FTX Founder is Trading Fish for Haircuts in Prison: WSJ
- FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried traded a few pouches of mackerel with an inmate in exchange for a haircut.
- He is sharing his dormitory with the former Honduran president, Juan Orlando Hernández.
- Recently convicted former top cop of Mexico, Genaro García Luna, is also Bankman-Fried’s cellmate.
- SBF is allowed to have visitors once a week and has access to a specialized laptop to review legal material.
Sam Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF in the digital asset sector, has reportedly been trading fish to get his hair done in prison. As per sources with knowledge of the matter, the former billionaire and disgraced crypto entrepreneur has found a new currency behind bars: mackerel. The FTX founder is currently waiting for his sentencing in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.
As per a report from The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the former FTX chief executive learned the fundamentals of prison economics while sharing his cell with the former Honduran president, Juan Orlando Hernández. Hernández was extradited to the United States on drug charges just weeks after he left office. Additionally, SBF also shares his dormitory with a recently convicted former top cop in Mexico, Genaro García Luna.
The WSJ report states that mackerel has replaced cigarettes as the favored federal jailhouse currency as the officials have banned the usage of cigarettes inside the prison premises. Interestingly, the inmates of the detention center are reported to sometimes use pouches of the preserved fish purchased in a commissary to pay for services from one another.
The FTX founder traded some pouches of mackerels, termed macks, in the prison to get his signature mop top haircut from one of the inmates. Interestingly, the disgraced entrepreneur’s sentencing date has been set for March 2024, and he was found guilty on all seven counts that he was accused of by the jury. Meanwhile, the lawyer’s claim that SBF is innocent of all charges.
As reported earlier by Bitnation, the former FTX CEO once again filed for a bail bond, which was rejected by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which stated that Bankman-Fried’s arguments were “unpersuasive.” The court also added that SBF tampering with two witnesses on pretrial release was a major reason for denying the appeal.
“Sam’s doing the best he can under the circumstances,” Bankman-Fried’s spokesman, Mark Botnick, said.
It is crucial to note that the FTX founder is allowed to have visitors once a week and has access to a specialized laptop that allows him to review legal material. However, the laptop is to be operated in a room that has desks separated by plastic dividers, said people who talked to the WSJ.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
