What if an inactive X account of a crypto figure who is imprisoned for fraud suddenly awakens after a while? Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) X account has gone live after a long time. SBF, the founder of FTX — once a leading crypto exchange that collapsed in 2022 due to implosion— is currently serving time in prison. Yesterday, his verified X handle showed a message: “No, SBF is not posting himself from prison. I’m a friend posting on his behalf.” This message appeared after a short greeting – GM (Good Morning).
SBF’s message ignites FTT token surge
So, what did this message spark? Following the unexpected message from SBF’s X account, the price of FTX’s native token FTT spiked!
FTT coin is currently trading at $0.97, following a staggering 17.3% price hike over the past 24 hours. In the wee hours today, the coin went up aggressively, reaching $1.20. Since this sudden surge, FTT has maintained a green signal, although its price is a bit down from the recent high. Before the message popped up from Sam Bankman-Fried’s X account, the FTT token had been constantly trading around $0.82.
The November 2022 collapse of FTX
SBF allegedly misused billions of dollars in customer funds to secretly transfer them to Alameda Research, a trading firm owned by him. FTX did not protect customers’ money as promised. The trading firm then reportedly used the money for high-risk investments. When this illegal activity was revealed, several customers rushed to withdraw their funds from the existing balance the exchange had. As so much of the money had been misused, FTX quickly ran out of funds and collapsed in November 2022.
Currently, SBF is serving a 25-year imprisonment after being convicted on seven counts of fraud.
Existing legal developments
The FTX Recovery Trust — the team responsible for paying back the lost funds to FTX customers — filed a lawsuit against Genesis Digital Assets seeking to recover $1.1 billion in alleged preferential payments. Preferential payments mean that one company was repaid ahead of others just before bankruptcy. Before FTX’s collapse, it gave Genesis Digital Assets nearly $1.1 billion, which the recovery team is now seeking to recover.
Under bankruptcy law, payments made just before a company’s bankruptcy can sometimes be reversed if they are considered preferential payments.
