Instead of cryptocurrency, Sam Bankman-Fried traded mackerel in prison.

Sam Bankman-Fried quickly became familiar with the economic system of the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York. The former cryptocurrency billionaire is reportedly busy trading food for services while incarcerated. He is awaiting sentencing on seven charges, including cyber fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

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 mackerel, a form of 'currency' used by prisoners.

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

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

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

Following the ban on cigarettes in 2014, fish quickly became the preferred 'currency' for U.S. federal prisoners, according to the Wall Street Journal .

Attorney Larry Levin – a former incarcerated individual – accepted fish as a form of payment from the prisoners he represented while serving his sentences at the Lompoc correctional facility in California.

Later, he used the fish to pay for personal services such as beard trimming and shoe shining.

This trend became so widespread that Global Source Marketing – a fish supplier – also noticed increased demand, according to a 2008 newspaper article.

It makes perfect sense because products with stable value, such as certain food items, are used as a substitute for money, which prisoners have no access to. The value of foods like mackerel would be pegged to the US dollar.

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

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

(According to Insider)

Former FTX CEO faces up to 115 years in prison for seven charges . The month-long trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried concluded on November 2nd. The jury found the former billionaire guilty of all seven charges.

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