Sam Bankman-Fried’s social media account sprang to life this week with a one-word publish that took many crypto traders without warning. The verified X account of the disgraced FTX founder unexpectedly tweeted “gm,” which left many followers surprised and questioning whether or not Bankman-Fried himself was one way or the other again on-line and even out of custody.
Thriller “gm” Put up Causes Confusion
The temporary “gm” publish was the primary exercise on Bankman-Fried’s X account in months. It appeared out of the blue late Tuesday, catching many off guard as a result of the account had been largely dormant since 2023. Coming from a person who simply months in the past was convicted on a number of fraud and conspiracy prices, the seemingly cheerful greeting struck an odd tone.
The publish rapidly had thousands and thousands of impressions and took everybody without warning. Extra importantly, it induced the value of the FTT token to surge by over 45% inside a couple of hours. This was sufficient to push the FTT worth to $1.15, its first break above $1.15 for the primary time in over three months.
Asides from worth response, the publish additionally raised fast questions on whether or not Bankman-Fried had one way or the other regained web entry and even been quietly launched.
Official Phrase: Bankman-Fried Nonetheless Behind Bars
Clues to the publish’s origin got here up quickly after. A brand new disclosure quickly appeared on the account’s bio line: “SBF’s phrases (principally). Shared by a buddy.” This instructed {that a} third get together was managing the account and probably posting messages on Bankman-Fried’s behalf. Certainly, a follow-up assertion from the @SBF_FTX account explicitly addressed the doubts. “No, SBF isn’t posting himself from jail. I’m a buddy posting on his behalf,” the account clarified in a subsequent publish.
In different phrases, the message was bodily posted by another person exterior jail partitions. It’s at the moment unclear whether or not the incarcerated ex-billionaire communicated the choice to publish the cheery “gm” to his affiliate or accredited the publish, however the clarification means that he’s nonetheless behind bars regardless of the web look.
Nonetheless, the publish and its response had been sufficient to warrant feedback from outstanding voices on Crypto Twitter. On-chain investigator ZachXBT delivered probably the most scathing replies, declaring that Bankman-Fried deserves zero human rights in mild of the immense hurt brought on by FTX’s collapse. The remark was later deleted.
Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, joked, “Wen memecoin?” This was a playful jab at how a easy greeting from the jailed founder may trigger such a frenzy.
The weird social media second isn’t with out precedent, as that is the second time Bankman-Fried’s account has been reactivated throughout his incarceration. An identical shock tweet was posted in February, the primary exercise on his feed in two years. That earlier publish additionally spurred confusion and was later understood to be relayed by proxies.
FTX is making ready to launch $1.6 billion to its collectors by September 30. However, SBF nonetheless has a protracted approach to go in finishing a 25-year jail sentence that may maintain him confined for many years to return.
On the time of writing, the value of FTT has cooled down and has shelled out a notable portion of those good points. On the time of writing, the cryptocurrency is buying and selling at $0.9117, down by 9% prior to now 24 hours.
Featured picture from LinkedIn, chart from Tradingview.com
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