Sam Bankman-Fried Claims FTX Was ‘By no means Bancrupt’ — Right here’s What Occurred In His View

Sam Bankman-Fried says FTX at all times had sufficient belongings to repay prospects, claiming the alternate confronted a liquidity crunch somewhat than a real steadiness sheet hole, and that present recoveries show his level.

In a doc dated Sept. 30, 2025, Bankman-Fried and his group contend the $8b owed to prospects on the time of FTX’s Nov. 2022 chapter “by no means left.”

He writes that prospects will get between 119% and 143% of what they have been owed on the time of FTX’s chapter, with about 98% already repaid 120%. After protecting $8b in claims and $1b in authorized charges, the property nonetheless holds round $8b. The doc states, “In reality, FTX was by no means bancrupt.”

“There have at all times been sufficient belongings to repay all prospects—in full, in variety—each in November 2022, and in the present day,” Bankman-Fried wrote.

SBF Portrays FTX Collapse As A Basic Financial institution Run Triggered By Panic Withdrawals

He frames the collapse as a basic run on the financial institution. Withdrawals spiked to billions in days, the paper says, whereas the corporate sought asset gross sales and financing and continued to generate buying and selling charges. The authors declare offers have been in movement to bridge the shortfall by late Nov. 2022 and that buyer withdrawals have been resuming.

The narrative disputes the chapter group’s early statements about shortfalls. It argues FTX and Alameda belongings exceeded liabilities in 2021 and thru mid-2022, and that the property’s personal Jan. 2023 supplies confirmed belongings roughly equal to or above buyer claims as of the submitting date.

Additional, SBF and his group blame subsequent selections in chapter for worth erosion and the lengthy delay in payouts.

Solana, Sui And Anthropic Cited As Belongings That Soared After FTX Liquidations

Bankman-Fried’s camp factors to asset gross sales they are saying have been poorly timed. Stakes in tokens and personal firms are listed with what the authors name materially larger estimated values in the present day.

They cite Solana, Sui and Anthropic amongst positions that may have been price way more if held by the market rebound, whereas alleging insider-favored pricing and heavy skilled charges drained the property.

Additionally they criticize dollarized payouts. Collectors are receiving the US greenback worth of their crypto as of Nov. 11, 2022, not the cash themselves. The paper argues this method denies prospects the upside from the next rally, and says the years lengthy wait compounded the hole between petition date costs and present ranges.

FTX As soon as Valued Above $30B Earlier than Fast Unraveling In 2022

Context issues. FTX was as soon as valued above $30b with greater than 1,000,000 customers.

Its fall adopted revelations about intertwined threat between the alternate and Alameda, a rush of withdrawals and a failed rescue.

After a 2023 trial, Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven counts, and in March 2024 obtained a 25-year sentence with an $11b forfeiture, a judgment he’s interesting.

The property has stated it maximized recoveries, pointing to asset monetization and litigation wins that funded rising payout projections. Collectors, particularly smaller account holders, have centered on pace and certainty of money, even when that meant giving up crypto upside.

Shareholders, in contrast, are recovering solely a fraction of invested capital.

FTX Restoration Units Uncommon Precedent For Crypto Bankruptcies Worldwide

For crypto markets, close to full restoration of buyer funds based mostly on petition-date values marks a uncommon final result in a significant alternate collapse. The talk over whether or not repayments ought to have been made in crypto as an alternative of {dollars}, and whether or not the property bought belongings too early, will stay a case research in find out how to unwind a buying and selling platform throughout a risky bull cycle.

Bankman-Fried’s doc seeks to recast that historical past. “The reply is that they by no means left,” it says of buyer funds, and it concludes that FTX might have paid everybody in 2022 if management had not shifted to exterior counsel and the court docket course of.

The courts will resolve if that declare holds up, but the scale of the recoveries has already shifted how insolvency is known in crypto collapses.

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