SBF's Parents Accept CNN Interview Claiming Customer Funds Fully Repaid, Question Conviction

Gate News reports that on March 23, Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents, Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman, gave their first interview to CNN, claiming that his conviction was unjust and stating that FTX customer funds have been fully repaid. Joseph Bankman said, “The funds have always been there,” and that FTX’s affiliated companies hold billions of dollars in additional assets. Barbara Fried stated that all individuals have received full repayment with interest rates ranging from 18% to 43%.

At the end of March, the FTX Recovery Trust will conduct its fourth distribution, expected to pay out approximately $2.2 billion, bringing the total recovered amount to about $10 billion. Some categories of U.S. customers will achieve 100% recovery, with one category reaching 120%. However, all distributions are denominated in USD and calculated based on asset prices at the time of the bankruptcy filing in November 2022, when Bitcoin was around $16,800, compared to the current price of about $69,000. Sunil Kavuri, a representative of FTX creditors, publicly stated, “FTX creditors have not received full repayment.”

Joseph Bankman described transferring customer funds to Alameda Research as a routine lending activity, but this claim conflicts with proposed legislation in Hong Kong, the EU, and the U.S. that aims to prohibit mixing customer assets after FTX’s collapse. Barbara Fried said that the lawsuit is “essentially political.” The family is pushing for a pardon from President Donald Trump, but Trump stated in a January interview with The New York Times that he would not consider pardoning Sam Bankman-Fried. The probability of this event occurring on Polymarket is 12%. Sam Bankman-Fried’s appeal is still ongoing.