Instead of Cryptocurrency, Sam Bankman-Fried Trades Mackerel in Prison

Sam Bankman-Fried has learned the economics of the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York. The former cryptocurrency billionaire is reportedly busy trading food for services while in prison. He is awaiting sentencing on seven charges, including wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money.

During his trial in early October 2023, Sam was seen with a neater haircut instead of his famous curly hair. According to the Wall Street Journal , Sam paid for his haircut with canned tuna, a form of prison 'currency'.

Former FTX exchange owner Sam Bank-man Fried quickly adapted to prison life. (Photo: Insider)

It's no surprise that the former FTX boss has adapted so quickly to the new environment. He was a professional trader for most of his career.

In 2013, he interned at trading firm Jane Street Capital before co-founding crypto trading firm Alameda Research in 2017. A year later, he figured out how to arbitrage Bitcoin prices between the US and Japan.

After tobacco was banned in 2014, fish quickly became the 'currency' of choice for US federal prisoners, according to the Wall Street Journal .

Former inmate attorney Larry Levin accepted fish as payment from inmates he represented while serving time at the Lompoc Correctional Facility in California.

He then used the fish to pay for personal services such as beard trimming and shoe shining.

The trend is so popular that Global Source Marketing – a fish supplier – has also seen an increase in demand, according to a 2008 newspaper article.

It makes perfect sense because stable-value products like certain food items and ration cards are used as a substitute for money, which prisoners don't have access to. The value of foods like tuna would be pegged to the US dollar.

Bankman-Fried – who is scheduled to be sentenced on March 28, 2024 – could face up to 115 years in prison for the fraud charges.

However, this is only part of the charges he faces. Sam is also preparing to go on trial for other crimes related to political bribery.

(According to Insider)