Sam Bankman-Fried has stirred fresh crypto speculation from prison after reportedly saying he may launch his own token once he is released. According to a new report from New York Magazine, SBF told fellow inmate David Bunevacz that building something serious would require $50 million to $100 million in startup capital, and that he intended to issue a coin after prison because people would likely rush into it.
That comment is drawing attention, but the report also included immediate skepticism. Bunevacz reportedly pushed back and suggested the remark may have been a joke. Even if SBF does try to return to crypto, the report makes clear there is no confirmed product, no launch timeline, and no evidence that a post-release token plan is in motion.
Inside Lompoc: medication, writing, and prison life
The report describes how the 34-year-old former FTX chief is spending his time at the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc, California. SBF is serving a 25-year sentence imposed in 2024 after his fraud conviction tied to the collapse of FTX. New York Magazine said he takes Adderall daily to manage clinical depression and ADHD and is writing a serialized prison memoir titled Manfred.
It also said he has spoken about experiencing anhedonia, or a reduced ability to feel pleasure, while still sounding upbeat in conversations with people outside prison. On the social side, the report said SBF did not join the prison’s race-based groups. Instead, he kept playing chess and cards with inmates from other groups and now holds an independent status.
Pardon filing pushes odds higher and revives FTT speculation
SBF formally filed an application for a presidential pardon with the Trump administration on June 8. After that filing, Polymarket reportedly saw the odds of a pardon for SBF double to around 14%. Over the past year, those odds have moved sharply with the news cycle, ranging from single digits to above 30%, even as the White House had previously said there was no plan to pardon him.
His name also moved a token again. The report said FTT, the exchange token tied to FTX, jumped about 50% intraday after news of the formal pardon filing spread, despite the fact that there is no functioning exchange behind it anymore. That reaction showed how quickly speculative trading can return to SBF-related headlines, even without a live business or an actual token launch.
Appeal denied, sentence still runs through 2044
The pardon request came shortly after a federal appeals court rejected SBF’s bid to overturn both his fraud conviction and sentence. Based on the report, the only confirmed dates are the June 8 filing and the federal prison term that runs through 2044 unless something changes.
What happens next depends on whether the Justice Department’s pardon office acts on the application, whether the White House makes any new statements, and whether SBF’s legal team files additional appeals. For now, the token talk remains just that: talk.