Key Notes
- SBF claimed that FTX was never insolvent but collapsed due to a liquidity-driven bank run.
- He said that customers will recover up to 143% of their funds, with 98% already repaid more than owed.
- Critics dismiss his defense as revisionist, noting that victims were repaid at 2022’s depressed valuations.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the bankrupt FTX exchange, claimed his platform was never truly insolvent but merely caught in a liquidity crunch.
In a 14-page document dated Sept. 30, 2025, the former FTX CEO claims that the exchange always had enough assets to repay customers, arguing that the ensuing bankruptcy was triggered by panic withdrawals rather than an actual balance sheet deficit.
According to Bankman-Fried, customers will ultimately receive between 119% and 143% of their owed funds, with 98% already repaid 120%. He insists that FTX’s $8 billion customer liabilities “never left,” and that even after covering legal fees of roughly $1 billion, the estate still holds $8 billion in remaining assets.
The document states that there were enough assets with FTX to pay the creditors in November 2022, as well as today.
[SBF says:]
This is where the money went. https://t.co/HVRwEw5Z1k https://t.co/5DrA13L5YE pic.twitter.com/O6q77DvmTn
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) October 31, 2025
SBF Recasts the Collapse as a Bank Run
Bankman-Fried said that FTX’s downfall was a “classic bank run” driven by panic rather than fraud. He claims that during November 2022, billions in withdrawals flooded the exchange in days, outpacing liquidity but not solvency.
The document states that financing and asset sales were underway to restore withdrawals before external lawyers took control and filed for bankruptcy. SBF’s narrative disputes earlier statements from the bankruptcy team that cited multibillion-dollar shortfalls.
[SBF says:]
Yup.
My highest duty was to do right by FTX’s stakeholders: its customers, employees, and investors.
In Nov22, that meant standing strong and being the leader FTX needed, against the lawyers who were trying to place it into a bankruptcy that would end up harming…
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) October 31, 2025
SBF claims that FTX and Alameda Research’s assets exceeded liabilities through mid-2022 and points to the bankruptcy estate’s own early 2023 filings as evidence that customer claims could have been met without court intervention.
Asset Sales and Value Erosion
The document criticized the bankruptcy administrators for liquidating assets prematurely, including Solana
SOL
$186.4
24h volatility:
3.4%
Market cap:
$102.49 B
Vol. 24h:
$7.74 B
, Sui
SUI
$2.35
24h volatility:
4.8%
Market cap:
$8.50 B
Vol. 24h:
$1.32 B
, and Anthropic that have since skyrocketed. Bankman-Fried alleged that “insider-favored pricing” and high professional fees destroyed value that could have been returned to creditors.
His team estimates that petition-date holdings across FTX and Alameda totaled roughly $136 billion, including major positions in Anthropic ($14.3B), Robinhood ($7.6B), Genesis Digital Assets ($1.2B), and SpaceX ($600M), as well as 58 million SOL, 205,000 BTC
BTC
$109 904
24h volatility:
0.3%
Market cap:
$2.19 T
Vol. 24h:
$67.26 B
, and other large crypto holdings.
The paper also disputed the use of US dollar-based payouts instead of crypto, arguing that compensating creditors in fiat based on November 2022 prices deprived them of the upside from the subsequent bull market.
Critics Reject SBF’s Defense
The crypto community rejected Bankman-Fried’s claims, accusing him of attempting to rewrite history. On-chain investigator ZachXBT noted that customers suffered massive opportunity losses, receiving payouts at depressed 2022 prices rather than current market valuations.
I did SBF is just trying to weaponize the fact that every FTX asset / investment has gone up from picobottom Nov 2022 prices when they factually could not pay out users at the time of bankruptcy and instead point the bankruptcy team as the true villain
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) October 31, 2025
While Bankman-Fried and his team continue to assert that FTX was solvent and mishandled in bankruptcy, the courts have already convicted him on seven counts of fraud. In March 2024, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $11 billion, a decision he is currently appealing.
Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
A crypto journalist with over 5 years of experience in the industry, Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world, gathering experience and expertise in the space after surviving bear and bull markets over the years. Parth is also an author of 4 self-published books.
