Crypto
Sam Bankman-Fried calls Sean 'Diddy' Combs 'kind' in jailhouse interview with Tucker Carlson
Just before his cryptocurrency empire crumbled in November 2021, Sam Bankman-Fried considered going on Tucker Carlson’s show to “come out as a republican” to rehabilitate his image. On Thursday, almost a year since the former FTX founder was sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding users of his cryptocurrency exchange, he finally fulfilled his plan.
From “a little side room” of Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, Bankman-Fried spent his 33rd birthday dishing to Carlson in a wide-ranging interview, which included new details about life in prison with his cell block mate, Sean “Diddy” Combs. As NBC previously reported, Bankman-Fried and Combs, who has been charged with sex trafficking, are being housed in the same unit.
“I’ve only seen one piece of him, which is Diddy in prison, and he’s been kind to people in the unit; he’s been kind to me,” Bankman-Fried told the former Fox News host on “The Tucker Carlson Show.” “It’s also — it’s a position no one wants to be in.”
Bankman-Fried, 33, was convicted in November 2023 of seven counts of wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering for swindling customers of FTX and lenders of Alameda Research, its associated hedge fund. Prosecutors said Bankman-Fried “perpetrated one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.”
A chief public information officer for the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.
Life behind bars
Bankman-Fried told Carlson that he has “made some friends” at the Brooklyn center, where sources told NBC he is in a unit for detainees that need extra protection.
“It’s sort of dystopian,” Bankman-Fried said. “You know, the fortunate thing, the place I’m in, I’m not in … I’m not in physical danger.”
He said the unit has defendants of high profile cases and “a lot of ex-gangsters — or alleged ex-gangsters.” When asked how cellblock mates feel about being housed with him and Combs, Bankman-Fried theorized that some of them think “this is a big opportunity to meet people they wouldn’t otherwise get to meet.”
“They’re good at chess. That’s one thing I learned,” Bankman-Fried added. “Former armed robbers who don’t speak English and probably didn’t graduate middle school, a surprising number of them are fairly good at chess. I’m not saying they’re grand masters, but I lose games to them all the time. I was not expecting that.”
In addition to playing chess and working on his appeal, Bankman-Fried told Carlson he has started to read novels again. Carlson noted that Bankman-Fried seemed “less jumpy” and “healthier” after two years in prison. The former Fox host then said it seemed like Bankman-Fried was “flying high on Adderall” in his previous TV appearances.
Bankman-Fried denied ever being on the drug. “But I was pretty out of it. My mind was racing because there were, you know, a billion things to keep track of,” he added.
His changing political stance
Bankman-Fried described how his politics have evolved over the last five years from being a major Biden donor to having a better relationship with Republicans than Democrats by the time he went to trial.
“One fact that might be relevant. In 2020, I was center-left and I gave to Biden’s campaign,” he said. “I was optimistic he’d be a sort of solid center-left President. I spent the next few years in D.C. a lot. I made dozens of trips there, and was really, really shocked by what I saw — not in a good direction — from the administration.”
“By late 2022, I was giving to Republicans privately as much as Democrats. And that started becoming known right around FTX’s collapse, so that probably played a role,” he added, noting that he believed in ideas from both sides of the aisle.
In his trial, prosecutors showed a document where he considered ways to rehabilitate his public image after FTX collapsed, including going on Carlson’s show to “come out against the woke agenda.” Carlson asked him if he called in political favors during his trial, which Bankman-Fried denied because he didn’t want to do “something inappropriate.”
His optimistic view on the future of crypto
Bankman-Fried said “hopefully” things are moving in the right direction for cryptocurrency under Trump, noting that there are already a lot of “good things” happening.
“So I think the big question is, you know, when rubber meets the road, like, will the administration do what needs to be done and figure out how to do it?” he said. “Right now, crypto is not at the point where it could become an everyday tool.”
