Original author: Jaleel Jialiu
"What the actual fuck, we can't use pillows? Can't we even sleep?"
On December 13, 2022, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was formally arrested by the Bahamian police. If we count from that day, it was 720 days that SBF was in prison, exactly two years.
"I miss my little bear pillow, it's called Manfred," SBF wrote in his diary. This little bear pillow named Manfred is the longest content in the first three chapters of SBF's diary, except for the description of his cellmate, after experiencing the confiscation of $11 billion in property and 25 years in prison.
SBF's prison in Brooklyn MDC, New York, exterior
Outside the prison, the busiest person is SBF's father. In addition to preparing for SBF's legal appeal, his father has also hired a Forbes writer, Walter Pavlo, as SBF's advisor, focusing on writing about prison topics.
According to an informed broker, SBF's autobiography could bring in millions of dollars in advance payments for publishers. "The motivation behind SBF trying to find a publisher for his diary is unclear. It is clearly not for money."
Due to asset forfeiture policies, all of SBF's property and potential income, including any income from publishing a memoir, will be used to repay his debts and compensate the victims of his fraud. This means that even if the publication of the memoir brings in a large income, this money will be directly used to compensate those who suffered financial losses due to the bankruptcy of FTX.
In SBF's eyes, all his cellmates are gorillas.
"His writing makes it seem as if he is Jane Goodall," said someone who has read the first three chapters of SBF's diary. I find this analogy quite vivid. This biologist is the world's most renowned expert on chimpanzee research, and her studies on chimpanzee social and family interactions have lasted for 60 years.
I found a quote from Jane Goodall: "In the first ten years of my research, I believed that chimpanzees were friendlier than humans until I observed that dominant females would deliberately kill the infants of other females in their group to maintain their dominance, and even resort to cannibalism. They have a dark side to their nature, just like us."
Next, SBF writes as if he observes and studies his fellow inmates like 'chimpanzees':
"Most people will be assimilated into prison; they will fight over a banana and will use everything they have to trade for another chance to get high."
"A drug called Deuce is widely used here; I can't tell what it's made of, I only know it is smuggled into the prison by soaking it into ordinary paper. Those who use it turn into zombies every night."
"In prison, there are two types of people: one type is the long-term prisoners who have consciously given up hope for life." The other group is the one SBF belongs to: "How do you resist the system when it deprives you of the freedom to fight back? When your true self is seen as such a huge threat to society that you must be locked away until you ultimately give it up, how do you remain loyal to your true self?"
It is said that after experiencing significant events, people go through several stages of psychological change: numbness - disbelief, refusal to accept the facts; blame - blaming others and oneself for not managing the situation well; depression - accepting what has happened and feeling sad and depressed; recovery - getting through the depression and starting a new life.
Having been born into a highly educated family, SBF finds his current life quite shocking. He seems to take longer than most people to process his emotions after significant events. Even after two years of imprisonment, SBF appears to be stuck in the first and second stages. His diary always depicts a 'cold observation' of everything around him, conveying that 'he does not belong here.'
On the 720th day of his imprisonment, SBF misses his teddy bear
Sleeping in prison is not too good; MDC, this insomniac place, is filled with inmates' screams and curses even at night, and the lights are always in a dim state, making it hard to discern time, which is very uncomfortable for SBF.
Since he was two years old, SBF has had a stuffed bear named Manfred. This unassuming bear has witnessed his journey from Stanford to Boston University, to his career as a trader in New York, and from Berkeley and Hong Kong to founding Alameda and FTX in the Bahamas, marking the most important moments of SBF's life.
At the loneliest moment of his life, Manfred is his only comfort. "I really miss Manfred," he wrote in his diary.
Image source: @LilMoonLambo
In MDC, a comfortable pillow is almost a luxury. SBF attempted to use his court suit or stacked towels and prison clothes as a substitute for a pillow, but these temporary solutions provided little comfort, "My neck is starting to hurt," he helplessly stated.
Until he exchanged two muffins for a pillow improvised by a drug-addicted cellmate filled with mattress stuffing and T-shirts. This small improvement made his nights a bit easier.
