About Me

I’m Ryan Salame. This is where I share my writing, my story, and a growing collection of free courses on subjects I think are worth understanding.

I grew up in rural Sandisfield, Massachusetts, a small town with a lot of space. I spent most of my childhood in nature: ripping around on four-wheelers, fishing, and stacking wood for heat in the winter. My parents got me involved in tae kwon do as a child, and I eventually earned a fourth-degree black belt.

I did well in school and made my way to UMass Amherst, earning bachelor’s degrees in economics and accounting. I worked in restaurants and catering from high school onward, paying my own way through education and life with a combination of hard work and debt.

After studying abroad in China during my senior year, I biked across the United States from Connecticut to California, raising money through an organization called Bike & Build. It was a truly incredible experience and a chance to see the country and meet people I otherwise wouldn’t have.

I then moved to Boston to work for Ernst & Young as a tax accountant. I had apparently had enough excitement. While at EY, I passed the CPA exams and started Georgetown’s online Master’s in Finance program. I also became obsessed with Bitcoin and eventually joined Circle Trade as an accountant before moving full time to the trading desk.

Entering crypto professionally in late 2016 eventually landed me in Hong Kong, managing the desk during Asian hours. As trading slowed, I moved into business development as well, traveling the world finding and onboarding clients.

Circle eventually shifted its focus toward USDC and sold its trading business to Kraken. I needed another job.

I had met the now-infamous Sam Bankman-Fried before he launched FTX. I took over FTX’s over-the-counter trading desk, handling trades directly with clients, grew that business, and then helped with FTX’s broader expansion.

I moved to the Bahamas to establish a small FTX presence there as CEO of FTX Digital Markets, its Bahamian affiliate. It was supposed to remain small, but Sam eventually moved there too, bringing the entire company with him. I got pulled back into the mayhem of his 24/7, never-slowing mindset.

After relinquishing my CEO title, I moved to New York for my wife’s congressional campaign in the district where she grew up. I also got involved in pandemic-preparedness initiatives in Washington, D.C. Around the same time, I bought a number of restaurants and real estate in Lenox, Massachusetts, near where I grew up.

The collapse of FTX drastically changed my life and the lives of many others. Its consequences reached far beyond the people whose names appeared in the headlines. I felt helpless watching much of the mainstream media embrace what I know was an inaccurate and incomplete story about what led to FTX’s implosion. Too much of the coverage seemed to repeat the prosecution’s version of events rather than question it.

In September 2023, I pleaded guilty to two conspiracy charges involving unlawful political contributions and an unlicensed money-transmitting business. In May 2024, I was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.

I have serious objections to how the DOJ handled my case and how my role has been portrayed. They won’t all fit on an About page. Much more will be forthcoming, in my own words.

I also appear in The Boy Who Stole Billions?, an upcoming documentary series on FTX. Also in Netflix’s upcoming scripted series The Altruists, Comedian/actor Matt Rife plays me. I play myself in the documentary. Netflix hired a professional.

Prison has restricted where I can go and what I can do, but it has also given me an unexpected amount of mental space. With restricted internet and fewer of the constant demands that defined my working life, I’ve been writing, studying, teaching, and working toward a fourth college degree.

I’m also having AI develop the free courses available on this site. The topics include subject matter that intrigues me, encompassing many of the systems that govern the world. The aim is to make complex, relevant subjects easier to understand without dumbing them down. Whether you’re working through an entire course or trying to understand a specific aspect of something you keep seeing in the news, I want you to come away with enough depth to connect various world events and draw your own conclusions. There’s a lot more to the world than what makes it into a headline.

To me, these courses demonstrate the real potential of AI: helping people learn and understand things they might otherwise never get around to studying. The courses will grow as the technology and its capabilities grow.

This site is where I’m sharing that work, my writing, and updates on other projects and interests.

There’s been plenty written about me. I figured it was time to contribute something by me.