Carlson also asked Bankman-Fried if he believes “there is a lot of shady behavior in the crypto business.” Bankman-Fried said that a decade ago, he may have agreed, but the business is now “a lot smaller” and more regulated.
Bankman-Fried’s financial status
Carlson asked the former billionaire if he has “any money” left — and Bankman-Fried admitted “basically no.” In addition to his prison sentence, Bankman-Fried was ordered to pay $11 billion in forfeiture.
“The company that I used to own … had nothing intervened, today it would have about $15 billion of liabilities and about $93 billion of assets. So the answer should be, in theory, yes there was enough money to pay everyone back in kind,” he said. “But, that’s not how things worked out. Instead, it all got roiled up in a bankruptcy.”
“It’s been a colossal disaster,” he said. “Not stopping that from happening is by far the biggest regret of my life.”
His birthday plans in prison
Bankman-Fried, who spoke with Carlson on Wednesday, said he has no plans. He explained that he was never “big on birthdays on the outside” and was not looking forward to “celebrating another year in prison” for his 33rd birthday on Thursday.
“So you’re not going to tell Diddy it’s your birthday tomorrow? I don’t believe you,” Carlson asked.
Bankman-Fried responded that while he was not planning to tell Combs about his birthday, “someone else might tell him.”
Crypto
Founders, Builders & Educators: Influential Leaders Shaping India’s Rapidly Growing Cryptocurrency Ecosystem – The Logical Indian
India’s growing cryptocurrency ecosystem has drawn global attention, with the country ranking first in the 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index published by Chainalysis.
The rise reflects increasing retail participation, expanding trading platforms, and a wave of entrepreneurs building exchanges, media outlets, and blockchain infrastructure despite years of regulatory uncertainty. Several founders have emerged as key figures shaping how Indians access information about digital assets and participate in the evolving crypto market.
Here are some of the crypto news and platform founders who have played notable roles in shaping India’s digital asset ecosystem.
Naimish Sanghvi: Founder, Coin Crunch India
Naimish Sanghvi left a corporate role at Deloitte to build something the Indian crypto community desperately needed: reliable, unbiased news.
He launched Coin Crunch India in 2018. The platform quickly became a go-to destination for blockchain news, regulatory updates, and in-depth analysis. At a time when mainstream media either ignored or sensationalized crypto, Coin Crunch filled the gap with verified reporting and clear-headed commentary.
Sanghvi’s focus on consumer protection and transparent journalism has earned him trust among both first-time investors and industry veterans. His work continues to shape how Indians understand and engage with digital assets.
Why he matters: He built India’s most credible crypto news brand at a time when the space had almost none.
Nischal Shetty: Founder, WazirX and Co-Founder, Shardeum
Few names carry as much weight in Indian crypto as Nischal Shetty.
He founded WazirX in 2018 alongside Samir Mhatre and Siddharth Menon. The exchange grew into one of India’s most active crypto trading platforms, boasting over 15 million users. After the RBI issued a banking ban on crypto transactions, Shetty launched the #IndiaWantsCrypto campaign. That campaign sustained public pressure until the Supreme Court declared the ban unconstitutional in 2020.
Shetty is also a Forbes 30 Under 30 alumnus. He later co-founded Shardeum, a Layer 1 blockchain designed for high throughput using dynamic sharding. In 2024, he co-launched Pi42, a crypto-INR futures exchange built to help traders avoid the burden of India’s 1% TDS on crypto transactions.
Why he matters: He fought for the legal right to trade crypto in India. Then he kept building infrastructure for the next decade.
Sumit Gupta: Co-Founder and CEO, CoinDCX
Sumit Gupta co-founded CoinDCX with a clear mission: make crypto accessible and trustworthy for every Indian.
CoinDCX now serves over 16 million registered users and is one of India’s most trusted crypto exchange platforms. Gupta has consistently championed responsible innovation. He advocates for transparent regulation and puts investor education at the center of his platform’s identity.