In prison life, sports betting has become a pastime for many inmates. One day, an inmate named Harry shared his betting strategy with SBF: "Bet $100 first; if you lose, bet $250; if you lose again, bet $600; and so on, until you win back all your bets."
SBF wrote with a tone of disdain: "I really couldn't bear to tell him that this trading strategy is a typical 'gambler's fallacy.'"
Although SBF presents a physique like an 80-year-old in prison, no one understands 'gambling' better than him in this regard. Life in prison mainly consists of beans and rice, and rice has 'become a form of currency within MDC.' SBF even jokingly stated, "Compared to his previous life as a high-frequency trader, the arbitrage opportunities in prison are much better." He is finally able to act like the proud trader he was, continuing to look down on everything around him, whether it is the people here or the life here.
Arrogant people are more likely to succeed but also more likely to mess things up. This explains why he took the stand in court to counter the three star witnesses on the opposite side, even though his lawyer and a prosecutor advised him that the odds of self-representation were quite low. Historically, very few defendants have successfully defended themselves, and in his 22-year career, he has only seen one defendant succeed in self-defense.
But SBF is stubborn, and almost had a falling out with his own lawyer, causing a chaotic scene.
Christmas 2023, SBF's photo in MDC prison
On the other hand, in stark contrast to SBF is CZ, who has completed a $4.3 billion fine and spent four months in a U.S. prison. In previous court appearances, he was photographed wearing a neat suit and looking at ease.
CZ enters and exits the courtroom
In addition to the apology letter written by CZ himself, the judge also received a 43-page plea letter, the longest in history, from CZ's family, friends, and colleagues, presenting a more rounded image of CZ to the judge.
Though both experiencing prison life, CZ's style is completely different from SBF's: "This experience has made me reevaluate the most important things in life. I miss my children, family, friends, colleagues, and community. I miss other things too, but not nearly as intensely as I miss people. You will miss food, a comfortable bed, but these things don't affect me as much."
When asked if he made friends in prison, CZ's answer was affirmative, "Yes, you must make friends; it can be very difficult if you are isolated and unsupported." He expressed sympathy for prisoners who serve long sentences for minor offenses and maintains contact with some friends.
CZ has also started working out, which may have been a preparation he began before his imprisonment to prevent being seen as 'an 80-year-old's physique' in prison. A little over a month after being released, CZ appeared at the Dubai Binance Blockchain Conference, looking better than everyone expected and receiving a warm reception from the audience. The headline in foreign media that day read 'The King Is Back.'
If SBF were still around
When SBF was arrested, the price of BTC was $16,000, and now the price is $100,000. In these two years, SBF has missed out on too much in the crypto industry.
Some say, 'Success or failure defines a hero.' CZ has a much richer life experience than SBF, showing greater resilience in adversity. However, others argue that if SBF were still around, the current market environment might be different.
"If SBF hadn't gotten into trouble, the market would definitely be better now." This is a common sentiment among many old investors who experienced the golden period of FTX and SBF.
"For example, the market has plummeted in the past few days. If FTX were still operational, retail investors would have more opportunities to make money. The most typical example is the basket of altcoin indices of FTX, which allows for long and short positions on the entire altcoin index rather than on a single altcoin."
However, after the collapse of FTX, the product sector of this 'altcoin index' remains vacant, and currently, no platform in the market offers similar services.
The collapse of FTX did not just mean the loss of a trading tool; it was also a significant blow to the liquidity of the crypto market, causing liquidity in the industry to shrink rapidly. "The entire industry has regressed by at least three years," was the instinctive feeling of many, including Sun Yuchen.
"SBF and FTX understand the market better than any trading platform currently in the market."
SBF's background as a trader left a deep impression on the market, and everyone believes he is more sensitive to market trends. Many believe that if SBF were still around, his insights and innovative abilities would elevate emerging sectors like Solana to new heights, thereby lifting the entire industry.
On the 720th day of his imprisonment, SBF misses his teddy bear pillow, Manfred. Meanwhile, there are still people outside who reminisce about SBF's golden era.
References:
1, (Sam Bankman-Fried Is Shopping His Prison Diary – Here's A Peek Inside), Steven Ehrlich, Forbes;
2, (SBF maintains his innocence as he trades rice in jail), Jesse Coghlan;