SBF Plans to Launch Own Coin After Release: 'Everyone Is Jumping on It'

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the bankrupt crypto platform FTX, is causing a stir once again. From prison, he has let it be known that after his release he wants to launch his own coin, and that everyone will jump on it. Whether he means it or not is unclear, but the news is spreading rapidly through the crypto community.

Plans from the cell

New York Magazine publishes new details about SBF’s prison life, who is currently serving a 25-year sentence at Terminal Island. The now 34-year-old Bankman-Fried takes Adderall daily for clinical depression and ADHD, and is writing a serial prison memoir entitled Manfred.

Fellow inmate David Bunevacz asked SBF what he plans to do after his release. His answer was striking: to really make money, you first need $50 million to $100 million to set up a serious business. And then?

“Start my own coin, and everyone’s gonna jump on it.”

Bunevacz adds that SBF was probably joking, and that they probably won’t jump on it either. But you never know for sure.

Pardon request to Trump

In addition to the remarkable statements about a future coin, SBF officially submits a pardon request to the administration of President Donald Trump on 8 June. The news alone causes a significant movement on the prediction market Polymarket: the chance of a presidential pardon doubles immediately to 14%.

Whether Trump actually considers granting SBF a pardon is still completely unknown. The FTX founder was convicted in 2023 of fraud and embezzlement of billions in client funds. A pardon would therefore be a politically controversial step. For now, the outcome remains uncertain, but the odds on Polymarket show that there is at least some room for speculation.