Ex-CEO of disgraced crypto firm FTX actually announced his prison stint on LinkedIn
Ryan Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, has been seeking a two-month delay in the start
of his prison sentence due to injuries from a dog attacking him. However, it appears he has come to
terms with his situation. In a recent LinkedIn post, he announced his new role as an inmate at FCI
Cumberland.
For those unfamiliar, the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland is a medium-security prison for
male inmates in Maryland. Salame is set to report to the facility on Friday to begin serving his
seven-and-a-half-year sentence.
Salame was a close aide to disgraced FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and served as the head of FTX’s Bahamas
subsidiary, where he played a significant role in the company’s political fundraising efforts. Earlier
this year, a U.S. court sentenced him to 90 months in prison and ordered him to pay more than $6 million
in forfeiture and more than $5 million in restitution.
Following FTX’s collapse in November 2022, Salame became the first deputy of Sam Bankman-Fried to be
sentenced. The 30-year-old was the head of FTX’s subsidiary in the Bahamas, where the crypto exchange
was based; last year, he pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws and operating an unlicensed
business in his work with FTX. Prior to the crypto exchange’s failure, Salame lived a lavish lifestyle
of snapping up expensive cars, private jets, and fancy restaurants, per media reports.
Earlier this year, Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison. His close associates—Caroline
Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh—pleaded guilty to fraud charges. Caroline has been sentenced to two
years in prison and is scheduled to surrender on or after November 7. Singh is set to receive his
sentence on October 30, while Wang’s sentencing is scheduled for November 20.