Key Highlights
- Bankman-Fried says he never filed for bankruptcy; lawyers allegedly forced the filing to gain control.
- Law firm Sullivan & Cromwell installed their own representative to run FTX entities and manage funds.
- Claims could affect FTX.US customers, ongoing litigation, and asset recovery efforts.
In a shocking revelation on X, FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has claimed that the cryptocurrency giant was never bankrupt and accused the lawyers overseeing the company of orchestrating a “bogus” bankruptcy filing to gain control of its assets.
Bankman-Fried shared a court document screenshot and commentary, emphasizing that he never filed for bankruptcy himself and that his warnings to the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell (S&C) and company executives were ignored.
“FTX.US should not filed bankruptcy”
According to Bankman-Fried, he advised FTX.US leadership that bankruptcy was unnecessary:
I then told Mr. Miller that FTX.US should not file bankruptcy at all until it was certain that there were insufficient assets at FTX.US… the tech team checked the wallets and had told the FTX International general counsel at the time of the disclosure of the customer deficit that FTX.US was not affected.
He further emphasized that FTX.US could have been sold as a going concern, which would have allowed preferred shareholders to be paid back.
Lawyers take control, push bankruptcy
Bankman-Fried claims the decision to file for bankruptcy came from lawyers rather than management: “Mr. Miller stated that he needed to include FTX.US as part of the bankruptcy because FTX.US had the cash to pay S&C its retainer. Without this retainer from FTX.US, S&C wouldn’t file.”
He alleged that the law firm then placed their own representative in charge of all FTX entities: “Mr. Miller informed me that S&C was installing ‘S&C’s guy’ to run all the companies.”
Conflict of interest and misused funds
The FTX Founder also criticized S&C’s role and questioned the firm’s conflicts of interest and costs:
I told Mr. Miller that S&C was not the proper law firm to select because of the claims and conflicts, as well as the exorbitant costs of the firm. Mr. Miller told me that there was over $200 million cash in LedgerX and that he was going to send these funds to S&C, and that bankruptcy legal costs were therefore not a problem.
Bankman-Fried implies that the lawyers prioritized their financial gain over proper management of the exchange.
FTX was “never bankrupt”
Bankman-Fried’s most striking claim is clear and direct: “FTX was never bankrupt. I never filed for it. The lawyers took over the company and 4 hours later they filed a bogus bankruptcy so they could pilfer it for money.”
This statement underscores a growing controversy over how FTX International collapsed and the treatment of FTX.US customers.
FTX was never insolvent
At the end of October 2025, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) resurfaced online and shared a 14-page document titled “FTX: Where Did the Money Go?”, claiming that the exchange was never truly insolvent.
The document, authored by Bankman-Fried and his team, states that FTX had roughly $25 billion in assets and $16 billion in equity against $13 billion in liabilities at the time of its November 2022 collapse, and that 98% of customer claims have now been repaid at or above 120%. Even after paying $8 billion in customer claims and $1 billion in legal fees, the estate reportedly still holds $8 billion in remaining assets.
Over seven million customers deposited around twenty billion dollars… When customers tried to withdraw their money, FTX filed for bankruptcy with $8 billion still owed to customers. Where did those billions go? The answer is they never left, the document says.
Bankman-Fried frames the collapse as a liquidity crisis rather than insolvency, claiming the crisis “was on track to be resolved… until FTX’s external counsel seized control.” The document also lists $4.6 billion in investments across 300 companies, including Anthropic, StarkWare, Mysten Labs, Anchorage Digital, Genesis Digital Assets, and Yuga Labs, emphasizing that the assets never left the company.
SBF alleges political targeting and suppressed evidence
In a lengthy thread on X yesterday, SBF accused the Biden administration of targeting him politically and suppressing key evidence during his trial. He claimed that the Department of Justice (DOJ) prevented him and his associates from presenting documents that would have shown FTX was solvent and that no customer funds were missing.
SBF compared his case to that of former President Donald Trump, alleging that similar “lawfare” tactics were used to prosecute political opponents. He said prosecutors created charges, imposed gag orders, and blocked defenses, all to ensure that the narrative of wrongdoing stuck.
According to SBF, legal filings and internal communications that could have proven his claims were excluded, including a 70-page document prepared by a prosecutor documenting evidence the jury was not allowed to see.
He also described threats made against associates, including Ryan Salame, whose cooperation was coerced, and whose defense was allegedly hampered despite supporting evidence from emails, memos, and legal work. SBF framed the entire episode as politically motivated, emphasizing that the focus was on silencing him and others rather than delivering justice.
Throughout the thread, he reiterated that FTX always had sufficient assets and that the allegations of bankruptcy and misappropriation were false, asserting that the truth was suppressed in court by Judge Kaplan, who he said “rubber-stamped” the government’s decisions.
Conclusion
Sam Bankman-Fried’s latest statements add a new twist to the FTX story, directly challenging the widely reported idea that the company was insolvent or mismanaged. Between the 14-page document he released in October 2025, his claims about the alleged bogus bankruptcy, and his recent X thread describing political targeting and suppressed evidence, SBF portrays FTX as a company that always had enough assets but was thrown off course by lawyers and administrative decisions.
It remains unclear how much these claims will change public opinion, affect ongoing court cases, or influence what creditors ultimately recover. What is certain is that the discussion around FTX’s collapse is far from settled, and these new revelations are likely to keep the controversy alive for some time
This is a developing story, and more details are expected as additional court documents and clarifications become available.
Also Read: SBF Claims DOJ Used “Political Lawfare” to Secure FTX Conviction
