Sam Bankman-Fried’s X account posted, “Another great quarter for stocks.” The message came despite his ongoing 25-year prison sentence for the FTX fraud.

A prison-approved proxy sent

Stocks Close Out Their Best Quarter Since 2020

The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq each closed higher on June 30. The S&P 500 gained 0.8%, and the Nasdaq rose 1.5%. Both posted their best quarterly performance since 2020.

The gains held even as the Middle East conflict weighed on broader sentiment. The Dow logged its biggest quarterly jump since 2022. Meanwhile, technology stocks led the advance, with a semiconductor index gaining 3.9% on the day.

The rally extends a longer trend. Stocks have outpaced Bitcoin over the past five years. A $1,000 stake in the S&P 500 from 2021 is now worth more than the same bet on the token.

Traditional markets grabbed other headlines this week too. SpaceX’s Nasdaq 100 debut is set for July 7. It marks the fastest index inclusion on record.

A quarter-end rally followed cooling jobs data and an Iran ceasefire. Together, they pushed indexes to fresh highs into the close.

SBF´s Pardon Play From Behind Bars

Market watchers view the tweet as part of a broader image campaign. Bankman-Fried wants to reposition himself as a market-savvy voice in traditional finance. That framing beats being remembered as the architect of an $8 billion collapse.

The framing lines up with his legal strategy. Bankman-Fried filed for a presidential pardon through the Justice Department in early June. Trump, however, has repeatedly ruled out clemency for him.

That bid faces long odds. A federal appeals court upheld his conviction and sentence earlier in June. Judges rejected claims that the trial judge excluded key evidence.

FTX Token FTT Pumps, Then Crashes Back

Automated trading bots reacted within minutes to SBF’s X post. The FTX token, FTT, briefly jumped by as much as 11%. It then erased the entire move just as fast.

FTT now trades near $0.23, still far below its 2021 all-time high near $84. The token sits just above its multi-year low of $0.22, reached in early June.

Total FTT trading volume remains thin compared to major tokens. The swift reversal suggests thin liquidity, not renewed conviction, drove the spike.

Bankman-Fried’s proxy may keep posting market commentary. Whether it works depends on how much credibility, not just attention, the effort can still buy him.

Source: BeInCrypto