His commentary on India’s regulatory landscape is widely followed. He approaches market development with a focus on building long-term trust rather than chasing short-term volume.
Why he matters: He helped turn crypto investing into a credible financial activity for millions of mainstream Indian users.
Ashish Sukhadeve: Founder and CEO, Analytics Insight
Ashish Sukhadeve built one of India’s most widely read crypto and emerging tech media platforms through Analytics Insight. While others were busy setting up shops to buy and sell coins, he took a different path. He saw that people didn’t just need a place to trade; they needed to understand what they were actually buying.
He built an influence engine. Analytics Insight today covers crypto, blockchain, AI, fintech, and emerging technologies with a strong global readership. Under his leadership, the platform positioned itself at the intersection of digital assets and future tech, giving crypto coverage a broader economic and innovation context.
What sets Sukhadeve apart is scale and vision. Most platforms focus only on price movements or exchange updates. However, he expanded coverage to include Web3 startups, token ecosystems, enterprise blockchain adoption, regulation shifts, and global market trends. That wider lens helped global readers understand how crypto fits into the larger technology revolution.
Why he matters: He transformed crypto reporting from niche coverage into a mainstream tech intelligence platform. Analytics Insight today is one of the most influential crypto and emerging tech media brands catering to audiences worldwide.
Ashish Singhal: Founder and CEO, CoinSwitch
Ashish Singhal built CoinSwitch around a simple idea: make crypto easy enough for anyone to use.
The platform’s clean interface and beginner-friendly design helped onboard millions of first-time investors. CoinSwitch became India’s second crypto unicorn in 2021, valued at $1.9 billion after a successful Series C round. A Q2 2025 report from CoinSwitch showed that people under 35 now make up roughly 72% of India’s crypto investors, a demographic Singhal helped bring into the space.
He has spent years proving that simplicity is a competitive advantage in a market known for complexity.
Why he matters: He made crypto less intimidating for a generation of new investors in India.
Jaynti Kanani: Co-Founder, Polygon
Jaynti Kanani came from a background in data science and product engineering. That practical foundation shaped everything he built.
He co-founded Polygon, formerly known as Matic Network, to solve one of Ethereum’s most persistent problems: slow speeds and high transaction fees during peak demand. Polygon offered faster and cheaper transactions at scale. Global brands, Web3 developers, and enterprise applications adopted it in large numbers.
Polygon stands as one of India’s most significant contributions to global blockchain infrastructure. The MATIC token surged in value as adoption grew. Kanani’s approach combined deep technical knowledge with a clear understanding of what developers and users actually needed.
Why he matters: He put India on the global blockchain infrastructure map with a product that millions of developers use daily.
Sandeep Nailwal: Co-Founder, Polygon
Sandeep Nailwal co-founded Polygon alongside Kanani and has been one of its most visible public voices.
He has championed blockchain education and community growth with equal energy. Beyond his technical contributions, Nailwal became known internationally for his humanitarian work during the COVID-19 crisis in India. He raised tens of millions of dollars in crypto donations for pandemic relief through the Crypto Relief Fund.
His combination of entrepreneurial execution and public service made him one of the most respected figures in Web3 globally.
Why he matters: He showed that crypto founders could drive both technological impact and meaningful social impact at the same time.
Kashif Raza: Co-Founder, Bitinning
Kashif Raza identified a problem that most crypto founders overlooked: education.
He co-founded Bitinning to teach beginners the fundamentals of crypto without overwhelming them. Through YouTube, community programs, and practical workshops, he breaks down wallet safety, market structure, risk management, and basic blockchain concepts into digestible lessons.
His approach focuses on empowering everyday people to participate in crypto with confidence rather than fear. That mission has made him one of the most trusted educators in India’s crypto community.
Why he matters: He serves the largest and most vulnerable segment of Indian crypto users: the beginners who have no one else to guide them.
