Laura Shin

SBF gets prison advice: Shave head, deepen voice and listen to rap

Martin Shkreli outlined that “Sam isn’t exactly gonna be somebody that fits into prison” and that he needs to rebrand himself to fit in and make friends.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been given some free advice on surviving federal prison by former white collar criminal Martin Shkreli, also known as “Pharma Bro.”

Shkreli, who spent around four years behind bars for securities fraud between 2018 and 2022, said the currently-on-bail former FTX executive should consider shaving his head, deepening his voice and skill himself up on gang culture and rap music.

The former prison inmate was speaking on a Dec. 23 episode of the crypto podcast Unchained, where he suggested that SBF needed to rebrand himself for jail, as being a rich white kid from a good neighborhood doesn’t “sound great.”

“Sam isn’t exactly gonna be somebody that fits into prison” Shkreli said, adding that his type of “sensibility doesn’t go over well” there, as it’s a “very testosterone filled, masculine place.”

Alongside “shaving his head,” and “deepening his voice,” Shkreli outlined that SBF needs to make friends fast and embed himself in the culture of the prison system. For example, Pharma Bro said SBF should “ no longer say he’s from Standford [University].”

“He also doesn’t know anything about the streets and criminal culture, my advice is to pick those things up as quickly as he can, he should be listening to as much rap music as possible, he should be trying everything there is to know about gangs.”

“This sounds funny, but this could save your life,” Shkreli added.

Meanwhile, another former convicted felon, Sam Antar, the former CFO of the famously corrupt 1980s company Crazie Eddie, gave Bankman-Fried an alternative piece of advice: “JUMP BAIL AND RUN […] They can only hang you once.”

Shkreli appears to have developed a knack for giving crypto bad boys unsolicited advice about prison. During an appearing on the The UpOnlyTV podcast last month, Shkreli was a guest alongside Terra/LUNA founder Do Kwon, and told him:

“I just want to let you know jail’s not that bad, it’s not the worst thing ever, so don’t fret. I hope it doesn’t happen. But if it does happen, it’s not that bad.”

“Good to know,” Kwon replied, rather awkwardly.

In an update on the unfolding SBF drama, the New York Post reported on Dec. 26 that workers were spotted on Monday installing security cameras outside his parents house in Palo Alto, where the FTX founder is staying while on house arrest.

Security camera’s being installed: Photo by David G. McIntyre via the New York Post

As it stands, SBF is required to wear an ankle monitor, and can only leave his house for exercise and treatment for mental health and substance abuse. He also has stringent limits on what payments he can make.

He is set to face the courts again in early January.

4,400 disgruntled investors are hunting for Terra’s Do Kwon

A retail investor group is trying to track down Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon following the crash of the Terra ecosystems’ cryptocurrencies.

Members of a 4,400-strong Discord group called the “UST Restitution Group” (URG) have been attempting to track down the whereabouts of Terra co-founder Do Kwon.

Members of the group, seemingly out of frustration at the lack of results from law enforcement agencies, are scouring the internet for clues and sharing them with the group in an attempt to track down Kwon.

Members have suggested that he could be residing in places such as Russia, Dubai, Azerbaijan, or even on a yacht.

Their continuing efforts come despite authorities in South Korea taking significant steps to bring Kwon to justice, with a Seoul court issuing a warrant for his arrest on Sep. 14 and Interpol having reportedly issued a “Red Notice” to law enforcement worldwide on Sept. 26 in response to the warrant.

URG was originally formed on May. 16 as a chatroom for Terra ecosystem investors and to help launch lawsuits on behalf of its members to recover funds lost from TerraClassicUSD (USTC), the so-called stablecoin that depegged from the U.S. dollar.

One member of URG, Kan Hyung-suk, will soon be traveling to Dubai according to an Oct. 19 report from the Financial Times, a city where many from the group believe Kwon is hiding. Another member from the URG was reported as saying:

“Dubai is friendly to crypto, very international (he would not stand out), and has limited extradition treaties in place. It would seem like the best fit for the 3-5 hour timezone shift apparent in the data.”

