Sam Bankman-Fried / SBF Jail Photo

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About

SBF Jail Photo or Sam Bankman-Fried Prison Photo refers to a picture purportedly taken within the prison where Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), former CEO of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange who was jailed for defrauding investors among other crimes, is serving his sentence. The photo was posted by journalist Tiffany Fong in February 2024, quickly going viral over the following days. As it spread, posters online latched onto the photo as an illustration of SBF's fall from power, creating memes and jokes using the image.

Origin

Tiffany Fong posted the photo on February 19th, 2024, purportedly having gotten it from within the prison from the man whose face (alongside SBF's) is not blacked out in the photo.^[1] Fong posted the image (seen below) to X and received over 41,000 likes in less than a day.

The photo was reportedly taken on December 17th, 2023, at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, where SBF went after the judge for his trial revoked his bail because he had communicated with reporters, which the judge saw as a possible attempt to interfere with what witnesses might testify in the trial over his crimes related to the FTX Crypto Crash. ^[5]

SBF is in the facility while awaiting his official sentencing on March 28th. The man in the photo, called G-Lock, reportedly told Fong that SBF was “a good guy. Weird as s***, can be strange. But he is a good guy.”

Spread

The photo of SBF in jail inspired memes, remixes and commentary after it was shared in February 2024. For example, on February 19th, 2024, Martin Shkreli, who had commented frequently on SBF's trial and conviction, posted a picture of himself in jail next to the photo of SBF in prison, earning over 3,600 likes in a day (seen below).^[2]

Others commented, including X / Twitter user @MelloTheProto on February 19th, who earned over 1,200 likes in a day, comparing the photo to an album cover (seen below).^[3]

On Reddit, the photo was posted to /r/wallstreetbets on February 20th, 2024, where it received over 11,000 upvotes and 1,300 comments in 16 hours.^[4] Users notably debated SBF's incarceration situation and what level of security prison he would likely be placed into.