How did I get in contact with Sam Bankman-Fried?
Providing context, hard evidence, & hopefully dispelling a few rumors about my relationship to SBF.
There’s been some skepticism around my phone calls with Sam Bankman-Fried (understandably so - who tf am I?), so I wanted to provide some context for how these calls came about and share some hard evidence (e.g. audio) for verification.
I only began posting about crypto at the end of June after leaving a substantial portion of my savings in now-defunct Celsius Network. After covering Celsius’s bankruptcy proceedings on YouTube & Twitter for a few months, I began to receive sensitive internal information about the company from employees. Notably, I received an audio file of Celsius’s Internal All-Hands meeting, which I shared with the New York Times. I published the full audio on YouTube on September 13, 2022 and SBF began following me on Twitter that day. Sam later stated he was following me for Celsius leaks, so he could “get the news.” Sam and I had a few brief but friendly exchanges on Twitter in the following weeks (some are public), so our DMs were already open.
My first message to SBF on September 13, 2022 regarding my first leak (also published in NY Times - feel free to check dates):
When FTX abruptly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 11, I figured I might as well shoot my shot, so I DMed SBF asking if he’d be willing to chat with me. Surely every major publication wanted to get in touch with Sam, so I was NOT expecting a response. To my surprise, on November 16 around 12:30 AM ET, Sam replied that he’d be “happy to chat”; we exchanged numbers and hopped on a phone call later that night (or technically, early that morning). We’ve had two phone calls to date - the first on November 16, 2022 and the second on November 20, 2022.
I’ll share as much information as possible from our phone calls while respecting the portions of conversation that Sam told me in confidence “off the record”. Please keep in mind, I feel it’s valuable to maintain an open line of communication with Sam to be able to directly ask his commentary on whatever information comes to light. I realize Sam is an incendiary figure, rightfully so. I plan to relay his answers from an impartial standpoint, but please don’t mistake intentional neutrality for naiveté or sympathy.
Obviously, I am well aware that Sam has incentive to paint himself in a positive light and would be imprudent to outright admit to wrongdoing. Personally, I take Sam’s answers with a grain of salt, and I cannot vouch for his honesty. However, I feel it’s valuable to hear his perspective on what’s transpired thus far and compare his claims with hard evidence as more information surfaces. I’ll relay Sam’s answers as true-to-his word as possible, and you can be your own judge of character.
Please be patient with me; again, I’m not a journalist. In fact, this is my first post on Substack and was my first time interviewing anyone, ever (and it was fucking SBF). I’m still sifting through my notes topic-by-topic and do not have a team behind me. Lastly, if you’re not interested in hearing Sam’s commentary, frankly, nobody is forcing you to read this.
(I posted a brief audio clip from our first phone call on 11/16 for verification that these calls took place. In the clip, Sam explains why he was willing to chat with me. I only recorded the call to ensure I did not misremember our conversation or misquote Sam. I am not interested in selling the audio or in profiting from the information whatsoever.)
Contact me: tiffanyfongnyc@gmail.com
Twitter: TiffanyFong_