SBF’s “gm” Post Sends FTT Soaring 25% Despite Jail Time

TL;DR Breakdown

A surprise “gm” post from SBF’s X account sent FTT soaring nearly 60% before cooling to 25%.
The spike arrives ahead of the FTX Recovery Trust’s $1.6B payout.
Despite SBF’s clarification that a friend posted, traders piled in, with active addresses and exchange flows surging.

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) may be serving time, but his social media presence is still moving markets. His long-dormant X account unexpectedly posted a simple “gm” shorthand for “good morning” on Tuesday. However, within a few minutes, the token tied to his collapsed FTX exchange skyrocketed.

FTX Token (FTT) has traded with little relevance since FTX’s implosion in 2022. It spiked nearly 60% at its peak before cooling to a 25% gain of around $1.01. The surge came despite a clarification that the post was made not by SBF himself but by a “friend” operating his account.

This surge came in when the biggest of the cryptos failed to pick up the bullish momentum. Bitcoin price has been running down by 3% over the last 7 days. The cumulative crypto market cap stood up marginally to hover around $3.91 trillion.

FTX Recovery Payout Loom

Traders nonetheless treated the moment as an opportunity to speculate. Activity on the blockchain tied to FTT picked up sharply. The Tie reported active addresses hit 201, which was well above the monthly average of 56. It added that the centralized exchange deposits doubled, and withdrawals quadrupled. This suggests the frenzy wasn’t limited to a few wallets.

The crypto community’s reaction on X was swift and polarized. On-chain investigator ZachXBT, in a now-deleted post, vented that Bankman-Fried “deserves zero human rights” given the billions lost in FTX’s collapse. Others took a more mocking tone: journalist Laura Shin dismissed the post as “so 2021,” while Arthur Hayes, the BitMEX co-founder, cracked, “Wen memecoin?”.

FTT was once a key utility token, offering trading fee discounts and staking benefits on FTX. After the exchange’s downfall, the token lost nearly all of its purpose and value. Yet this week’s frenzy wasn’t unprecedented. In February 2024, Bankman-Fried’s account resurfaced after two years of silence, triggering a similar pump while he remained in custody.

SBF Appeals Fraud Conviction

The timing of this latest post is notable. The FTX Recovery Trust, tasked with compensating creditors, is preparing a $1.6 billion payout at the end of September, three months after the exchange went under. Smaller creditors and retail investors are expected to recover as much as 120% of their claims, while larger institutional holders will face less generous returns.

FTT price shot up from $0.82 to reach to hit $1.19 in a very short span of time. It is up by 20% over the past 7 days. Meanwhile, it is down by 73% over the year-to-date (YTD) basis. FTX token is trading at an average price of $0.96 at the press time.

Bankman-Fried himself is serving time following his conviction on fraud and conspiracy charges. His legal team is currently appealing the case, with arguments scheduled for November. Until then, his digital shadow seems to carry more weight in markets than many would like to admit.