Former crypto billionaire uses mackerel as currency in jail

Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried has been using mackerel as currency at a detention center. The FTX founder has been in jail since a federal judge revoked his bail in August after finding that he attempted to intimidate witnesses.

On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Bankman-Fried, who was remanded to the Metropolitan Detention Center, is buying mackerel packets from a commissary even though he is a vegetarian. This is because mackerel has replaced cigarettes as the favored federal jailhouse currency after officials banned smoking in 2004.

Originally, the preserved fish pouches were not popular with inmates. They cost about a dollar a pack, and people could only buy 14 per week. The limited number of packs in circulation made them a stable form of currency.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Bankman-Fried traded some pouches of mackerel to a fellow inmate for a haircut ahead of his trial for seven criminal charges of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.

One of his unit inmates is former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández, who is awaiting trial on federal drug trafficking and firearms charges. In addition, Genaro García Luna, Mexico’s former public security secretary, who was convicted earlier this year of helping the powerful Sinaloa cartel smuggle more than 50 tons of cocaine into the U.S. García Luna is awaiting sentencing in the same unit. The WSJ added, “Bankman-Fried has learned the fundamentals of prison economics while sharing a dormitory with them.”

Bankman-Fried is allowed non-attorney visitors once a week and has access to a specialized laptop that allows him to review legal material, the person familiar with the matter said. The person said he has been giving tips on crypto to guards.

Former crypto billionaire is scheduled to be sentenced on March 28 next year, after which he will move to a federal prison to serve his sentence. Baroni, the prison consultant, said, “The mack currency system is far more stable than crypto.” Sam Bankman-Fried could face a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison after being convicted on all seven charges.


71wook@donga.com