Balaji S. Srinivasan: Former CTO, Coinbase (Indian-American)
Balaji Srinivasan is an Indian-American entrepreneur whose influence on global crypto thinking is enormous.
He co-founded 21.co, a Bitcoin startup that evolved into Earn.com. Coinbase acquired Earn.com and appointed Srinivasan as CTO. Before crypto, he co-founded Counsyl, a genomics startup whose DNA screening technology now reaches 3% of all births in the United States.
Srinivasan’s intellectual output on decentralization, network states, and the future of governance has influenced founders and investors worldwide. His prolific writing and podcasting make him one of the most original thinkers to emerge from the Indian tech diaspora.
Why he matters: His ideas about decentralized systems have shaped how a generation of builders thinks about the future of crypto and society.
Naval Ravikant: Co-Founder, AngelList and MetaStable Capital (Indian-American)
Naval Ravikant was born in New Delhi and built a career that bridges Silicon Valley and the blockchain world.
He co-founded AngelList, a platform that transformed how startups connect with angel investors. He made early investments in Uber, Twitter, and Postmates. In 2014, he co-founded MetaStable Capital, a hedge fund focused on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital assets.
Ravikant’s thinking on wealth, technology, and individual sovereignty has been widely shared through his podcast and writing. He sees blockchain as a tool for financial independence and a challenge to centralized financial systems.
Why he matters: His early belief in Bitcoin and blockchain helped legitimize the space for mainstream investors and tech founders globally.
The Bigger Picture
India now leads the Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index across all subindices, including retail, centralized services, DeFi, and institutional activity. That position reflects the work of founders who built real products, fought for clearer regulation, and educated millions of users over many years.
The next chapter of India’s crypto story will be written by this generation of builders and those they inspire. The founders on this list are not just news sources or exchange operators. They are architects of a financial ecosystem that is still being constructed.
Watching what they build next is the best reason to follow crypto news from India.
Mastercard has launched an initiative aimed at exploring the future of cryptocurrency payments.
Crypto
Bitcoin has mined 20 million coins: why the last of the remaining 1 million won’t arrive until 2140 | Fortune
On Monday, Bitcoin minted its 20 millionth coin, meaning that more than 95% of all coins have now been mined, leaving the total untapped supply at fewer than one million. The last coin is expected to be discovered in approximately 114 years.
This milestone reinforces how economics of Bitcoin are different from traditional currency systems like the dollar, which allow governments to always print more money. This “hard money” aspect of Bitcoin has been one of its primary appeals since the first batch of 50 coins was first minted 17 years ago.
“Having only one million Bitcoin left to be mined is a powerful reminder of something unique: this is the first monetary system in history with a fully predictable policy written in code,” said Raphael Zagury, CEO of the Bitcoin mining company Elektron Energy.
By 2035, 99% of Bitcoin’s total supply will be mined, but it will take a little over 100 years to mint what is left. This timeline is due to a concept called halving, which means that about every four years, miners are rewarded with half as much Bitcoin.
Today, miners receive 3.125 Bitcoin, whereas prior to 2024 they received more than 6 Bitcoin. When Satoshi Nakamoto created the original cryptocurrency in 2009, miners would receive 50 Bitcoin as a reward. The system is intended to make the original cryptocurrency more scarce, at a predictable rate, over time. When Bitcoin runs out in 2140, miners will be compensated solely through transaction fees.
The original cryptocurrency is currently priced at about $71,000, according to Binance. While this is down about 46% since its all-time high in October, Bitcoin has grown about 16,000% in the past ten years, as its price in March of 2016 was a measly $430.
Zagury, the CEO of the Bitcoin mining company, shared his short-term and long-term views on the original cryptocurrency. “I don’t think the milestone alone moves price in the short term. Liquidity and macro still dominate,” he said. “But long term, scarcity plus predictable policy is a powerful combination. Over time, markets tend to reward systems people can trust.”
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