I noticed a pretty wild story unfolding right now. Remember the collapse of FTX and its founder? Well, Sam Bankman-Fried—who was once a crypto king with a valuation of 32 billion— is serving a 25-year prison sentence, but he’s clearly not broken. Recently, he gave an interview from his prison cell and started making quite bold claims.

The most interesting part is his 180-degree political turn. He used to be a major sponsor of the Democrats, and now he sharply criticizes Biden and supports Trump. It’s clear this isn’t just because. Sam Bankman-Fried is clearly hoping for a presidential pardon that could get him out of prison earlier than his sentence requires. As another possibility, he’s looking at the story of the pardon for the Silk Road founder and thinking he might have a chance.

According to him, FTX was not bankrupt at all. He claims that in November 2022 there were enough funds there to pay all clients. The problem, he says, was that external debtors and law firms got involved, which everything slowed down. He even directly accused Sullivan & Cromwell of mishandling the situation. But the twist here is that the FTX Estate is preparing to distribute 11 billion as part of the bankruptcy plan. So his words look like an attempt to shift the blame.

One of the forecasting platforms even calculated the likelihood that Sam Bankman-Fried would receive a pardon within the first 100 days of Trump’s administration. And given Trump’s history of unexpected pardons, it doesn’t sound completely unrealistic.

But here’s the question: even if he manages to get out, will the crypto community believe him again? For now, he remains in prison, but his latest moves show he hasn’t given up and is still fighting for his return. It’ll be interesting to see whether Trump gives him a second chance—or whether this remains just a story about an attempt to save himself.