Sam Bankman-Fried says, ‘I did what I thought was right,’ in leaked docs: Report

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, facing multiple criminal charges related to alleged misuse of user funds, reportedly denied many of the allegations against him in documents containing a draft of a thread on X (formerly Twitter) that he never posted.

According to a Sept. 14 report from The New York Times, documents provided by crypto influencer Tiffany Fong revealed details about Bankman-Fried’s life while under house arrest as well as his thoughts on the legal team handling FTX’s bankruptcy case. The former CEO, who also goes by SBF, reportedly drafted a roughly 15,000-word X thread but never posted it to the social media platform.

“There will probably never be anything I can do to make my lifetime impact net positive,” said Bankman-Fried, according to the report. “[T]he truth is that I did what I thought was right.”

“The truth is that I did what I thought was right.” Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, wrote a 15,000-word Twitter thread he never posted. Here’s what it said. https://t.co/2C2fCsOSmS

— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 14, 2023

The drafted posts reportedly contained personal information about SBF’s personal relationship with former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, who will testify in his criminal trial starting in October. The drafts claimed Ellison had refused SBF’s requests to stop Alameda’s trading hedges, resulting in him sending a message with “the meanest thing I’ve ever said to her.”

Bankman-Fried has not tweeted anything on X since January, though he likely still has access to the platform and internet access while preparing for his criminal trial. SBF has been largely confined to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn following a federal judge revoking his bail and $250 million bond as a result of allegations regarding witness intimidation.

Prior to his bail being revoked, Bankman-Fried had been largely staying in his parents’ California home for roughly eight months — which is when the drafted tweets were reportedly written. It’s unclear if the documents are already in the hands of prosecutors or will be used during either of his two criminal trials, with the first scheduled to begin on Oct. 3. SBF faces 12 counts related to fraud at FTX and Alameda.

Ellison, in addition to former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame, FTX co-founder Gary Wang and former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh, have already pleaded guilty to similar fraud charges. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

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