Sam Bankman-Fried maintains his defense from jail: FTX had enough assets to cover all claims

From his cell, the imprisoned founder of FTX continues to defend his version of the facts through an X account managed by an associate. In his latest public statements, Sam Bankman-Fried has once again stirred the debate over the platform’s collapse that caused the loss of approximately $10 billion in user deposits, claiming that the financial situation was never as catastrophic as publicly portrayed.

FTX creator’s claims about fund recovery

According to recent posts, Bankman-Fried maintains that approximately 98% of all valid customer claims have already been reimbursed, including interest calculated in US dollars from the date of the claim filing. His main argument is that when bankruptcy legal teams took control, there were enough assets to compensate all affected users in kind.

The founder also noted that funds remain available to cover the $6.5 billion in disputed claims that are still in process. These statements have reignited scrutiny over FTX’s insolvency management and the 25-year prison sentence Bankman-Fried received for fraud and conspiracy.

He harshly criticized bankruptcy lawyers for awarding themselves millions in fees while delaying payments to users, particularly to Chinese creditors whose claims were blocked in 49 countries. Recently, a court rejected a motion by these lawyers to keep these payments frozen, a decision celebrated by Chinese creditor activists.

Crypto researcher questions the solvency narrative

Not everyone has passively accepted these claims. The prominent blockchain researcher ZachXBT immediately questioned the credibility of Bankman-Fried, pointing to a transfer of $40 million that he allegedly concealed from authorities. According to ZachXBT, the money was directed to wallet addresses linked to protocol exploiters, contradicting any transparency narrative.

The specific accusation centers on an incident in 2023 where it was alleged that Sam Bankman-Fried authorized a bribe to access trading accounts frozen by Chinese authorities that belonged to Alameda Research, the subsidiary firm handling approximately $1 billion in cryptocurrencies.

The clash of perspectives

When confronted, Bankman-Fried responded that Chinese exchanges had liquidated cryptocurrencies for $1 billion and later agreed to return $960 million. He insisted that any transfer was part of efforts to recover user funds, not a bribe.

ZachXBT responded with a direct counterargument: he asked whether the community would forgive the CEO of any other platform who had allegedly stolen $8 billion but only returned a fraction to his clients. This question encapsulates the central skepticism surrounding Sam Bankman-Fried’s explanations, whose credibility remains under scrutiny as he deals with his prolonged prison sentence.