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Sam Bankman-Fried had a plan to get out of prison, and he’s following it

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Sam Bankman-Fried had a plan to get out of prison, and he’s following it

From behind prison bars, Sam Bankman-Fried continues to make headlines. Even though he stole $8 billion from FTX customers, he thinks he has a chance on his 2023 appeal, or his new 2026 pro se (self-represented) retrial request.

In reality, he’s simply following cringeworthy pre-written plans to exploit any media stunt that has a chance of getting him out of prison.

Ever the autist, Bankman-Fried wrote down tactics to get out of custody after his arrest. Haphazardly, he itemized them in a simple Google Doc that soon went through legal discovery processes.

Thanks to a sentencing submission that helped earn him a 25-year prison sentence, the criminal mastermind’s formerly “confidential” document is now in the public domain.

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Putting Bankman-Fried’s January 15, 2023 document side-by-side with his broadcasts from prison today, anyone can quickly identify his premeditated stunts.

Sam Bankman-Fried Google Doc written January 15, 2023. Source: PACER, Bloomberg

For example, he proposed a fake conversion to win over conservatives. “Go on Tucker Carlsen, come out as a republican… Come out against the woke agenda.”

As another way to fabricate sympathetic media coverage, “Have Michael Lewis interview me on e.g. ABC.”

Bankman-Fried was so desperate that he thought an argumentative podcast appearance might be worth a shot. “Go head to head with Matt Levine on Odd Lots, really lean in to arguments.”

To be specific, Bankman-Fried wrote 12 ideas after US authorities indicted, arrested, extradited, and arraigned him. A dozen last-ditch efforts to manipulate the media.

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“Come out with a strong anti-Binance message,” he thought. If only he could convince people to hate CZ more than his own crimes.

A jury convicted Bankman-Fried on seven criminal charges. Although he has a right to file appeals and requests for retrials, those efforts are exceedingly unlikely to gain appellate approval.

The most likely outcome is that his prison sentence will not change, leaving him with only one hope: a presidential pardon.

‘It’s like, just get me out of here’

On the topic of pardons, which Donald Trump has handed out generously to wealthy crypto insiders like Ross Ulbricht and Changpeng Zhao, YouTuber Atrioc summarized his view of Bankman-Fried’s thought process.

“I think after two years in the same jail as Diddy, SBF finally realized, no matter how embarrassing it is, he’s got to use his 10 minutes a week of internet access. Because he recently tweeted this: Why I became a Republican in 2022.”

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Laughing at the obvious self-interest of Bankman-Fried’s broadcast from prison and half-hearted conversion, Atrioc highlighted his difficult-to-believe assertions.

“Biden bungled crypto,” he tweeted from prison via a proxy.

“@realDonaldTrump is right on crypto,” he beamed.

Read more: Diddy joins SBF, Avraham Eisenberg in ‘horrific’ Brooklyn prison

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“Biden bungled COVID,” Bankman-Fried parroted Trump style. “Insane Dem woke policies.”

Atrioc called out these obvious theatrics. “Like you almost have to respect that he waited two years before going for the pardon. He went for the Hail Mary pardon, because Trump’s pardoning every villain you can see. 

“It is the most transparent pardon attempt you can imagine. He tags Trump like every post. It’s just embarrassing, it’s embarrassingly transparent. It’s like, just get me out of here.”

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Crypto World

The Next Crypto Bull Run Won’t Be About Coins or Viral Hype

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Crypto bull cycles over the past 5 years have been mostly about token speculation and, more recently, institutional adoption. But the next cycle will be dominated by real-world applications, according to Clem Chambers – founder of ADVFN, Europe’s leading stocks and markets website

Speaking at BeInCrypto’s Markets Intelligence Council, Chambers argued that the industry is moving past its trading-driven cycle.

“That era has probably ended and certainly is coming to an end. And then that will be replaced by use cases,” he said, pointing to a structural change in how value is created in crypto.

The Trade Is Crowded, The Utility Isn’t

His comments come as the current cycle shows clear divergence between price action and underlying activity. Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to attract institutional flows, especially in a post-ETF environment. 

