Sam Bankman-Fried Asserts FTX Was ‘Never Insolvent’ — An Overview of His Perspective on Events

Sam Bankman-Fried asserts that FTX consistently possessed sufficient assets to reimburse customers, arguing that the exchange encountered a liquidity issue rather than a genuine balance sheet deficiency, and that current recoveries support his assertion.

In a document dated September 30, 2025, Bankman-Fried and his associates maintain that the $8 billion owed to customers at the time of FTX’s November 2022 bankruptcy “never left.”

He states that customers will receive between 119% and 143% of their owed amounts at the time of FTX’s bankruptcy, with approximately 98% already repaid at 120%. After addressing $8 billion in claims and $1 billion in legal expenses, the estate still retains around $8 billion. The document claims, “In fact, FTX was never insolvent.”

“There have always been sufficient assets to repay all customers—in full, in kind—both in November 2022 and today,” Bankman-Fried wrote.

SBF Describes FTX Collapse As A Typical Bank Run Driven By Panic Withdrawals

He characterizes the collapse as a typical bank run. Withdrawals surged to billions within days, according to the document, while the company sought asset sales and financing and continued to earn trading fees. The authors assert that arrangements were underway to address the shortfall by late November 2022 and that customer withdrawals were beginning to resume.

[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

This narrative challenges the bankruptcy team’s initial claims regarding shortfalls. It argues that FTX and Alameda assets surpassed liabilities in 2021 and through mid-2022, and that the estate’s own January 2023 documents indicated assets were roughly equal to or above customer claims as of the filing date.

Additionally, SBF and his team attribute subsequent decisions made during bankruptcy to the depreciation of value and the prolonged delay in payouts.

Solana, Sui And Anthropic Mentioned As Assets That Increased After FTX Liquidations

Bankman-Fried’s team highlights asset sales they argue were poorly timed. Stakes in tokens and private companies are noted with what the authors describe as significantly higher estimated values today.

They reference Solana, Sui, and Anthropic among positions that would have been worth considerably more if retained through the market recovery, while alleging that insider-favored pricing and substantial professional fees depleted the estate.

They also criticize dollarized payouts. Creditors are receiving the US dollar equivalent of their crypto as of November 11, 2022, rather than the actual coins. The document contends this method denies customers the benefits from the subsequent market rally and states that the prolonged wait exacerbated the disparity between petition date prices and current values.

FTX Once Valued Over $30B Before Swift Decline In 2022

Context is important. FTX was previously valued at over $30 billion with more than a million users.

Its decline followed revelations about the interconnected risks between the exchange and Alameda, a surge in withdrawals, and an unsuccessful rescue attempt.

Following a 2023 trial, Bankman-Fried was found guilty on seven counts, and in March 2024 received a 25-year sentence along with an $11 billion forfeiture, a ruling he is appealing.

The estate has stated it maximized recoveries, citing asset monetization and litigation victories that supported increasing payout projections. Creditors, particularly smaller account holders, have prioritized the speed and certainty of cash, even if that meant sacrificing potential crypto gains.

In contrast, shareholders are recovering only a small portion of their invested capital.

FTX Recovery Establishes Rare Precedent For Crypto Bankruptcies Globally

For the cryptocurrency markets, the near-total recovery of customer funds based on petition-date values represents an uncommon outcome in a significant exchange failure. The discussion over whether repayments should have been made in crypto instead of dollars, and whether the estate liquidated assets too early, will continue to serve as a case study on unwinding a trading platform during a volatile bull market.

Bankman-Fried’s document aims to reinterpret that history. “The answer is they never left,” it states regarding customer funds, concluding that FTX could have reimbursed everyone in 2022 if control had not transitioned to external counsel and the court process.

The courts will determine if that assertion is valid, yet the magnitude of the recoveries has already altered the understanding of insolvency in crypto failures.

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