It’s a coin? It’s a token? It’s a fish.
After the hurricane that brought him down from a crypto-bro billionaire boy-wonder to convicted felon, Sam Bankman-Fried has to rapidly adjust to his new life – and it does appear that he has.
He was once the second biggest democrat donor, after only George Soros, and pontificated about ‘effective altruism’, before his reputation took a mortal blow and he was charged with and convicted of 7 counts of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud.
Now, it appears that Bankman-Fried is involved in prison economy, dealing in ‘macks’. Not a coin or a token – a fish.
It didn’t take long for SBF to learn the economic system of New York’s Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC).
Business Insider reported:
“The disgraced founder of the crypto exchange FTX has been keeping busy by swapping food items in exchange for services as he awaits sentencing on seven felony counts that include wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The new polished haircut he has been seen with in New York courtrooms appears to be thanks to an inmate. In a Thursday report, a source told The Wall Street Journal that SBF paid for a haircut with packaged mackerel, a type of pelagic fish that is a choice of currency among inmates.”
He has been a professional trader for much of his career, no one should be surprised if he ‘corners the market’ for ‘macks’.
“The fish, popularly referred to as ‘macks’ among inmates, had been the choice of currency in federal prisons since 2004 after cigarettes were banned, sources told the Journal in 2008. Global Source Marketing, a supplier of the fish, told the Journal in 2008 the trend had become so popular that it felt the increased demand.
There’s economic logic behind the trend. Products that have steady value, such as certain food items and stamps, are used as a steady means of exchange to substitute for currency, which inmates cannot access. Food items such as mackerel and tuna are stable commodities with a value that can be pegged to the dollar.”
He is to be sentenced on March 28, 2024 – and is facing up to 115 years in prison for the fraud charges.
He is also set to stand trial for separate charges related to political bribery.
Crypto Slate reported:
“Bankman-Fried has been placed in a dormitory with Juan Orlando Hernández, a former Honduran president who is awaiting trial over acceptance of bribes from drug traffickers. Both appear to be on good terms: Hernández’s lawyer said that the two inmates have held ‘cordial conversations’.”
He now gets his vegetarian meals and ADHD medication in prison in a steady supply.
“It noted that Bankman-Fried is allowed to see non-attorney visitors once a week. He has also been granted access to a special laptop for the review of legal documents, though his computer use is restricted to a dedicated room with divider desks.”
“Bankman-Fried has also provided advice regarding cryptocurrency investment to guards, according one of the Wall Street Journal’s unnamed sources.”
After sentencing, SBF will leave the notoriously tough MDC for a federal prison to serve his full sentence.
Read more:
