FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Undeterred By Prison, Shares What Happened To Users’ Crypto

Through a monitored X social media account managed by a friend, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has shared new details about what happened to users’ crypto after he was incarcerated for misusing funds, which led to the loss of approximately $10 billion in customer deposits. SBF claims that most customer assets were never lost and that nearly all legitimate claims have already been repaid. His statements have sparked renewed discussions about FTX’s collapse, the controversial bankruptcy process, and his role in the events that followed.

FTX Founder Claims Customer Funds Were Never Lost

In his latest X posts, SBF addressed the question on many minds about where customers’ money went. He said that the funds never left, and about 98% of all allowed customer claims have been fully reimbursed, with interest calculated in petition-date US dollars. The FTX founder also noted that when bankruptcy lawyers took over the company, there were sufficient assets to repay everyone in kind. According to him, enough funds remain to cover the entire $6.5 billion disputed claims reserve. 

SBF’s remarks come as tension continues around FTX’s insolvency proceedings and the crypto founder’s ongoing 25-year prison sentence for fraud and conspiracy. He explained that previously, customers with disputed claims, many from China, had won a small victory when a new judge rejected a motion by the bankruptcy lawyers to withhold repayments in 49 countries. He criticized the lawyers for paying themselves and the US government billions of dollars while delaying payments to users. 

The court’s decision was praised by an FTX creditor who goes by “Will的折腾纪.” He leads a group representing Chinese creditors and has consistently called for more attention and unity until every claimant receives payment. Notably, SBF has agreed with the group’s approach and insists that FTX has remained solvent both before and after bankruptcy. He blamed the current Debtors for withholding funds that could already have been distributed. His statements show that even behind bars, he intends to continue defending his version of events. 

Crypto Sleuth Confronts SBF Over Controversial Transfers

While Bankman-Fried made his claims, not everyone accepted them without pushback. Renowned crypto investigator ZachXBT quickly reacted to the FTX founder’s post, questioning how he could assert solvency and transparency while allegedly concealing a $40 million transfer to Chinese authorities. The allegation relates to a 2023 incident where SBF was accused of authorizing a bribe in an attempt to access trading accounts held by his subsidiary firm, Alameda Research. 

Those accounts had been frozen by Chinese authorities and contained nearly $1 billion in cryptocurrency. ZachXBT also referenced an earlier investigation by @DeFiSquared on X, who claimed to have traced the $40 million payment to wallet addresses linked to the Multichain exploiter.

Responding to the post, the FTX founder dismissed the accusation, claiming that Chinese exchanges had sold $1 billion worth of cryptocurrencies and later agreed to return $960 million. He implied that the transfer was part of efforts to recover user funds, not a bribe. In turn, ZachXBT countered with a pointed comparison, asking whether the public would forgive the founder of a Bahamian exchange that allegedly stole $8 billion but only returned a portion of it to its users.

Featured image from LinkedIn, chart from Tradingview.com

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