Former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Federal Courthouse following a bail hearing on July 26, 2023
Former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Federal Courthouse following a bail hearing on July 26, 2023. AFP

KEY POINTS

  • The photo was reportedly snapped in mid-December at the MDC Brooklyn
  • A recently freed inmate told content creator Tiffany Wong that SBF now has a "full beard"
  • The freed inmate beside SBF started a campaign to "free Sam"

A prison photo of disgraced FTX co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has emerged months after he was found guilty of federal fraud and conspiracy charges, marking the first time a supposed prison image of the ex-crypto mogul came to light.

Content creator Tiffany Fong on Tuesday unveiled the photo on X (formerly Twitter), saying she "literally had to get this photo from prison inmates."

Fong said in a series of tweets on the social media platform that the "first photo" of SBF in jail at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) Brooklyn was taken on Dec. 17, 2023. The image shows the former crypto darling with other people whose faces have been blurred, save for an inmate beside SBF.

The person beside Bankman-Fried, whom Fong calls G Lock, revealed in an interview with the content creator that inmates were only allowed to snap photos on Christmas and Father's Day. Fong said the full interview will be uploaded on her YouTube channel in the coming days.

"As you can see, he's hanging out with other inmates and he looks a little bit out of place. And, he's obviously lost some weight, and I've heard that he's not showering very much – he's not as clean shaven as he used to be," Fong noted.

Fong posted a preview of her interview with G Lock on X, where the ex-gang member refers to Bankman-Fried as his "son." G Lock went on to reveal that SBF now dons a "full beard" and is "scruffier than a motherf*****." G Lock, who was recently freed, said the the fallen crypto icon was not getting beat up in jail.

He has since started a campaign to "free Sam Bankman." He called on U.S. President Joe Biden to pardon the fraud convict before leaving the White House, saying the president knows "what's up."

The emergence of SBF's photo comes weeks after FTX, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange that he founded, announced it would no longer pursue a relaunch of the collapsed exchange.

Andy Dietderich, FTX's attorney, said at a bankruptcy court hearing in Delaware that none of the investors and potential bidders the new FTX administration negotiated with were willing to put their money in the relaunch.

"FTX was an irresponsible sham created by a convicted felon. The costs and risks of creating a viable exchange from what Mr. Bankman-Fried left in a dumpster were simply too high," he pointed out.

Meanwhile, SBF himself may have found some reprieve as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed last month that it no longer plans to pursue more charges against Bankman-Fried.

The decision was met with widespread criticism from crypto figures, with some calling the move a "miscarriage of justice."

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