Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents, Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman, assert that no FTX customer lost money, claiming full repayment with interest-18% to 43%-based on November 2022 asset valuations. The FTX Recovery Trust is distributing $2.2 billion this month, bringing total returns to $10 billion, with some creditor classes receiving 120% of their 2022 claims.
But those payouts are fixed in U.S. dollars at Bitcoin’s $16,800 price-not its current $69,000 value. A creditor holding one BTC receives the 2022 dollar equivalent, not the asset or its current worth. FTX creditor Sunil Kavuri bluntly stated: "FTX creditors are not whole."
The Bankmans’ defense hinges on portraying Alameda Research’s use of customer funds as routine borrowing-a rationale regulators in Hong Kong, the EU, and the U.S. explicitly outlawed after FTX’s collapse.
Fried called the prosecution "essentially political," suggesting the Biden administration sought to destroy crypto. The family now seeks clemency from Donald Trump, framing Sam as a brilliant economic asset. But Trump has publicly ruled out a pardon.
Judge Lewis Kaplan, who sentenced SBF to 25 years, also presided over E. Jean Carroll’s case against Trump-a connection the family acknowledges.
Appeals remain pending. Prosecutors reject claims of political bias.
