Sam Bankman-Fried hints at becoming a Republican

• In January, Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the operator of Silk Road.

The big picture: "Go on Tucker Carlsen, come out as republican"[sic] was a verbatim part of his list of post-collapse comeback ideas.

Driving the news: The disgraced crypto king didn't directly say he switched parties, but certainly emphasized his GOP ties.

• "In 2020, I was center-left and I gave to Biden's campaign, I was optimistic he would be a center-left president," SBF said. "I spent the next few years in D.C. a lot. I was really really shocked by what I saw there... and not in a good direction."
• When asked why Democrats didn't swoop in to save him, SBF said he had developed a better relationship with Republicans than Democrats by the time FTX began to collapse: "By late 2022 I was giving to Republicans as much as Democrats."

Zoom in: SBF began looking for ways to salvage the situation just days after the crypto exchange's collapse back in 2021, per filings by prosecutors at the time.

• His 25-year sentence was so lengthy, in part, because of SBF's lack of repentence.

The bottom line: The crypto industry believes that Trump's election has given them a new lease on life, and SBF seems to agree.

• "I don't think I'm a criminal," he told Carlson.