TLDR
- Sam Bankman-Fried’s X account posted for the first time in two years, causing FTT token to briefly spike from $1.55 to $2.07 before falling to $1.78
- Bankman-Fried is currently serving a 25-year sentence in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center for fraud and conspiracy
- His tweets referenced government layoffs, seemingly in response to Elon Musk’s demands for federal workers
- Bankman-Fried likely sent these messages through Corrlinks, a prison communication system, but it’s unclear who posted them on his behalf
- A fake account claiming to be Bankman-Fried later appeared, falsely claiming he received a Trump pardon and now works for a government entity called DOGE
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, broke his two-year silence on social media Monday night. His account on X (formerly Twitter) posted a series of tweets that caused the price of FTT, the token linked to his defunct exchange, to jump temporarily before settling back down.
Bankman-Fried is currently locked up in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. He is serving a 25-year prison sentence after being found guilty in November 2023 on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy related to the collapse of FTX. His legal team is working on appealing this conviction.
The sudden appearance of tweets from his account caught many in the crypto community by surprise. His thread consisted of ten tweets that discussed employee layoffs. The timing suggests he was commenting on recent events where Elon Musk demanded federal employees email reports of their work activities or face possible termination.
“I have a lot of sympathy for [government] employees: I, too, have not checked my email for the past few (hundred) days,” Bankman-Fried’s first tweet read. This appears to be a reference to his current situation in prison, where he lacks direct access to email.
1) I have a lot of sympathy for gov’t employees: I, too, have not checked my email for the past few (hundred) days
And I can confirm that being unemployed is a lot less relaxing than it looks
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) February 25, 2025
The market reaction was swift but short-lived. According to data from CoinGeko, the FTT token price jumped from about $1.55 to $2.07 immediately after the tweets appeared. However, the price soon fell back to around $1.78 as traders realized there was no actual news about the token or the exchange.
Market Ripples From Behind Bars
Since Bankman-Fried doesn’t have direct internet access in prison, he likely sent these messages through Corrlinks, a communication system used by U.S. prisons that allows inmates to send messages to approved contacts. A person familiar with the situation confirmed this was possible, though it remains unclear exactly who posted the tweets on his behalf.
In his thread, Bankman-Fried shared thoughts about workplace dynamics and circumstances that might lead to employee terminations. “It isn’t the employee’s fault, when that happens. It isn’t their fault if their employer doesn’t really know what to do with them, or doesn’t really have anyone to effectively manage them. It isn’t their fault if internal politics lead their department to lose its way,” one part of the thread stated.
The tweets seemed to be commenting on recent events in the federal government. Over the weekend, Elon Musk, who court documents identify as a special government employee, posted that federal workers must report their activities from the previous week to the Office of Personnel and Management. He stated that not responding would be taken as a resignation.
This move is part of broader efforts by Musk to reduce the federal workforce at the request of President Donald Trump. While some agency leaders told their staff to ignore this request, others instructed employees to comply with Musk’s demand.
Following Bankman-Fried’s posts, another account appeared on X claiming to be him. This fake account made false claims about receiving a presidential pardon from Trump and now working for something called “DOGE,” supposedly a government entity led by Elon Musk. The account also linked to a cryptocurrency contract address.
The scam token linked by this fake account saw immediate trading activity, according to blockchain data. Interestingly, the impostor account had a label indicating it was “a government or multilateral organization account,” suggesting that a legitimate government agency account may have been hacked and repurposed for the scam.
These events highlight how quickly cryptocurrency markets can still react to social media activity from high-profile figures in the space, even those currently serving prison sentences. The brief spike in FTT’s price shows that some traders act on headlines before fully understanding the context.
Bankman-Fried’s legal situation remains unchanged by these social media posts. He continues to serve his sentence while his lawyers pursue the appeals process. The Metropolitan Detention Center has not released any statement about how these communications might have occurred.
The FTT token, once valued at over $80 during FTX’s peak, now trades at a fraction of that price. The exchange itself remains in bankruptcy proceedings as administrators work to return funds to customers who lost access to their accounts when the platform collapsed in November 2022.
Bankman-Fried was once worth an estimated $26 billion at the height of the crypto market. His downfall came after revelations that customer funds from FTX were being used improperly by Alameda Research, a trading firm he also controlled.
These tweets mark Bankman-Fried’s first public statements since his conviction, though they offer little insight into his current thinking about the charges he was found guilty of or the state of the cryptocurrency industry today.
Musk has not publicly responded to Bankman-Fried’s apparent commentary on his federal workforce reduction efforts.
