FTX Had Billions Left? SBF Says the Exchange "Was Never Insolvent”

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the convicted founder of FTX, has resurfaced online with a 15-page document claiming the crypto exchange’s 2022 collapse wasn’t due to insolvency or fraud but to what he calls a “liquidity crunch” mishandled by his legal team.

The document, titled “FTX: Where Did The Money Go?” and shared on X on October 31, 2025, lays out SBF’s version of events, one that shifts blame from his management decisions to external counsel and bankruptcy advisors.

SBF’s argument: FTX had enough to cover Its debts

In the document, SBF argues that FTX had $25 billion in assets against $13 billion in liabilities when it filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, implying the company could have paid customers in full if given time.

He claims seven million users deposited around $20 billion on FTX and that, despite the panic withdrawals, customer funds never disappeared. “The answer is they never left,” the document reads, asserting that nearly all (98%) creditors would receive between 119% and 143% of their claims.

SBF’s calculations are based on recovered assets, including $5.5 billion in cash, $4.6 billion in venture investments such as Anthropic and StarkWare, and a portfolio of Bahamian properties.

He insists the filing for bankruptcy, led by outside lawyers and new management, was unnecessary and cost users billions in legal and administrative fees. According to him, “FTX was never bankrupt, even when its lawyers placed it into bankruptcy.”

Critics call It “revisionist history”

The former CEO’s latest statements have drawn swift backlash from industry observers and crypto analysts. Commentators like @zachxbt on X argue that while creditors were repaid, the compensation was based on November 2022 crypto prices, when Bitcoin hovered around $16,000, not the current market value above $100,000.

That, they say, leaves users effectively underpaid despite the nominally “full” reimbursements.

SBF also revisited his decision to step down, writing that he “felt pressured to resign” and regretted not resisting bankruptcy counsel. “I suspected that something didn’t add up,” he wrote. “I should have trusted those instincts.”

Despite SBF’s claims, court records and his 2023 conviction for fraud and embezzlement tell a different story. The FTX estate has recovered over $16 billion to date, with creditors reportedly largely made whole, but disputes over whether repayments should reflect dollar value or crypto value remain unresolved.

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