- Sam Bankman Freed may be in prison, but the NYT reports that he's still keeping his finger on the pulse of cryptocurrencies.
- According to the NYT, Bankman Freed is reportedly sharing cryptocurrency investment tips with prison guards.
- The disgraced FTX founder has been in a Brooklyn jail since August.
Sam Bankman Fried may no longer be the golden boy of cryptocurrency, but the 31-year-old is still willing to give out investing tips, according to the New York Times.
The Times reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, that Bankman Fried was giving cryptocurrency investment tips to prison guards and soliciting them to invest in the Solana cryptocurrency. Ta.
Bankman Freed's representatives declined to comment on the Times report when asked for comment by BI.
Bankman Freed has been held since August at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, notorious for its poor living conditions.
Poor sanitation is probably not the only problem Bankman-Fried has to contend with. The inmate has no access to the internet and is only allowed a radio or his MP3 player. That could be a big problem for Bankman Freed, according to author Michael Lewis.
“It may sound crazy, but I think if he had the internet, he could survive forever in prison. Without a constant flow of information to react to, he would have lost his mind. I think I might go crazy,” Lewis wrote in the book. The rise and fall of FTX's “Going Infinite” was discussed on 60 Minutes in October.
Bankman-Freed's parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Freed, wrote a letter to the court asking for lenient punishment for their son. Freed said in the letter that he was genuinely afraid for “Sam's life in a typical prison environment.”
Fried said, “Sam's outward demeanor, inability to read and respond appropriately to many social cues, and his touching but naive belief in the power of facts and reason to resolve conflicts “You are putting yourself at extreme risk,” he wrote.
The FTX founder was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy in November. Bankman Fried is scheduled to be sentenced on March 28th and could face up to 110 years in prison.
On Tuesday, Mark Mukasey, Bankman Freed's attorney, said in a sentencing memorandum that sentencing his client to 100 years in prison would be “grotesque” and “barbaric.” Mukasey said Bankman-Freed should receive a shorter sentence of five to six-and-a-half years.
“A sentence that promptly returns Sam to a productive role in society is sufficient to comply with the sentencing objectives, but is not unduly severe,” Mukasey wrote.
