{"id":1469,"date":"2025-10-31T01:50:42","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T05:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/?p=1469"},"modified":"2025-11-03T03:59:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T08:59:00","slug":"sam-bankman-fried-claims-ftx-was-never-broke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/sam-bankman-fried-claims-ftx-was-never-broke\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Bankman-Fried Claims FTX Was Never Broke, Just Mismanaged"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Sam-Bankman-Fried-FTX-update-31oct25.webp\" alt=\"Sam Bankman-Fried FTX update\" class=\"wp-image-1471\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Sam-Bankman-Fried-FTX-update-31oct25.webp 1200w, https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Sam-Bankman-Fried-FTX-update-31oct25-300x157.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Sam-Bankman-Fried-FTX-update-31oct25-768x402.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><br>Image source: Lam Yik\/Bloomberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sam Bankman-Fried isn\u2019t done talking. Despite his conviction and ongoing prison time, the former FTX founder has released a 15-page document claiming that his crypto exchange was never actually insolvent \u2014 just misunderstood and mishandled after his departure.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The document, titled \u201cFTX: Where Did the Money Go?\u201d and dated September 30, has been circulating online this week. In it, Bankman-Fried argues that FTX \u201cwas never insolvent,\u201d insisting that all customer assets were intact until lawyers and bankruptcy administrators took control in late 2022. He claims that their \u201cincompetence and greed\u201d wiped out tens of billions of dollars that could have gone back to users and investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pointing Fingers at FTX\u2019s New Management<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sam_Bankman-Fried\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sam_Bankman-Fried\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sam Bankman-Fried<\/a> singles out John J. Ray III, the court-appointed CEO overseeing FTX\u2019s bankruptcy, and the law firm Sullivan &amp; Cromwell. He accuses them of \u201cseizing control\u201d of the exchange to enrich themselves, alleging they\u2019ve billed nearly $1 billion in fees while delaying customer repayments for two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s not clear whether the document was written or released directly by Bankman-Fried from prison. However, it reads like his attempt to rewrite the FTX collapse story \u2014 portraying himself as a victim of poor management rather than the architect of one of crypto\u2019s biggest downfalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to him, the current repayment progress supports his case. Creditors are now expected to receive between 119% and 143% of their claim value. To Sam Bankman-Fried, this means FTX was never truly broke \u2014 if the bankruptcy team had \u201cdone nothing,\u201d he claims, customers could have been repaid back in 2022, leaving \u201c$111 billion\u201d for investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Numbers Don\u2019t Add Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Critics say the math doesn\u2019t hold. His calculations rely on the current (2025) valuations of assets that FTX once held, like 58 million Solana tokens, a 7.8% stake in AI startup Anthropic, and hundreds of millions in FTT \u2014 FTX\u2019s now-worthless native token. Applying today\u2019s prices to 2022\u2019s balance sheets paints a fantasy picture of a company worth $136 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bankruptcy experts have dismissed his reasoning as misleading. \u201cSolvent but illiquid may sound clever,\u201d one restructuring lawyer told Bloomberg Law, \u201cbut not when your collateral is yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Still Rewriting History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his memo, Sam Bankman-Fried even suggests FTX could have reopened and repaid everyone by November 2022 if he had stayed in charge. In reality, the estate has recovered around $18 billion in assets against roughly $8 billion in claims \u2014 an impressive recovery, but hardly proof that the exchange was ever stable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than $900 million in legal and professional fees later, customers are finally seeing their funds return. Meanwhile, Sam Bankman-Fried continues to argue that he could have saved the ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If FTX was the Titanic, he was the captain who hit the iceberg \u2014 yet somehow still insists the voyage was smooth sailing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also Read: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/ethereum-etf-outflows-october\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/ethereum-etf-outflows-october\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ethereum ETFs See $81M Outflow as ETH Struggles Below $4K<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sam Bankman-Fried isn\u2019t done talking. Despite his conviction and ongoing prison time, the former FTX founder has released a 15-page &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Sam Bankman-Fried Claims FTX Was Never Broke, Just Mismanaged\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/sam-bankman-fried-claims-ftx-was-never-broke\/#more-1469\" aria-label=\"Read more about Sam Bankman-Fried Claims FTX Was Never Broke, Just Mismanaged\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[543,197,547,541,530,528,533,535,532,546,536,534,529,540,537,531,539,545,544,542,538],"class_list":["post-1469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency","tag-did-ftx-really-go-bankrupt","tag-featured-post","tag-ftx-asset-value-based-on-solana-and-anthropic","tag-ftx-assets-recovery-2025","tag-ftx-bankruptcy-lawyers-controversy","tag-ftx-bankruptcy-news-2025","tag-ftx-collapse-explained-simply","tag-ftx-customers-repayment-update","tag-ftx-founder-blames-lawyers-for-collapse","tag-ftx-fraud-or-mismanagement-debate","tag-ftx-insolvency-claims","tag-ftx-recovery-and-repayment-progress","tag-ftx-recovery-rate-latest","tag-how-much-money-ftx-customers-will-get-back","tag-john-j-ray-ftx-management","tag-sam-bankman-fried-ftx-update","tag-sam-bankman-fried-latest-news-and-updates","tag-sam-bankman-fried-new-statement-from-prison","tag-sam-bankman-fried-prison-statement","tag-sullivan-cromwell-ftx-case","tag-what-happened-to-ftx-customer-funds","resize-featured-image"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Sam-Bankman-Fried-FTX-update-31oct25.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1469"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1473,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469\/revisions\/1473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- This website is optimized by Airlift. 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