Sam Bankman-Fried Blames Lawyers, Says FTX Was Never Insolvent

Highlights:

• Sam Bankman-Fried claims FTX held more assets than liabilities at the time of its collapse.
• He blames legal advisors for pushing FTX into bankruptcy.
• Critics argue that FTX lacked liquidity to meet withdrawals in 2022.

In a 15-page statement, Sam Bankman-Fried has reignited the discussion concerning the collapse of FTX in 2022. He claims that FTX was totally solvent at the time and had $25 billion in assets and only $13 billion in liabilities. According to SBF, the collapse was a result of lawyers rushing through the bankruptcy process with the company and not because of the company’s financial incapacity.

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The post shared on X on October 31 argues that customer funds were always accessible in kind and not just in cash. He says that the company faced a temporary problem that had to do with balance sheet deficits and was not due to a lack of equity. He stated,

“FTX was on the path of recovery by the end of November 2022.”

Additionally, the statement goes on to condemn the firm Sullivan & Cromwell and the new FTX chief executive, John J. Ray III, for the forced bankruptcy. SBF alleges that they took over control a few days before the closing of a liquidity deal worth $4 billion.

[SBF says:]

This is where the money went. https://t.co/HVRwEw5Z1k https://t.co/5DrA13L5YE pic.twitter.com/O6q77DvmTn

— SBF (@SBF_FTX) October 31, 2025

FTX’s SBF Points to Lost Value and Missed Opportunities

The document further contains a detailed asset breakdown that illustrates FTX’s past holdings. These consisted of Solana, Ethereum, Anthropic, and Robinhood shares, with a large portion of them increasing their price sharply since 2022. As per SBF, if those stakes were not disposed of, they would now have a value of at least $136 billion. He claims that the legal team mishandled the estate by liquidating assets at “fire-sale” prices.

For instance, FTX’s native coin, FTT, was regarded as having no value throughout the process. However, the token is still valued at $300 million in the market. The document further states that legal and consultant fees during the bankruptcy process consumed over $1 billion in customer value. SBF claims that customers were reimbursed in U.S. dollars calculated at 2022 prices, which greatly reduced the actual value. He further argues that customers should have been reimbursed with the original assets they deposited.

FTX’s creditor documents indicate that the majority of the users got back their initial deposits in the range between 120% and 143%. The amounts, however, reflect the value of November 2022 and not the current market prices of Bitcoin, SOL, or ETH. In SBF’s view, the structure of the payouts reveals the fact that FTX had sufficient assets all along. He insists, “The balance sheet had never suffered a loss, only a setback in the liquidity access.” 

Crypto Experts Dispute the Solvency Narrative

The crypto industry immediately reacted to Sam Bankman-Fried’s allegations. ZachXBT, a blockchain researcher, criticized the document by saying it overlooks some crucial aspects of the crisis in 2022. ZachXBT indicated that it did not matter what assets FTX had; the firm could not process customer withdrawals. The firm further added, “Just because everything is valued more now does not mean that they were able to pay people then.” 

I did SBF is just trying to weaponize the fact that every FTX asset / investment has gone up from picobottom Nov 2022 prices when they factually could not pay out users at the time of bankruptcy and instead point the bankruptcy team as the true villain

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) October 31, 2025

SBF’s lawyers and family are trying to persuade President Donald Trump to pardon him. They cite his prosecution as politically motivated after he changed his political donations. SBF also reflected this narrative in his prison interview with Tucker Carlson.

Additionally, the document reiterates SBF’s earlier assertions made during his trial, where he was blocked from presenting financial records as evidence. He argues that this financial evidence would have proved that FTX and Alameda were never in a losing position. However, a jury found him guilty of fraud in 2023, leading to a 25-year prison sentence.

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