SBF's First Interview in Prison: Targeted by DOJ for Supporting the Republican Party, "Kneeling" to Trump for a Pardon

Interviewer: Ari Hoffman, Deputy Editor of The New York Sun

Compiled and organized by: BitpushNews

Sam Bankman-Fried elaborated in the interview on his views regarding the FTX bankruptcy, legal battles, the political landscape in the U.S., and the future of the cryptocurrency industry. He insisted that FTX never went bankrupt but merely faced a liquidity crisis, criticizing the FTX bankruptcy trustee and the U.S. judicial system for unfairness, claiming that his case is a "sacrificial victim" of political struggles, and expressing cautious optimism about a possible pardon from President Trump. He also shared personal insights, such as his experience of falling from being one of the richest people in the world.

Below is a整理 of the full interview for easier reading, with the dialogue from the interview video moderately organized.

AH: Hi, Sam, this is Ari. It's great to talk to you. We have limited time, so I want to get straight to the point. I know you have some views on the current political environment, especially regarding pardons. Also, your prosecutor, Danielle Sassoon, has recently been in the news. Why don't you start by sharing your thoughts?

SBF: Sure, a lot has happened recently. As you mentioned, my prosecutor, Danielle Sassoon, has recently made headlines due to disputes with the Trump Justice Department. My judge at the time, Judge Kaplan, was also a Trump-appointed judge in New York, which ties into a larger political struggle between the incoming Trump DOJ and what they see as the Biden DOJ.

President Trump's views on the DOJ, combined with some in his camp's distrust of the judicial system, complicate the situation. They believe the DOJ has become increasingly politicized over the past few decades, especially recently.

AH: Do you think your case is related to this political struggle?

SBF: It is indeed part of it, and there are many other factors as well. High-profile trials often have this situation where the careers of all involved officials are affected. I believe my case has not been fairly and justly tried, especially regarding some rulings in court.

For example, the judge allowed the prosecution to tell the jury "all the investors' money is gone," but at the same time, did not allow my defense team to rebut that. And the fact is, that is simply not true. This became a key point in the trial, and the story the jury heard was incorrect.

AH: What do you think about the recent turmoil in the DOJ, particularly in the Southern District Court (SDNY)? Do you think your case also involves prosecutorial misconduct?

SBF: I think there are some similarities. For instance, you can look at the sentencing of all those who pleaded guilty. We have a Republican who pleaded guilty to only a few charges but was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison—this sentence is four times that of the other three combined. Meanwhile, others who pleaded guilty seem to have received more lenient treatment, and the disparity in sentencing is very apparent.

Additionally, the prosecutor threatened his wife, saying that if he did not cooperate, they would prosecute her, and she was a Republican congressional candidate at the time. This approach is very politically charged.

AH: In the media, you are portrayed as a major donor to the Democrats, while your contributions to Republicans are merely symbolic. Do you think there is a misunderstanding of your political stance?

SBF: It’s actually two-sided. In 2020, I did give a significant amount to the Biden campaign, partly because I did not want the Democrats to become a party led by Bernie Sanders. However, by 2022, my political stance changed.

I spent a lot of time in Washington dealing with lawmakers, regulators, and the executive branch, especially regarding crypto policy. I was very disappointed with the Biden administration and the Democrats, particularly on cryptocurrency regulation. Their policies have been devastating for the entire industry. The Republicans, on the other hand, have been relatively easier to work with. So, I spent more time in Washington with the Republicans, trying to prevent the Democratic government from taking overly regulatory actions. The Biden administration has been very destructive and difficult to work with. Frankly, the Republicans are more rational. I spent a lot of time in Washington, hoping to cross party lines as much as possible to prevent the government from taking harsh measures against the industry.

AH: There has been a lot of discussion about the changing atmosphere among tech giants, like Zuckerberg and Bezos, people you should have crossed paths with. Do you think if the trial hadn’t happened to you, you would be on the inauguration stage? Or, let me ask it another way, do you see what is happening? Do you understand it? Or how do you view it?

SBF: I obviously cannot speak for them, but I think they are seeing some of the same things I have seen over the past four years. You see, Zuckerberg expressed some views that were intended to be reasonable and constructive regarding government misinformation, which ultimately turned into more of just political censorship. I think they encountered some similar frustrations while working with the Biden administration, just like many in the crypto industry have found with anything related to business and ultimately free speech.

AH: Do you think your trial is being used as a political tool?

SBF: I think to some extent, yes. Many high-profile cases have similar situations involving the careers of prosecutors, media attention, and political influence. I do not believe this is a fair trial.

AH: What do you think about politicians issuing meme coins? Well, have you heard of the TRUMP coin? That was issued before his inauguration.

