TL;DR
- Sam Bankman-Fried published a 30-page document this October 31st.
- SBF argues that FTX suffered a liquidity crisis, not a solvency crisis.
- This new narrative directly contradicts the liquidators’ findings.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed exchange FTX, dropped an information bomb this October 31, 2025. In a lengthy 30-page document, SBF presents a bold defense that seeks to rewrite the history of his empire’s fall: “FTX was never insolvent.”
This claim frontally contradicts the accepted narrative by regulators, prosecutors, and the new FTX administration, who described a scenario of massive fraud and a multi-billion dollar financial hole.
SBF’s manifesto is a direct attempt to reframe the collapse, not as fraud, but as a catastrophic liquidity crisis exacerbated by market panic. The publication of this document brings the focus back to the debate over the Sam Bankman-Fried FTX insolvency, an issue that was thought to be settled.
SBF’s Argument: Liquidity Crisis, Not Solvency
The core of Bankman-Fried’s argument rests on the distinction between liquidity and solvency. According to the document, SBF maintains that although FTX could not meet the massive avalanche of withdrawals, the company possessed sufficient, albeit illiquid, assets to cover all customer deposits.
SBF likely argues that the value of the exchange’s assets, including its significant holdings in tokens like SOL, FTT, and other Alameda Research investments, was drastically underestimated amid the panic of the collapse. This narrative directly impacts the public and legal perception of the case, suggesting that the value destruction was caused by the liquidators and the panic, and not by an inherent hole he created.
Following the document’s publication, attention now turns to the response from John J. Ray III, the current FTX CEO in charge of the liquidation, who previously described SBF’s management as an “absolute failure of corporate controls.”
Legal and financial analysts will scrutinize the asset valuations presented by SBF in his manifesto. Investors must watch whether these new narrative gains legal traction or is dismissed as a last-ditch attempt to save his reputation.
The veracity of this bold claim of solvency will be the key point of debate in the coming weeks, especially if it contradicts the forensic audits already conducted on the Sam Bankman-Fried FTX insolvency case.
