FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, serving a 25-year sentence, says he plans to launch his own cryptocurrency after release. We break down what else to know about SBF’s plans.
According to New York Magazine, citing fellow inmates, SBF told inmate David Bounevetz that he’d need from $50M to $100M to “make real money” by building a genuine business. He added that he would “launch his own coin” and that “everyone would flock to it.”
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Bounevetz, serving time for fraud, suggested the former FTX chief was joking:
“Maybe he was joking, and probably no one would flock to it. But who knows.”
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SBF Today: Prison Life, Memoir, and Hope for a Pardon from Trump
The 34-year-old Bankman-Fried is writing prison memoirs under the title “Manfred.” Of his 25-year sentence, he has served only two years—his family is actively pushing for early release.
On June 8, SBF formally filed a pardon petition with the Trump administration in the form of a “post-sentence pardon“—which wouldn’t mean early release but could restore his civil rights after completing his full term.
Following the news, the probability of a pardon on Polymarket doubled to 14%. But on June 12, an appeals court rejected Bankman-Fried’s request for a retrial and sentence overturn.
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SBF’s parents have hired Republican consultants Brian Lanza and Corey Langhofer to lobby for his release. As part of the campaign, SBF has tried to position himself as a Trump supporter. In 2025, he organized an unauthorized video interview with Tucker Carlson from prison and was briefly placed in solitary confinement afterward.
He later resumed activity on X through an intermediary, his father Joseph Bankman, and began posting pro-Trump messages, calling himself a victim of the Biden administration’s crypto policies.
What SBF’s Statement Means for the Crypto Market
The crypto market has repeatedly shown that even controversial figures can attract speculative interest. Meme tokens like “SBF” or “FTX” could get a short-term boost if he actually launches a project after release. But serious investors are unlikely to back someone convicted of the largest fraud in crypto history.
For traders, the key indicator isn’t SBF’s words but the progress of his pardon case. Polymarket shows the probability has risen to 14%, but Trump has publicly refused to pardon Bankman-Fried, citing the scale of the fraud. Any change in the case’s status could cause short-term volatility in FTX-related tokens and Solana (SOL) ecosystem projects, but the fundamental market impact is likely minimal.
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