SBF: I have heard of it, but I don’t know much about it because, you know, my sources of information are somewhat limited in prison. But I’m not surprised to see politicians starting to get involved in the digital space. You know, I expect that over time, we will see more areas of life getting involved, partly because it is a more flexible medium compared to traditional finance. That’s why this industry has developed so rapidly, with so much innovation. There are many reasons for this, but one of them is that it is much easier to build things within it. The infrastructure is updated and more open.

AH: What do you think about the bankruptcy proceedings? Do you think FTX really went bankrupt?

SBF: FTX never went bankrupt. It was a liquidity crisis, not a solvency issue. We had enough assets at the time to pay back all customer funds. But due to the takeover by law firms and their handling of the situation, the process became extremely slow and even misled the public.

Customers could have gotten their funds back in November 2022. But the bankruptcy trustee took two years to acknowledge that there were enough funds. They initially claimed there were only $1 billion in assets, but it has now been found that there are $15 billion in assets. This is a complete management failure.

AH: What are your views on the use of funds by FTX and Alameda Research?

SBF: FTX is a leveraged trading platform where customers engage in margin trading. Alameda Research is FTX's primary market maker and plays an important role in the market.

All asset flows can be found in the financial statements. We have clear records of assets and liabilities, and at any time, our assets were always greater than our liabilities. The problem was that the liquidity crisis caused market panic, making it difficult to quickly liquidate funds.

AH: Do you think you were wrongfully convicted?

SBF: Absolutely. Clearly, in retrospect, I would have done some things differently. But the most important thing is that I should have insisted in November 2022 not to let Sullivan & Cromwell take over FTX. I should have continued to handle the liquidity issues instead of letting them take over and completely mislead customers. But I didn’t. You know, after that, it was a painful few years of waiting, not just for me but for millions of customers who were wrongly told there was no money left until recently when they received any payments.

This led to millions of customers having to wait two years to get their funds back, when in fact, their funds should have been safe from the beginning.

AH: I think for most people, you know, the amount of money you had and dealt with is almost unimaginable. What is your relationship with money? I mean, there are many articles about your interest in effective altruism and various other things, but you know, from one perspective, what does it feel like to have so much money? And then suddenly lose it, how was that experience?

SBF: I basically divide it into two categories. One is my own livelihood, say personal consumption, and from that perspective, my life hasn’t changed much. You know, I live off my salary, which is a substantial salary, $200,000 a year, but not billions. I haven’t changed my lifestyle that much; I really don’t have that much temptation. I never really understood the point of yachts. That was never something I was really interested in. Instead, I think about the impact I can have on the world.

I basically view it through the lens of effective altruism, meaning I have a lot of money to donate, and I think about what I can do that would be most beneficial with it. Some of it goes to, you know, health causes around the world, people, you know, dying from diseases that shouldn’t be dying from, malaria being one of them. Some goes to animal welfare causes, some to pandemic prevention efforts, and various other causes. Of course, some goes to politics. That’s how I consider it from a larger scale because, frankly, you know, there are billions of people in the world, you know, millions of people die every year from neglected tropical diseases, which is an area you can really think about on a very large scale in terms of funding, where billions of dollars can actually be meaningfully utilized.

AH: If you were to gain your freedom, what are your plans?

SBF: You know, money is not the most important thing. I don’t miss money; freedom is what I miss. Right now, I’m still waiting for the outcome of the appeal. If successful, I would re-engage in meaningful work, particularly in technology and finance.

AH: If you find yourself free again, in whatever way, I mean, what are your thoughts on what you might do? Do you want to return to the cryptocurrency space?

SBF: Obviously, that’s very far off, and I would seriously think about what I want to do in the future, even by that time. But I’m trying not to think too much about it now because there’s nothing I can do.

AH: What do you miss most in prison?

SBF: Freedom. What I miss most is the ability to access information and make decisions at any time. I’ve always been working hard to build new things, and now I can only passively wait.

AH: What are your plans next? Well, in the immediate sense, what are your plans for the coming weeks and months? Does it feel like there’s no difference, or does it feel like there’s a narrative arc?

SBF: You know, days go by very blandly. Well, there’s not much to do in prison. You know, I’m used to working hard, and there’s nothing to do here. But from a high-level perspective, one thing is definitely in front of me, which is the resolution of my appeal. Well, we have oral arguments, you know, in the coming, you know, possibly three to six months. Well, you know, I feel cautiously optimistic, but the odds are always against anyone working within the federal criminal justice system. So, cautiously optimistic just means I think there’s a chance and hope the judges can be open and give a careful and critical eye to what’s happening. Beyond that, prisoners can’t really control their lives, so a lot of things happen to me rather than being decided by me.

AH: Thank you, Sam. I hope you can achieve a fair outcome soon.