A “gm” tweet from Sam Bankman-Fried has sparked speculation of his crypto comeback, linking him to a new Solana-based perpetual futures DEX launched by a former FTX COO.
The project is using a “tokenless” model that rewards users with points, drawing parallels to SBF’s past success with the “Solana playbook.”
The Solana Playbook
The SBF connection gained momentum after he broke months of silence with a simple “gm” post from his official X handle, which quickly went viral. The timing also overlapped with a rally in the ASTER token, drawing parallels with SBF’s infamous early bet on Solana in his 2023 trial testimony.
At his 2023 criminal trial, SBF testified that he had invested in Solana (SOL) at $0.20 per token, which increased to over $15 billion at its peak. That gain drove FTX’s early success and later downfall, as the token’s decline added to the exchange’s liquidity crisis.
With ASTER’s recent rampage, some observers see similarities to that playbook. The question is whether the rally is random, or if SBF or people in his inner circle could be peripherally involved in trying to replay the Solana trade.
The Tokenless Experiment
Pacifica is a Solana permanent DEX with leveraged trading, but the twist is that it’s a tokenless launch. Instead of launching a cryptocurrency, it rewards users weekly with 500,000 points unlocked each Thursday.
This is a growing trend in DeFi, where developers build liquidity and user bases quietly, often hinting at a future token airdrop.
Crypto Twitter claims the project is run by a former FTX COO. Constance Wang held the role before the collapse of FTX, but whether she is actively involved in the project has not been verified yet.
On September 23, 2025, Bankman-Fried’s “gm” tweet went viral overnight: 7 million views, 16,000 likes, and thousands of reposts in hours. “Gm” is a crypto culture shorthand greeting, but with this tweet, it had symbolic importance. From crypto’s most divisive character, it excited and enraged the community, re-opening questions about his potential role in the next cycle.
The surge in rumors linking Pacifica, ASTER, and SBF has gotten intense attention. If speculation proves true and FTX insiders return to DeFi, it could attract scrutiny from regulators and the $8 billion in FTX collapse victims. Yet, crypto markets have a long history of embracing redemption narratives, with traders often willing to speculate on new ventures regardless of their founders’ pasts.
So far, the connections remain circumstantial “dots,” according to one analyst, but even indirect ties to SBF are enough to stir markets. Whether Bankman-Fried is actively shaping Pacifica or only influencing from afar, the timing of his viral tweet, ASTER’s pump, and the launch of a tokenless Solana perpetual DEX has caused widespread speculation across the crypto community.
