes, and the "SBF effect" will become an insurmountable barrier for him.