Hyung-suk is a 26-year-old software engineer and a former employee of Terraform Labs, the company behind the development of the Terra blockchain, and has been a member of the URG since May 26.

Kwon, who became a controversial figure in the wake of the Terra ecosystem implosion, has maintained claims he is not “on the run” and is fully cooperating with all government agencies in communication with him.

Related: South Korean foreign ministry orders Do Kwon to return his passport

Kwon was interviewed on Oct. 19 by Laura Shin, a crypto-journalist and host of the Unchained podcast, who asked him a range of questions relating to current news stories.

Speaking on his current whereabouts, Kwon suggested that he moved from Singapore following the Terra crash due to privacy and personal security concerns, saying as an example that his apartment was broken into, and stated:

“It’s not in the interest of being on the run or something like that, that I don’t want to disclose where I live. It’s just that every time the location where I live becomes known, it becomes almost impossible for me to live there.”

A spokesperson from Terraform Labs maintains the charges against Kwon are “highly politicized”, and that South Korean prosecutors have expanded the definition of financial securities in response to public pressure. Kwon echoed this sentiment during his interview with Shin.

4,400 disgruntled investors are hunting for Terra’s Do Kwon

A retail investor group is trying to track down Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon following the crash of the Terra ecosystems’ cryptocurrencies.

Members of a 4,400-strong Discord group called the UST Restitution Group (URG) have been attempting to track down the whereabouts of Terra co-founder Do Kwon.

Members of the group, seemingly out of frustration at the lack of results from law enforcement agencies, are scouring the internet for clues and sharing them with the group in an attempt to track down Kwon.

Members have suggested that he could be residing in places such as Russia, Dubai, Azerbaijan or even on a yacht.

Their continuing efforts come despite authorities in South Korea taking significant steps to bring Kwon to justice, with a Seoul court issuing a warrant for his arrest on Sep. 14 and Interpol reportedly issuing a Red Notice to law enforcement worldwide on Sept. 26 in response to the warrant.

URG was originally formed on May 16 as a chatroom for Terra ecosystem investors and to help launch lawsuits on behalf of its members to recover funds lost from TerraUSD Classic (USTC), the so-called stablecoin that depegged from the United States dollar.

One member of URG, Kan Hyung-suk, will soon be traveling to Dubai, according to an Oct. 19 report from the Financial Times, a city where many from the group believe Kwon is hiding. Another member from the URG was reported as saying:

“Dubai is friendly to crypto, very international (he would not stand out), and has limited extradition treaties in place. It would seem like the best fit for the 3-5 hour timezone shift apparent in the data.”

Hyung-suk is a 26-year-old software engineer and a former employee of Terraform Labs, the company behind the development of the Terra blockchain, and has been a member of the URG since May 26.

Kwon, who became a controversial figure in the wake of the Terra ecosystem implosion, has maintained claims he is not “on the run” and is fully cooperating with all government agencies in communication with him.

Related: South Korean foreign ministry orders Do Kwon to return his passport

Kwon was interviewed on Oct. 19 by Laura Shin, a crypto-journalist and host of the Unchained podcast, who asked him a range of questions relating to current news stories.

Speaking on his current whereabouts, Kwon suggested that he moved from Singapore following the Terra crash due to privacy and personal security concerns, saying as an example that his apartment was broken into, and stated:

“It’s not in the interest of being on the run or something like that, that I don’t want to disclose where I live. It’s just that every time the location where I live becomes known, it becomes almost impossible for me to live there.”

A spokesperson from Terraform Labs maintains the charges against Kwon are “highly politicized,” and that South Korean prosecutors have expanded the definition of financial securities in response to public pressure. Kwon echoed this sentiment during his interview with Shin.