FTT, the native cryptocurrency for the now-defunct FTX crypto exchange, saw a major surge earlier on Tuesday, skyrocketing around 45% in less than two hours to tap $2.25, following Sam Bankman-Fried’s first tweet in two years.
Notably, the embattled former FTX CEO, currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for fraud, broke his social media silence late Monday to weigh in on recent mass layoffs within the U.S. government.
“I have a lot of sympathy for gov’t employees: I, too, have not checked my email for the past few (hundred) days. And I can confirm that being unemployed is a lot less relaxing than it looks,” he wrote.
Bankman-Fried’s post, with restricted replies, also addressed workplace forces.
“Firing people is one of the hardest things to do in the world. It sucks for everyone involved. My experience: a) it is usually not the employee’s fault that they got fired, b) it is usually correct to let them go anyway.” He added, “More often, the problem is that the company just doesn’t have the right job for them.”
His tweet ignited speculation across the crypto community, prompting renewed interest in FTX-related assets. Previously trading at $1.55, FTT briefly spiked before pulling back to $1.69 at press time. Analysts linked the rally to traders betting on FTX’s bankruptcy case developments.
However, skepticism quickly followed, as Bankman-Fried remains in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where direct social media access is prohibited.
“Pretty sure access to X isn’t allowed in federal prison lol. Who is posting from his account?” one user questioned.
Alex Thorn, head of research at crypto investment firm Galaxy, speculated that the account may have been compromised, tweeting, “Hacked a gov’t account and changed the name most likely,” after a user asked how SBF’s account had been gray-checked.
Meanwhile, Unchained Podcast host Laura Shin joked about Bankman-Fried’s sudden concern for employees, quipping, “I wonder why none of the reasons he lists for having to let employees go is the one he would be most familiar with: perpetrating an $8 billion fraud.”
Some speculate that his lawyers or close associates may have relayed the messages through the Corrlinks system, which allows federal prisoners to communicate externally.
That said, the latest tweet comes just days after SBF reiterated in an interview with The New York Sun last week that FTX was solvent but illiquid at the time of its collapse.
“At that time, there were enough assets to pay off all clients. The problem is that the liquidity crisis caused panic in the market and made it impossible to quickly cash out funds,” SBF had claimed.
His first interview from prison coincides with FTX beginning to reimburse customers what it claims is the full amount they lost. However, compensation is based on cryptocurrency prices at the time of FTX’s 2022 collapse, sparking criticism from victims.
SBF further insisted he has evidence proving he did not misappropriate billions in user funds and that the cash was available. Notably, the disgraced FTX founder also appealed to former U.S. President Donald Trump for clemency, claiming that his prosecution was politically motivated by pressure from the Biden administration. creator solana token
