Sam Bankman-Fried sticks to FTX solvency claim in aggressive clemency push

Sam Bankman-Fried, the imprisoned founder of FTX, doubled down on social media efforts. He is spearheading a campaign to call for a retrial, with the major claim that FTX was never insolvent. 

Sam Bankman-Fried continued his efforts in showing that the FTX trial and bankruptcy procedures were rushed, and that the exchange was never insolvent. 

In the past few days, Bankman-Fried came out with a series of arguments on the value of FTX assets. While the creditors were paid out in cash, he also claimed the liquidation disguised the fact that the exchange had sufficient funds to restore anyone’s account in kind. 

While the main goal of Bankman-Fried may be a retrial, recently, he inserted his name on the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee, signed as the CEO of FTX 2.0. 

Bankman-Fried’s supporters on X also called for a return, as a potential remedy to the slumping crypto market.

The idea of FTX 2.0 picked up steam, as a new token was launched, immediately rallying following the latest series of tweets by Bankman-Fried. 

The token is more of a novelty, with just $30K in liquidity. The token is in its initial hours of trading and is actively promoted, aiming to rally a community behind the idea of giving Bankman-Fried influence in the crypto space another spin.

As with other new tokens, FTX 2.0 may have a brief life as a short-term meme or pick up based on community enthusiasm.

Sam Bankman-Fried points to potential unrealized gains

Bankman-Fried did not focus on crypto alone. He mentioned that the Anthropic stake alone would have a fair value of $30B based on current valuations once the company completes its funding. 

In total, the FTX liquidation distributed between $14B and $16B to creditors, after rapidly selling off crypto assets. At the same time, Bankman-Fried estimated that as of September 2025, the exchange sat on up to $136B, if taking into account the new value of assets. 

Despite the early calls and stakes in key companies, Bankman-Fried is still locked in a 25-year sentence, finding no leniency with the Biden administration. The main goal of the recent solvency claims is to call for a new trial and a new look at the exchange’s holdings. 

Bankman-Fried also spread a new document from his side of the case, with no official presentation. The document is supposed to give clarity on the assets deposited and contained within FTX and potentially available to continue operations. 

Sam Bankman-Fried seeks leniency with the Trump administration

The activities of FTX were often linked to donations and effective altruism. Bankman-Fried was known for generous political donations, for an estimated amount of up to $100M. Most went to Democrat causes, with smaller donations for Republicans. 

Despite this, the Biden administration took into account the rapid crash of value on FTX, leading to a filing for bankruptcy without the input of Bankman-Fried. 

Bankman-Fried even praised the more lenient approach of the Trump administration, which brought Polymarket and other crypto companies back on US soil. Despite never being in full support of Republican ideas, the FTX founder seems to have switched allegiance, at least when it comes to crypto regulations.

Earlier, Bankman-Fried directly said Biden had “bungled” crypto. 

Odds of pardoning Bankman-Fried rise over 20%

The ongoing, rather loud campaign from Bankman-Fried has moved the needle on the odds of being pardoned, at least by the end of 2027. 

On Polymarket, the odds rose up to 22% in the past few days, coinciding with the social media noise. However, the market remains small, with under $17,000 in value locked.

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