Sam Bankman-Fried may no longer be crypto's golden boy, but the 31-year-old is still happy to provide investing tips, per The New York Times.
Bankman-Fried is reportedly giving crypto investment tips and touting investments in the cryptocurrency Solana to prison guards, The Times reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter.
Representatives for Bankman-Fried declined to comment on The Times' report when reached for comment by BI.
Since August, Bankman-Fried has been held at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, a prison infamous for its poor living conditions.
Poor hygiene probably isn't the only problem Bankman-Fried has to grapple with. Inmates do not have internet access and are only allowed radios or MP3 players. That could be a real problem for Bankman-Fried, according to author Michael Lewis.
"Now, that sounds crazy, but I do think that if he had the internet, he could survive jail forever. Without having a constant stream of information to react to — I think he may go mad," Lewis, who wrote a book on the rise and fall of FTX "Going Infinite," told 60 Minutes in October.
Bankman-Fried's parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, have written letters to the court to plead leniency for their son. Fried said in her letter that she genuinely fears "for Sam's life in the typical prison environment."
"Sam's outward presentation, his inability to read or respond appropriately to many social cues, and his touching but naive belief in the power of facts and reason to resolve disputes, put him in extreme danger," Fried wrote.
The FTX founder was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy in November. Bankman-Fried, whose sentencing is set to take place on March 28, faces up to 110 years in prison.
On Tuesday, Bankman-Fried's attorney, Marc Mukasey said in a sentencing memorandum that sentencing his client to a 100-year prison term would be "grotesque" and "barbaric." Bankman-Fried, Mukasey said, should be given a shorter sentence of five to six-and-a-half years.
"A sentence that returns Sam promptly to a productive role in society would be sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes of sentencing," Mukasey wrote.
