SBF accepted an interview for the first time in nearly 10 months: He insisted that he was innocent and used "rice" for arbitrage trading in prison

Original title: SBF maintains his innocence as he trades rice in jail

Original author: Jesse Coghlan

Original translation: Fu How, Odaily Planet Daily

This is the first time SBF has spoken face-to-face with the media since being held in the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in August 2023. In an interview published on May 9, SBF spoke with William Cohan of Puck News, which was organized by SBF's mother, Barbara Fried.

According to the interview, SBF's diet is mainly vegetarian. Because the vegetarian meals at MDC make other prisoners feel "smelly like feces", he mainly lives on beans and rice, and rice has "become a trading currency within MDC." SBF even joked that "arbitrage opportunities in prison are much better than his previous life as a high-frequency trader."

According to Puck News, SBF has lost a lot of weight, losing 25 pounds (11 kilograms), "no longer so fat, less nervous, less restless, and no bags under his eyes." And during the interview, SBF almost kept looking into Cohan's eyes, which SBF was rarely seen doing before. And he sadly admitted that he had "learned to disguise himself" and lived well.

SBF's living area is a large open dormitory that MDC once built for female prisoners, and he lives with 35 other male prisoners-half of whom are reportedly murderers who compromised with the government. However, according to SBF, prison life is very boring, with only four TVs and a tablet that cannot connect to the Internet for entertainment. He can only play games on the tablet. Although there are many murderers among his fellow inmates, SBF is not worried about his own safety. Instead, he often has trouble sleeping because his fellow inmates frequently wake him up - they always ask SBF how much rice he has and want to exchange it.

Although SBF's prison life is colorful because of "rice", he has never given up on getting rid of the crime and has always insisted that he is a "scapegoat". Last month, SBF filed a notice saying that he is appealing against the fraud and money laundering charges.

In addition, SBF talks to his new lawyer for about an hour almost every weekday - after taking the approved prescription medication, SBF's thinking is very clear in the communication.

SBF insisted in the interview that he was framed as a scapegoat for FTX's bankruptcy, and believed that his only negligence was to put FTX in a position vulnerable to bank runs and malicious behavior of competitors, and believed that the reasonable punishment should be civil, not criminal.

Reporter Cohan pointed out that SBF still does not believe that he has committed a crime and portrays himself as an innocent participant who has not been given enough opportunities to consult with prosecutors. And SBF is not sorry for being convicted of helping to embezzle approximately $8 billion in customer funds.

SBF emphasized that the legal team that handed over the company to FTX was the culprit who identified him as the company's bankruptcy; if he stayed in the leadership position of FTX, the company would not have gone bankrupt, but would have been a thriving company worth $80 billion. He added that he should have tried harder to find someone other than his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison to lead Alameda, or simply ignored them and continued running both companies, after his lawyers convinced him that running both the trading firm and FTX was a conflict of interest. SBF has asked to remain at the MDC pending his appeal, which should come in July. But under the terms of the law, SBF could be moved at any time, most likely to be placed in the Central California Jail, close to where his parents are. If that happens, SBF could take a prison bus across the country for four months to reach the California prison. Original link