SBF Says FTX 'Was Never Insolvent' in Interview; Crypto Community Calls It Spin

SBF Faults Lawyers, Regulators in New Interview—Skeptics Cite User Funds and Risk

In the interview—titled “FTX Was Never Insolvent: My Prison Interview with Sam Bankman-Fried”—SBF claims FTX held roughly $15 billion in assets against $8.4 billion in liabilities when control shifted in November 2022, and that a court-led liquidation sold into market lows rather than managing a recovery for customers and creditors.

The X account @amuse has built quite a following — about 666,700 strong as of 2025 — and it’s not exactly shy about its political flavor. Its reach isn’t just measured in follower counts, either. The X account @amuse’s influence gets a major boost from being followed by big names like Elon Musk, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, and a roster of well-known conservative heavyweights who’ve helped cement its influential status.

In the @amuse interview, Bankman-Fried further asserts the estate billed more than $1 billion in professional fees while offloading assets before a rebound, leaving “billions that could have been recovered” on the table; he estimates as much as $125 billion in potential additional value if handled differently.

Bankman-Fried frames the collapse as a leadership mistake amid regulatory distraction and conflicting legal advice—not fraud—arguing he ceded control under pressure and that “it helped the lawyers.” He says he failed to rein in Alameda’s risk but rejects the “villain who stole billions” portrayal.

He also contends recoveries show customers and creditors are being made whole or better due to asset appreciation—evidence, he says, that the case was a liquidity crunch compounded by panic and poor counsel.

Regulatory friction is a recurring theme in the Q&A: SBF says the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under Chair Gary Gensler rejected FTX’s compliance frameworks and that federal oversight imposed contradictory busywork that sapped focus from risk safeguards.

He argues that, left to “recover naturally,” FTX could have been a comeback story; instead, the process became, in his view, a “feeding frenzy for professionals.”

Reaction across crypto X was swift—and largely dismissive. One finance lawyer, Scott Johnsson, wrote: “Yes, of course, the $2.5 billion mtm in illiquid SRM tokens and Bahamian real estate were just waiting to save the day if those nasty bankruptcy lawyers didn’t get in the way. Guy has absolutely no shame.”

Tangent co-founder Jason Choi added:

“This has got to be a paid post. FTX was an exchange. It wasn’t supposed to gamble with user deposits, regardless of whether it was profitable or not.”

Former Fox Business journalist and host of Crypto America, Eleanor Terrett, wrote: “Looks like Laura Loomer was on to something here.” Loomer had previously alleged a right-wing effort to persuade President Trump to pardon SBF.

Another X user posted a detailed rebuke, summarizing claims that SBF “stole $11b in customer funds,” showed “willful negligence” on cold storage, and “treated FTX as his personal piggybank,” concluding that a pardon “would make a mockery of our industry.”

Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, weighed in:

“The lawyers made me do it continues to be the lamest excuse ever. Lawyers make recommendations; (real) CEOs make decisions.”

Ryne Miller, former general counsel of FTX US, disputed SBF’s premise, writing that “the assets were gone,” the “portfolio” was highly speculative and built with “misappropriated user assets,” and that in November 2022, “the founders were fabricating asset lists.” He added that bankruptcy “dollarizes claims.”

Miller insisted:

“The assets were gone; I had clear and unambiguous discussions with mgmt about this when I was briefed into the situation. Folks suggesting otherwise are delusional.”

The @amuse interview puts Bankman-Fried’s preferred narrative on the record, but the broader reaction shows a community still unconvinced—many argue that even improving recoveries cannot rewrite how assets were handled before the collapse.

FAQ 💡

• What did SBF claim in the @amuse interview? He said FTX held about $15B in assets vs. $8.4B in liabilities at filing and that bankruptcy decisions—not fundamentals—destroyed value.
• Did he address customer recoveries? Yes; he argues recoveries show customers and creditors are whole or better due to asset appreciation.
• What role did regulators and lawyers play, according to SBF? He says regulators imposed contradictory tasks and that lawyers pushed bankruptcy, sold early, and charged over $1B in fees.
• Why is the community skeptical? Critics point to alleged misuse of customer assets, fabricated lists in November 2022, and argue recoveries don’t excuse pre-collapse decisions.