However, capital is concentrating at the top, while mid-tier tokens struggle to hold attention or liquidity.

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At the same time, a different layer of the market is gaining traction. Tokenized real-world assets, stablecoin-based payment rails, and blockchain infrastructure tied to AI and data are seeing steady growth. 

These sectors generate usage, fees, and in some cases, real revenue — something most speculative tokens failed to deliver in previous cycles.

Forget Tokens, Think Products

Chambers framed this shift bluntly. 

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“Forget Fi and look for apps, not Fi, apps, applications of tokens and blockchains,” he said. 

Earlier cycles focused on financial primitives — DeFi protocols, yield farming, and token trading. The emerging trend centers on applications that users interact with directly, often without focusing on the underlying token.

This aligns with broader market signals in 2026. Tokenized funds from firms like BlackRock and growing stablecoin usage in payments show how blockchain is embedding into existing financial systems. 

Meanwhile, infrastructure sectors such as decentralized physical networks and AI-linked protocols are attracting developer activity and venture funding.

However, this transition is uneven. Speculative trading still drives short-term price moves, and retail participation remains largely momentum-based. 

Many application-layer projects also struggle with user retention and monetization.

Even so, the direction is becoming clearer. If previous cycles were driven by narratives around tokens, the next phase may depend on whether blockchain-based applications can deliver consistent utility.

Chambers’ argument reflects a broader reality: the market is starting to reward usage over hype. 

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Whether that shift fully defines the next cycle will depend on how quickly these applications can scale beyond crypto-native users.

The post The Next Crypto Bull Run Won’t Be About Coins or Viral Hype appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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Drift Protocol Warns of Potential Cybersecurity Exploit

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Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Hacks, Decentralized Exchange

Drift Protocol, a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange (DEX), detected “unusual” trading activity on the platform on Wednesday, warning users not to deposit funds until the issue has been resolved.

The Drift team did not disclose the specific cause of the ongoing incident or the damage in its initial announcement and is currently investigating the issue. 

In a subsequent update, the Drift team announced that deposits and withdrawals on the platform have been suspended. 

Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Hacks, Decentralized Exchange
Source: Drift Protocol

Blockchain cybersecurity threat researcher Vladimir S said the exploit was likely due to a crypto wallet private key leak, and the total funds lost in the incident could be as high as $200 million. 

“Admin signer was compromised, or whoever controls it intentionally executed these changes,” he said

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The stolen assets include wrapped versions of Bitcoin (BTC), Jito (JTO), the Fartcoin (FRT) memecoin, other altcoins, and various dollar, euro, and Japanese yen stablecoins, which have since been transferred to multiple wallets, according to Vladimir S.

Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Hacks, Decentralized Exchange
Source: Vladimir S

The exploiter started converting the stolen assets to the USDC (USDC) stablecoin, bridging the funds to the Ethereum network and purchasing Ether (ETH), according to Solana treasury company DeFi Development Corp.

Cointelegraph reached out to Drift Protocol but did not receive an immediate response by the time of publication. 

Cybersecurity exploits and hacks were responsible for $49 million in crypto losses during February, a sharp decrease from January, but a reflection of the ongoing security threats users and platforms face.

Related: Resolv temporarily halts protocol to ‘contain the impact’ of 80M USR exploit

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Drift token impacted by the exploit

The price of the Drift (DRIFT) token briefly reached $0.68 on Wednesday, but fell by about 18% following news of the exploit, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Hacks, Decentralized Exchange
Drift token falls after news of the exploit. Source: CoinMarketCap

About 83% of the native crypto tokens of hacked platforms never recover to pre-hack prices, according to blockchain security company Immunefi. 

“The stolen funds are only the first layer of damage,” Immunefi CEO Mitchell Amador told Cointelegraph in March.

“What follows is often more destructive: sustained token price suppression, reduced treasury capacity, leadership disruption, lost development time, and erosion of user trust,” he added. 

Magazine: WazirX hackers prepped 8 days before attack, swindlers fake fiat for USDT: Asia Express

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