Bankman-Fried Receives Special Treatment In Prison, Is Giving Crypto Advice And Trading Mackerel: Report

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced entrepreneur who co-founded the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX, is reportedly receiving special treatment in prison. Apart from serving as a cryptocurrency adviser to prison guards, he is also reportedly trying his hands at mackerel trading.

Bankman-Fried returned to Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center after a jury found him guilty on all seven counts of criminal fraud earlier this month. His sentencing is scheduled for April 2024.

Reports say Bankman-Fried, popularly known as SBF, is receiving special treatment at the prison. He is reportedly being served his preferred vegetarian meals in his cell and getting his "desired Adderall dosage," a drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the Wall Street Journal reported.

But that's not all.

The former crypto billionaire is sharing his cell with high-profile people like Mexico's former secretary of public security Genaro García Luna and Honduras' former President Juan Orlando Hernández.

Bankman-Fried is seemingly adapting well to this new chapter of his life. The fallen crypto mogul is trading mackerel fish to pay for prison services. He paid four macks (pouches of mackerel) for his haircut before the trial, prison consultant Bill Baroni told WSJ.

Mackerel or "pouches of mack" has emerged as the new currency in the prison barter system, replacing cigarettes.

Bankman-Fried is also sharpening his knowledge about cryptocurrency and has been providing tips to prison guards, the report said.

The latest report contradicts what Bankman-Fried's lawyers told the Manhattan federal court in August. They claimed their client was merely surviving on a diet of "bread and water" in prison. They have also repeatedly asked the court to instruct Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center to provide him with his prescribed Adderall medication.

In October, SBF's camp asked the court to provide their client medication during the trial day.

"On behalf of our client, Samuel Bankman-Fried, we respectfully submit this letter in connection with the issues that we discussed with the court and government on Friday relating to Mr. Bankman-Fried's inability to take his prescribed medication during the trial day," the lawyers said.

Bankman-Fried should have "a 12-hour extended-release 20mg dose of Adderall in the morning before he is transported to the courthouse for trial on Monday, October 16," the court filing read.

"We are hopeful that this modification will resolve the situation, but it is not clear that the BOP will, in fact, be able to provide an extended-release dose to Mr. Bankrnan-Fried before the trial resumes on Monday. Even if this occurs, there is no way of knowing at present whether the extended-release dose will be effective for Mr. Bankrnan-Fried," his lawyers argued at the time.