(Bloomberg) -- A key player in Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle has been absent from public view since the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in late 2022. A year and a half later, Sam Trabucco has emerged to lend his support to a former colleague ahead of their sentencing.

“I will be missing the funniest, most passionate, most supportive friend I’ve ever had,” wrote Trabucco in a letter of endorsement for Ryan Salame, another former FTX executive who is awaiting sentencing for his part in the platform’s demise. The letter, which was published as part of a package of evidence in court filings on Wednesday, appears to be the first time Trabucco has been heard from since the days preceding FTX’s bankruptcy in November 2022.

Trabucco was co-chief executive of Alameda Research, a crypto fund set up by Bankman-Fried as a sister platform to FTX and which became a major player in venture capital and market making across the industry. He abruptly stepped away from Alameda — and ultimately from public life — in August 2022, three months before FTX’s failure. 

Unlike other close associates of Bankman-Fried, including Alameda’s other co-chief executive Caroline Ellison and FTX executives Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, Trabucco did not participate in Bankman-Fried’s trial or contribute publicly available evidence. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March, while his former colleagues will learn in the coming months if they too will face jail time for their roles. Trabucco hasn’t publicly been accused of any wrongdoing.

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At the time of his departure from Alameda, Trabucco stated in a tweet that he had chosen “to prioritize other things” and would instead become an adviser to the firm. He has known Bankman-Fried from the pair’s early days at math camp and MIT, and often spoke about how his poker strategy helped inform Alameda’s trades. 

Trabucco personally received about $25 million in transfers from Alameda prior to its collapse. The firm spent $2.5 million on buying him a 52-foot yacht, which he named “Soak My Deck”. Prior to life at FTX, he worked at Susquehanna International Group’s bond ETF desk.

Salame oversaw FTX’s digital-assets unit in the Bahamas, and has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and to engage in campaign finance fraud. Others who submitted letters in support of Salame included a Georgetown finance professor, a martial arts grandmaster, family members, neighbors, former FTX employees and Bahamian residents.

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