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

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried wrote an unpublished 250-page memo blaming his former girlfriend and lieutenant Caroline Ellison for the cryptocurrency’s collapse – and using music videos from Katy Perry and Rihanna 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 form of a 15,000-word Twitter thread. Since then, his $250 million bail has been revoked and he is awaiting trial at Brooklyn’s infamous Metropolitan Detention Center.

The 31-year-old faces more than 100 years behind bars on a slew of charges related to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange in November 2022 after he allegedly used customer funds siphoned from Alameda for luxuries purchases and political donations.

He never published the pages, which give his views on what led to the FTX collapse, but he shared them with crypto influencer Tiffany Fong, who presented them to The New York Times. The pages had different titles, inspired by films like Inception and linked to various music videos from Katy Perry, Alicia Keys and others.

In repeated mentions, Bankman-Fried blamed Ellison, the CEO of his investment firm Alameda Research, for TMX’s implosion, claiming she was ill-equipped for the role he gave her, and that 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 I reached out with suggestions, it only made her feel worse. I’m sure 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, commitment and public visibility than I do, and I feel claustrophobic.”

Showing what his defense strategy might look like, Bankman-Fried argued that Alameda would have remained solvent if Ellison had agreed to hedge his aggressive trading strategy, as he claims he proposed.

“If Alameda had hedged, it would have remained solvent and avoided the whole unfortunate story,” he wrote.

Ellison, 28, told a New York court last year that she headed Alameda Research and effectively had access to an “unlimited” amount of FTX client money.

She pleaded guilty to fraud and admitted that she agreed with Bankman-Fried to issue “materially misleading financial statements” to conceal the scheme – which she knew was illegal.

In his memo, Bankman-Fried claims this is not true, and he did not learn until spring 2022 about an account labeled fiat@, which regulators say was used to divert money from customers.

“I’d heard that name before, but I never knew exactly what it was,” he claimed.

In another post he wrote: ‘I generally don’t lie… it’s something I believe in quite strongly.’

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

Bankman-Fried also claimed that Alameda’s co-CEO Sam Trabucco had “quit quietly” by the time collapse loomed, spending his time “going on dates with a bunch of guys while sailing around the world on a boat.”

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

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

His $250 million bail, the most expensive in American history, severely limited his internet and phone use.

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 client funds to plug losses at Alameda Research, his crypto-focused hedge fund, and to seven criminal charges that he used money stolen from FTX clients to more than $100 million in political campaign contributions before the 2022 midterm elections.

Former FTX director 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 client funds for personal expenses, high-risk bets through affiliated hedge fund Alameda Research and political donations intended to influence crypto regulation.

Last week he lost an appeal seeking release after complaining that he could not properly prepare for his trial behind bars.

Bankman-Fried’s lawyers had claimed he was put on a ‘meat diet’ and had to make do with bread, water and peanut butter.

His legal team also complained that the crypto whiz kid, who appeared in Manhattan federal court, was unable to prepare without proper medication.

Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argued that he needed access to computers and medicine to properly prepare.

He was previously given access to Adderall after his lawyers told the court he would take 10 mg tablets three to four times a day because of his ADHD.

Bankham-Fried also received “uninterrupted access” to his Emsam prescription for depression from Kaplan on August 14.