Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of FTX, collapses under the sentences and settles in at MDC, a correctional center in the Metropolitan Area of New York. Bankman-Fried was accused of committing fraudulent acts with a 25-year sentence, and he undergoes an extreme change in the routine of his prison days. Rice is the main food found in prisons.
Bankman-Fried’s Rice Currency and Legal Battle
While at MDC, the defendant, Mr. Fried, has switched to using rice as a form of currency as a payment medium. Even when fed through his fellow convicts who do not find his vegan diet pet-alluring, Bankman-Fried sticks to a diet of beans and rice, exemplifying the many challenges and adjustments he has had to make within the restrictions of prison life, relying on rice is the first step to revealing the complicated reality of his prison life, in which the most basic things like food are highly valued.
He said inmates spend at least 23 hours in their cells daily. Lack of entertainment, people knocking on the prisoners about our rice, and tiredness from lack of sleep are typical occurrences in the camp; he has even started hearing about my rice as recurring. It is challenging for Bankman-Fried, but he remains determined in his legal battle, actively seeking new counsel and preparing for his upcoming appeals.
A transformation amidst adversity
Ultimately, an excerpt from Puck’s News captured the predicament of Bankman-Fried in its most profound state and revealed the marked mental and physical transition since he has been in prison. Having lost 25 pounds and keeping his mind clear, he openly confessed as if he was faking, supposedly feeling happy, and illustrating a breaking point in life in a dire situation. With the sheer situation Bankman-Fried faces now, he sticks to his line for his innocence in an unswerving manner rather than accepting the notion of the vulnerability of FTX or criminal allegations altogether.
