Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and trading firm Alameda Research, reveals the economic realities of prison life in New York’s Metropolitan Detention Center, including using fish to pay for haircuts. The Wall Street Journal reported that they adapted quickly to . People who are knowledgeable about the matter.
Learning from prisoners including a former Honduran president and Mexico’s top cop, the former Jane Street trader moved away from his $30 million Bahamian penthouse cryptocurrency billionaire lifestyle to trade high-value digital assets to become a mackerel trader. This is the currency used in federal prisons since the 2004 tobacco ban.
The trend among prisoners to use foods such as mackerel, colloquially known as “macks”, as currency within prisons highlights a system in which stable, tangible goods have replaced inaccessible traditional currency.
Macks are not immune from inflationary pressures and prison demands from the outside world. A bag of mackerel fillets reportedly costs $1.30 through a Brooklyn jail commissary, up 30% from $1 in 2020.
Bill Baroni, a prison consultant who spent time in prison, told WSJ that he paid $4 for a haircut while in prison. “The Mac currency system is much more stable than cryptocurrencies,” Baroni added.
Providing Cryptocurrency Tips to Prison Guards
During Bankman-Fried’s digital asset trading period, he was seen giving cryptocurrency tips to prison guards, a source told WSJ.
A Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson told WSJ that the agency could not comment on the conditions of detained individuals for privacy and security reasons.
“Sam is doing the best he can under the circumstances,” Bankman-Fried spokesman Mark Botnick told WSJ.
SBF is found guilty of all charges and his application for release is denied.
Bankman-Fried, who is currently awaiting sentencing on charges including wire fraud and money laundering, was spotted sporting a stylish new haircut at a recent court appearance.
Bankman-Fried was found guilty Nov. 2 of defrauding FTX’s customers, lenders and investors. FTX was a leading cryptocurrency exchange until its dramatic collapse a year ago. “The largest financial fraud in American history”
He faces up to 115 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 28. Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied Bankman-Fried’s latest attempt to be released. example.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet delivering news, research and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor in The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the cryptocurrency space. Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget is an anchor LP of Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to provide objective, impactful and timely information about the cryptocurrency industry. Below are our current financial disclosures.
© 2023 The Block. All rights reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not provided or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice.