SBF's prison life: Not forgetting the trader's初心, trading arbitrage with "rice"

Original Title: “SBF maintains his innocence as he trades rice in jail”

Author: Jesse Coghlan

Translation: Fu Ruhe, Odaily Planet Daily

Since being detained at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in August 2023, this is SBF's first face-to-face conversation with the media. In an interview published on May 9, SBF spoke with William Cohan from Puck News, organized by SBF's mother, Barbara Fried.

According to the interview, SBF's diet is primarily vegetarian. Because the vegetarian meals at MDC smell "like feces" to other inmates, he mainly survives on beans and rice, and rice has "become a form of currency inside MDC." SBF even joked, "Compared to his previous life as a high-frequency trader, the arbitrage opportunities in prison are much better."

According to Puck News, SBF has lost a lot of weight, shedding 25 pounds (11 kilograms), and is "no longer as fat, not as neurotic, not as restless, and his eye bags are gone." During the interview, SBF almost constantly maintained eye contact with Cohan, which was rarely seen before. He sadly admitted that he has "learned to disguise himself" very well.

SBF's living area is a large open dormitory that MDC previously built for female inmates, and he lives with 35 other male inmates—reportedly, half of whom are murderers who have compromised with the government. However, according to SBF, prison life is very boring, with only four televisions and a tablet that cannot connect to the internet for entertainment; he can only play games on the tablet. Although many of his cellmates are murderers, SBF is not worried about his safety; instead, he often sleeps poorly because his cellmates frequently wake him up—always asking how much rice he has and wanting to barter.

Although SBF's prison life is colorful because of "rice," he has never given up on exoneration and continues to insist that he is a "scapegoat." Last month, SBF submitted a notice stating that he is appealing the charges of fraud and money laundering.

Additionally, SBF speaks with his new lawyer for about an hour almost every weekday—after taking approved prescription medications, SBF's thinking is very clear during these communications.

In the interview, SBF insisted that he was framed as the scapegoat for FTX's bankruptcy and believes that his only negligence was placing FTX in a position vulnerable to bank runs and malicious actions from competitors, arguing that a reasonable punishment should be civil, not criminal.

Reporter Cohan pointed out that SBF still does not believe he committed a crime and portrays himself as an innocent participant who did not have enough opportunity to negotiate with prosecutors. Furthermore, SBF does not feel remorse for being convicted of helping to misappropriate about $8 billion of client funds.

SBF emphasized that handing over the company to the FTX legal team made him the scapegoat for the company's bankruptcy; if he had remained in a leadership position at FTX, the company would not have gone bankrupt but would have been a thriving company worth $80 billion. He added that after his lawyer convinced him that running a trading company and FTX simultaneously presented a conflict of interest, he should have worked harder to find someone other than his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison to lead Alameda or simply ignored them and continued to run both companies.

SBF has requested to remain at MDC until he files his appeal, which is expected to be in July. However, under legal provisions, SBF can be transferred at any time and is likely to be placed in a prison in California, where his parents are. If this happens, SBF may take a prison bus and spend four months crossing the United States to reach a prison in California.