Sam Bankman-Fried: FTX CEO sentenced to 25 years in prison

Since Tuesday, October 3, when the former capo cryptocurrenciesSam Bankman-Fried in Manhattan court after the platform collapse Trading on FTX.

Prosecutors in the case were able to convince jurors that he defrauded both seasoned investment professionals and ordinary traders, diverting billions of dollars of their money to his own failed investments, the purchase of real estate and other luxury items, as well as to finance political campaigns, and on November 2 December 2023, almost a month later, it was pleaded guilty.

He is charged with seven offenses related to fraud and money laundering. With this verdict, reached after four hours of deliberation, Bankman-Fried faced more than 100 years in prison.

However, this Thursday, March 28, 2024, the former co-founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and trading company Alameda Research was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a judge in the Southern District of New York (SDNY). Lewis Kaplan.

“When he wasn’t lying, he was evasive, splitting hairs, trying to get prosecutors to rephrase questions,” Kaplan said Thursday, according to Inner City Press. “I have been doing this work for almost 30 years. “I’ve never seen a performance like this.”

The twelve-member panel heard arguments from federal prosecutors for nearly a month that portrayed the 31-year-old defendant as a fraudster who stole money from thousands of victims, as well as arguments from his defense that portrayed him as a fraudster. a “nerd” who acted “in good faith.”

Buckman-Fried took the witness stand at his most recent hearing in November and took the opportunity to distance himself from poor decisions by FTX and its subsidiary Alameda Research; Let’s acknowledge his former allies who cooperated with the prosecutor’s office, and again emphasize that he had no bad intentions, but he admitted that he was not up to the task and failed to manage risks.

Sam Bankman-Fried: who is he?

Sam Bankman-Fried, 31, is an American businessman and investor who has become one of the most influential and controversial figures in the world of cryptocurrencies. Founder and former CEO FTXBankman-Fried, one of the largest digital asset exchange platforms, has been accused by US authorities of several financial crimes, including fraud, money laundering and violation of election laws.

Bankman-Fried began her career in the financial sector working at Jane Street, a trading firm specializing in exchange-traded fund (ETF) arbitrage strategies. In 2017, he founded Alameda, a cryptocurrency trading company that took advantage of arbitrage opportunities in the digital market. Two years later, he created FTX, a platform that offered innovative services such as futures, options and leveraged tokens on cryptocurrencies.

The success of his business led him to accumulate luck is valued at $26 billion, according to Bloomberg, placing him among the world’s youngest billionaires.

However, Bankman-Fried’s career was tarnished by the charges she faced in the United States. On November 10, 2022, he was arrested in the Bahamas, where he had been living for several months, by federal agents who transported him to New York for his upcoming trial. Prosecutors have charged him with eight criminal charges related to the fraudulent handling of FTX funds and their illegal use to finance political campaigns. In addition, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil lawsuit against him for misleading investors and using company resources for his own purposes.

“Put over $40 million in 2022 campaign contributions; most went to Democrats and related committees. But Bankman-Fried has also made significant “dark” donations to Republican candidates and even suggested she could become the “second or third largest GOP donor” during the 2022 midterm election cycle, CBS News reported.

According to the New York Times. He even hired Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen, who were then married, to sell FTX in television ads.

These allegations contributed to the collapse of FTX, which filed for bankruptcy on November 11, 2022, leaving thousands of customers without access to their funds and fearful of their recovery. The crisis has also affected the cryptocurrency market as a whole, which has experienced a sharp decline in recent days.

Bankman-Fried denies the charges against him and pleads not guilty. His lawyer asked for bail and said his client would cooperate with authorities to prove his integrity.

Free love and drugs?

On a more intimate note, Caroline Ellison, Alameda’s general manager and his on-and-off lover, commented on some of Buckman-Fried’s eccentricities and his philosophies regarding free love and drugs. “Nothing short of regular amphetamine use will make you realize how stupid most normal, non-drug-induced human experiences are,” he wrote in his article. tweet From past.

Also mentioned in the media was his trip to the Bahamas with Ellison and eight other friends from FTX, where they lived in a penthouse that even Elon Musk called a “polycule,” that is, “a connected network of people and relationships, all of which are in agreement.” “In some way emotionally, sexually, or romantically involved with at least one other person.” The unorthodox cohabitation also reportedly included easy access to performance-enhancing drugs, and a staff psychiatrist was willing to prescribe prescription stimulants.