The Salame and Bond story

Were Ryan Salame and Michelle Bond’s ambitions in crypto and politics too big to handle? Could they have avoided the scandal, or was their downfall inevitable?

When ambitions meet greed

Ryan Salame and Michelle Bond were once the epitome of a power couple – rich, influential and deeply embedded in Washington’s political and crypto circles.

Salame, a top executive at FTX, had the ear of powerful Republicans, with millions to support their cause. A former US Securities and Exchange Commission attorney, Bond has emerged as a prominent proponent of crypto policy with ambitions to run for Congress.

Together they seemed unstoppable – until the collapse of FTX in November 2022 brought their world crashing down.

Now both face prison terms, their once-glamorous lives unraveling in a tangled web of legal battles, accusations and public shaming.

But how did it all happen?

The beginning of the end

To understand the fall of Salame and Bond, we must begin with the collapse of FTX.

In November 2022, FTX, the crypto exchange once valued at more than $32 billion, collapsed after it was revealed that billions in client funds were missing.

Its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, orchestrated one of the most catastrophic financial frauds in American history. But the consequences of FTX’s demise did not stop at Bankman-Fried.

As investigators dug deeper, prosecutors uncovered a complex web of political donations, illegal financial transactions and campaign finance violations — and Salame and Bond were right in the middle of it.

Salame, who was CEO of FTX Digital Markets, played a critical role in the company’s political outreach. He poured millions into Republican campaigns, making himself one of the top conservative donors in the country.

His political contributions totaled more than $22 million, much of which was later revealed to have been illegally obtained from FTX’s coffers. Salame’s donations were part of a broader strategy to gain political influence and push for crypto-friendly policies.

But by August 2023, the game was over. Against mounting evidence, Salame pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and operating an unlicensed money transmission business.

His actions, it turned out, were a far cry from the top-level political donations he once claimed. He funneled money through FTX to make large contributions in his name, violating various US laws in the process.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who sentenced Salame to 7.5 years in prison in May 2024, called his actions “astounding” and emphasized how they shook the confidence of America’s political system.

The political dream gone wrong

Michelle Bond’s story follows a parallel path to Salame’s, but with its own unique twists.

Bond, a former attorney at the SEC, has established herself as a crypto policy expert, serving as the CEO of the Digital Asset Markets Association. And her voice carried weight in Washington.

But like Salame, Bond had ambitions beyond politics. In 2022, she launched an ambitious bid for Congress, hoping to represent New York’s 1st Congressional District.

Armed with endorsements from political figures such as Donald Trump Jr. and financially supported by her partner Salame, Bond’s campaign was intended to propel her into the political limelight. Yet cracks have already formed beneath the surface.

While Bond portrayed herself publicly as a self-funded candidate, the reality was much more complicated. Federal prosecutors later revealed that much of the money supporting her campaign — more than $1.5 million — was not her own, but came from FTX via Salame.

According to court documents, Bond accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from Salame to fund her campaign—money prosecutors contend was obtained illegally from FTX.

In August 2024, Bond was indicted on multiple counts of campaign finance violations, marking the beginning of her legal downfall.

The indictment detailed how Bond allegedly used money through consulting agreements and personal payments while maintaining the appearance of compliance with campaign finance laws.

She was once the face of crypto regulation in Washington, but now her career was in ruins. Even after she stepped down as CEO of ADAM, the stain of the scandal followed her.

Her cryptocurrency-fueled congressional campaign ended in failure, with Bond capturing only 27% of the vote in the Republican primary.

But her problems extended beyond politics – the legal ramifications were now impossible to ignore.

One text exchange between Bond and Salame, which was used as evidence in court, painted a damning picture of their financial dealings.

In February 2022, Bond thanked Salame for paying off a consulting firm’s invoice, to which he replied: “If you thank me for that, the expenses you’re actually running are going to give me so much love <3."

However, that love would not last as both of their legal problems worsened.

The downfall of a power couple

Aside from the courtroom drama, Salame and Bond’s personal lives unraveled just as quickly. The couple, who share a child, lived in a $4 million home in Potomac, Maryland — a symbol of their success.

But with Salame’s guilty plea, that house is now up for sale, with the proceeds going toward restitution to FTX’s defrauded customers.

Salame claimed that his guilty plea was part of an “implied deal” with prosecutors, suggesting that if he cooperated, they would let Bond off the hook. However, federal prosecutors denied this, and in August 2024 they charged Bond anyway.

In a revealing interview, Salame admitted that his involvement with FTX had brought Bond more harm than good. “Being in a relationship with me is going to be a problem,” he said. “It wasn’t great for her to have me in her life.”

Salame’s regret came too late, with his prison sentence set to begin in October 2024 at a federal correctional facility in Maryland.

But Salame is not giving up yet. He pinned his last hope on a presidential pardon, with a Republican victory in the 2024 US election to set him free.

In a candid interview, Salame hinted that his best chance lies with Donald Trump, given his past political donations. “I would be much more shocked if Harris would grant it based on, sort of, political things,” Salame said, referring to Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

Still, whether a pardon is in his future or not, Salame’s reputation has already been permanently tarnished.

As Salame prepares for prison, Bond faces the possibility of her own prison sentence, depending on the outcome of her trial. However, despite her looming legal challenges, Michelle Bond has not given up on her crypto ambitions.

In June 2024, Bond announced the creation of a think tank called Digital Future, which aims to shape regulatory policies for digital assets and artificial intelligence.

According to Bond, the think tank will advocate for favorable regulations in an industry still reeling from the collapse of FTX.

However, Bond’s announcement was met with skepticism. With her indictment arriving just two months after the launch of Digital Future, many questioned whether she could credibly lead a think tank while under federal investigation.

While their story is far from over, their fall from grace will likely be remembered for years to come – a reminder of how ambition, greed and a little bit of crypto can spin even the brightest of futures out of control.