Sam Bankman-Fried wrote 250-page memo blaming ex Caroline Ellison for FTX collapse, saying their relationship ended because he felt ‘claustrophobic’

•  Bankman-Fried described himself as ‘one of the most hated people in the world’
• He wrote the memo under house arrest in the format of a Twitter thread 
• The 31-year-old faces more than 100 years behind bars for a slew of charges related to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange in November 2022 

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried wrote as 250-page unpublished memo in which he blamed his former girlfriend and lieutenant Caroline Ellison for the cryptocurrency’s collapse – and used Katy Perry and Rihanna music videos to defend himself.

Bankman-Fried described himself as ‘one of the most hated people in the world’ in hundreds of pages he wrote under house arrest in the format of a 15,000-word Twitter thread. He has since had his $250million bail removed and is awaiting trial at Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center.

The 31-year-old faces more than 100 years behind bars for a slew of charges related to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange in November 2022, which came after he allegedly used client funds moved from Alameda for luxury purchases and political donations. 

He never published the pages, which feature his perspective on what led to the FTX collapse, but he shared them with crypto influencer Tiffany Fong, who handed them to The New York Times. The pages had different titles inspired by movies such as Inception and linked to various music videos by Katy Perry,  Alicia Keys and others. 

In repeated mentions, Bankman-Fried blamed Ellison, the CEO of his investment company Alameda Research, for TMX’s implosion, claiming she was ill equipped for the role he gave her, and she refused to implement his trading strategies that would have prevented the collapse. 

He wrote: ‘She continually avoided talking about risk management — dodging my suggestions — until it was too late… Every time that I reached out with suggestions, it just made her feel worse. I’m sure that being exes didn’t help.’

Bankman-Fried and Ellison had a romantic relationship, which ended ‘the same way most of my relationships end,’ he claimed – ‘They want more intimacy and commitment and public visibility than I do, and I feel claustrophobic.’

In a show of what his defense strategy could be like, Bankman-Fried argued Alameda would have stayed solvent if Ellison had agreed to hedge its aggressive trading strategy, as he claims he suggested.

‘If Alameda had hedged, it would have remained solvent and prevented the entire unhappy story,’ he wrote. 

Ellison, 28, told a New York court last year that she ran Alameda Research and essentially had access to an ‘unlimited’ amount of FTX client money.

She pleaded guilty to fraud charges, confessing she agreed with Bankman-Fried to give ‘materially misleading financial statements’ in order hide the arrangement – which she knew was illegal.

In his memo, Bankman-Fried claims this is not true, and he only heard about an an account labeled fiat@, which regulators say was used to rederict costumer funds, in the spring of 2022.

‘I had heard that name before, but I’d never really known exactly what it was,’ he claimed.

In another post, he wrote:  ‘As a general matter, I don’t lie… t’s something that I believe fairly strongly in.’

He shared his perspective of his story from childhood to the collapse of TMX on the memo, sharing a handful of personal images, including one from high school.

Bankman-Fried also claimed Alameda’s co-chief executive Sam Trabucco had ‘soft quit’ by the time the collapse was looming, and spent his time ‘going on dates with a ton of guys while sailing around the world on a boat.’

He linked to Rihanna’s music video for the song Cheers (Drink to That) as he discussed Trabucco, who has not been charged with any crimes. 

Bankman-Fried wrote the pages while confined in house arrest at his parents’ Palo Alto, California, home, where he entertained guests and spent much of his time plotting his defense.

His $250 million bail package, which was the most expensive in US history, severely restricted his internet and phone usage. 

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan revoked Bankman-Fried’s  bail after finding that the former billionaire likely tampered with witnesses at least twice. 

The alleged fraudster has pleaded not guilty to stealing billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to plug losses at Alameda Research, his crypto-focused hedge fund, as well as to to seven criminal charges that he used money stolen from FTX customers to make more than $100 million in political campaign contributions before the 2022 midterm elections. 

Former FTX executive Ryan Salame, Nishad Singh, Ellison and Gary Wang have all pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to cooperate against  Bankman-Fried.

Prosecutors have accused Bankman-Fried of misusing FTX customer funds for personal expenses, high risk bets through affiliated hedge fund Alameda Research and political donations meant to influence crypto regulation. 

Last week he lost an appeal asking to released from jail after complaining he cannot properly prepare for his trial from behind bars.

Bankman-Fried’s lawyers had claimed he was being fed a ‘flesh diet’ and forced to make do with bread, water and peanut butter.

His legal team also complained that the crypto whizz kid, who appeared in Manhattan Federal court was unable to prepare without his correct medication.

Lawyers for Bankman-Fried argued that he needed access to computers and medication to prepare properly.

He was previously granted access to Adderall, after his lawyers told the court that he would take 10mg tablets three to four times a day for his ADHD.

Bankham-Fried was also allowed ‘uninterrupted access’ access to his Emsam prescription for depression by Kaplan on August 14.