SBF Accuses Legal Team of Wrecking FTX's Value via Fire-Sale Moves

A controversial 15-page document posted via Sam Bankman-Fried's (SBF) X account has reignited debate over the collapse of FTX, claiming the crypto exchange was never insolvent and could have repaid all customer funds during its 2022 liquidity crisis, according to a crypto.news report. The post, uploaded by a friend managing SBF's account, argues that FTX faced a temporary cash shortfall rather than insolvency, and that external legal teams forced bankruptcy proceedings, decimating the firm's value, as detailed in a TradingView article.

The document asserts that FTX held $25 billion in assets and $16 billion in equity at the time of its November 2022 collapse, far exceeding its $13 billion in liabilities, according to a Bitcoin World article. SBF's team claims this surplus could have been used to repay customers "in full, in kind," with the remaining assets generating significant returns for stakeholders. Instead, the report alleges that bankruptcy lawyers and new CEO John J. Ray III sold off key holdings—including stakes in Anthropic, Robinhood, and Solana—at fire-sale prices, wiping out over $120 billion in potential value, as reported in a BeInCrypto article.

Central to the argument is the claim that FTX's external counsel, Sullivan & Cromwell, and Ray acted in self-interest, securing $1 billion in fees while misrepresenting the firm's financial health as "hopelessly insolvent," the TradingView article argues. The document highlights specific asset disposals, such as the $600 million sale of Robinhood shares (now estimated at $7 billion) and 58 million Solana tokens sold for $3.3 billion (a fraction of their current value), the BeInCrypto piece notes. SBF's team also criticizes the dumping of FTT tokens, which they argue retained significant value.

The post briefly triggered a 22% surge in FTT's price to $0.84 before retreating, underscoring the token's sensitivity to SBF-related news, the crypto.news report observed. However, the legal narrative remains unchanged: FTX's bankruptcy estate, led by Ray, continues to liquidate assets to repay creditors, with 98% of claimants already receiving 120% of their initial claims, the same crypto.news coverage adds.

SBF's claims challenge the findings of his 2023 fraud conviction, which included evidence of Alameda Research's unauthorized borrowing of customer funds, the TradingView article noted. While the document's assertions about FTX's solvency are yet to be tested in court, they complicate the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and raise questions about the legal team's management of the estate.

The FTX saga, one of crypto's largest collapses, has left over 7 million customers seeking redress. The estate's ability to recover and distribute funds remains critical, with current assets including stakes in Anthropic ($14.3 billion) and SpaceX, alongside crypto holdings like 205,000 BTC, the crypto.news report detailed.

As the crypto community grapples with the latest claims, the debate over FTX's solvency highlights the complexities of untangling financial crises from insolvency, and the enduring influence of SBF's narrative despite his legal status.