Odaily Odaily that Sam Bankman-Fried's parents, Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman, gave their first television interview to CNN, asserting that their son's conviction was unjust and claiming that FTX customers' funds have been fully repaid. Joseph Bankman stated that "the funds are still there," and that FTX subsidiaries possess billions of dollars in additional assets. Barbara Fried claims that everyone has received full repayment with interest rates ranging from 18% to 43%.
At the end of March, FTX Recovery Trust will conduct its fourth distribution, expected to release approximately $2.2 billion, bringing the total recovery amount to approximately $10 billion. Some US customer categories will achieve 100% recovery, with one category reaching 120%. However, all distributions are denominated in US dollars. Based on asset prices at the time of the bankruptcy filing in November 2022, when Bitcoin was priced at approximately $16,800, its current price is approximately $69,000. FTX creditor representative Sunil Kavuri publicly stated that "FTX creditors have not received full repayment."
Joseph Bankman described the transfer of client funds to Alameda Research as routine lending, but this statement contradicts the regulatory frameworks in Hong Kong, the EU, and proposed legislation in the US following the FTX collapse that prohibit the mixing of client assets. Barbara Fried called the lawsuit "politically motivated." The family is pushing for a pardon from President Donald Trump, but Trump stated in a January interview with the New York Times that he would not consider pardoning Sam Bankman-Fried. Polymarket rates the probability of this happening at 12%. Sam Bankman-Fried's appeal is still ongoing.
