Sam Bankman-Fried Stocks Plunge After Unauthorized Interview
1min read Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, has been placed in solitary confinement following an unauthorized interview with right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson. The interview, which was released on Carlson’s YouTube channel on March 6, quickly gained significant attention, with over 730,000 views. During the discussion, Bankman-Fried shared his experiences in prison and offered his perspectives on cryptocurrency regulation in the U.S. He also maintained that he does not consider himself a criminal.
Prison regulations strictly control inmate communications, dictating who can contact them and through what means. The unauthorized nature of the interview led to Bankman-Fried being transferred to solitary confinement at Brooklyn’s metropolitan Detention Center, where he has been held since August 2023. A U.S. Bureau of Prisons representative confirmed that the interview had not been authorized.
Following the interview, speculation about a possible pardon from former President Donald Trump intensified. Although Carlson did not explicitly ask Bankman-Fried if he expected a pardon, the FTX founder appeared open to certain Republican viewpoints. Comparisons have been drawn to Trump’s decision on Jan. 21 to pardon ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road darknet marketplace, who had served 12 years in prison.
Meanwhile, Bankman-Fried’s legal team continues to fight his conviction. In September 2024, his lawyers filed an appeal against his 25-year prison sentence and seven felony convictions. The 102-page appeal argues that he was “never presumed innocent,” citing media coverage and prosecutorial bias as factors that unfairly influenced his case.
Bankman-Fried’s neurodivergence disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), have also been cited as factors that may have impacted his trial. A group of doctors submitted an amicus brief in support of his appeal, claiming that his conditions posed “serious challenges” during the court proceedings. The brief, signed by eight doctors specializing in neurodivergence, highlighted that several rulings during the trial were detrimental to Bankman-Fried due to his conditions.
The amicus brief coincided with another filing by a group of bankruptcy law professors who expressed concerns about the intersection of FTX’s bankruptcy case and Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial. Although they did not take 