Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX that cost investors billions, has commented about his experience being in the same prison as Sean “Diddy” Combs.
In an interview with Tucker Carlson, the incarcerated crypto bro spoke about his time in prison, revealing that he shares a facility with Hip-Hop mogul Diddy, who’s currently being held on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center. Bankman-Fried shared insights into the environment behind bars and his interactions with the embattled music executive when asked directly if he was in the same unit.
“He is, he is,” Bankman-Fried said. “Um, and I, it’s, I don’t know, you know, he’s been kind.”
Crypto scammer Sam Bankman-Fried says he shares a prison unit with Diddy
— Kurrco (@Kurrco) March 6, 2025
"He's been kind to me." pic.twitter.com/ZuwvoySCS6
Bankman-Fried elaborated that while their interactions have been limited, Diddy has shown kindness to others in the unit as well when Carlson pressed him on Combs’ demeanor.
“Obviously I’ve only seen one, one piece of him, which is, you know, Diddy in prison,” he said. “And, you know, he’s been kind to people in the unit. He’s been kind to me.”
Bankman-Fried went on to describe the prison atmosphere as a mix of high-profile inmates and former gang members.
“It’s a weird environment, you know, it’s sort of a combination of a few other high profile cases and a lot of, you know, ex-gangsters or sort of, you know, alleged ex-gangsters,” he said.
Despite their unique circumstances, Bankman-Fried acknowledged the harsh reality of their confinement.
“It’s also, it’s a position no one wants to be in, you know, obviously he doesn’t, I don’t,” he said. “As you said, it’s kind of a soul crushing place.”
The discussion shifted to how fellow inmates perceive them as two of the most well-known figures in the prison system.
“Of course some of them are, I think like, ‘Wow, this is sort of a big opportunity,’ like, you know, to meet people they wouldn’t otherwise get to meet, which is, it shocked me the first time I heard that,” he admitted. “It makes sense from their perspective, but like, boy, it’s not how I think about prison.”
Bankman-Fried also shared an unexpected revelation about his fellow inmates, who he described as ex-robbers who don’t speak english.
“They’re good at chess,” he said. “That’s one thing I learned, like, you know, former armed robbers who don’t speak English and, you know, probably didn’t graduate middle school, a surprising number of them are fairly good at chess. I lose games to them all the time. I was not expecting that.”
Bankman-Fried, once one of the most influential figures in the cryptocurrency world, was convicted on multiple charges of fraud and conspiracy related to the collapse of FTX. Prosecutors argued that he orchestrated a multibillion-dollar scheme to defraud investors and misappropriate customer funds. He was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to 25 years in federal prison, marking a dramatic fall from grace for the former billionaire.