Jailbreak Rally: SBF’s Mysterious ’gm’ Tweet From Prison Sends FTT Soaring 60%

Cryptocurrency markets witnessed one of the most bizarre price movements of 2025 when Sam Bankman-Fried's dormant X account suddenly sprang to life from behind bars.

The Phantom Tweet

A single 'gm' message—crypto's ubiquitous morning greeting—triggered an immediate 60% surge in FTT tokens. Trading volumes exploded as speculators piled into the controversial asset, ignoring its troubled history.

Market Mechanics Gone Wild

The incident reveals how celebrity influence continues to override fundamentals in digital assets. A two-character post from a convicted executive outweighed months of regulatory scrutiny and bankruptcy proceedings.

Regulatory Whack-a-Mole

Watchdogs face an impossible task when prison walls can't contain market manipulation. The episode proves that in crypto, sentiment still trumps substance—at least until the next margin call hits.

Prison restrictions

Bankman-Fried was convicted last year of fraud and conspiracy for misusing billions in customer funds. After 18 months at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, he was moved in April to the Federal Correctional Institution at Terminal Island in Los Angeles.

Inmates there can only send monitored text-only messages through a system called TRULINCS and have no access to the wider internet. Possessing a contraband phone is strictly prohibited and carries serious consequences for the inmates.

The X post’s impact on the market 

The message from Bankman-Fried was short, but it sent ripples through crypto markets. FTT, the token once tied to the FTX exchange, jumped almost 60% in price within hours. The price has surged to $1.3 from $0.82.

According to TradingView, the FTT token dropped slightly, reaching $0.989. Even the trading volume of the token has surged to $63 million from $10 million. FTT has no real function since FTX collapsed in 2022, but it remains a vehicle for speculation.

The timing of the post also coincided with new legal moves around FTX’s bankruptcy. Earlier this week, the FTX Recovery Trust sued Bitcoin mining company Genesis Digital, seeking to claw back $1.15 billion it says was paid unfairly before the exchange’s collapse. Meanwhile, the estate is preparing to distribute $1.6 billion to creditors by the end of September.

Even from prison, Bankman-Fried continues to draw attention in the crypto world, showing that the fallout from FTX’s collapse is far from over.

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