FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

A US federal judge in the Southern District of New York has sentenced Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, to 25 years in prison. In addition, Bankman-Fried has been ordered to forfeit $11 billion. Last November, at the end of a month-long trial, Bankman-Fried—known colloquially as SBF—was found guilty of seven counts of … Read more

FTX Says It Expects to Repay Customers in Full. Some Are Suing for More

A group of former customers of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX are rebelling against a proposed plan that would return the entirety of the money they lost. In a lawsuit filed this week, the customers argue they are due a whole lot more. The plan laid out by FTX in December to return customer funds does … Read more

A Last-Ditch Plan to Save the Crypto Industry

The book traces the following thesis: At first, the internet was open, but limited. Private companies brought interactivity to the web and grew fat on the proceeds, but that made it difficult for users to leave their networks and for competitors to enter the market. The concentration of power in the hands of Big Tech … Read more

‘Party Time!’ Crypto Land Celebrates as Sam Bankman-Fried Is Found Guilty

At 7:33 pm eastern yesterday, Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. The crypto industry exhaled. The verdict was a “huge relief,” says market analyst Noelle Acheson, formerly of crypto brokerage Genesis. The fraud at FTX, which threw the crypto world into a spin … Read more

FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Has Been Found Guilty of Fraud

In crypto circles, the trial of Bankman-Fried was considered a “galactic embarrassment,” a sideshow whose outcome would have little effect on the prospects or trajectory of remaining crypto businesses, but cast a dark cloud over the industry and attracted a torrent of unflattering press. Its conclusion marks an opportunity for the crypto sector to start … Read more

Sam Bankman-Fried Sealed His Fate Long Before the FTX Trial

The simplest legal advice is to say nothing at all. Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of crypto exchange FTX, who recently took to the stand at his own fraud trial, isn’t very good at that. But, most likely, it won’t be his testimony that seals his fate. It will be the monthlong media tour he embarked on … Read more

Sam Bankman-Fried Built a Crypto Paradise in the Bahamas—Now He’s a Bad Memory

Each Sunday morning, the congregation of the International Deliverance Praying Ministry gathers in front of their church, ready to be let in. It’s a modest building in the southside of Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, on an overgrown and potholed street that floods when it rains. While they wait, a member of the church … Read more

Sam Bankman-Fried Will Testify in His Own Trial. It’s a Legal Hail Mary

Sam Bankman-Fried will take the stand at his own trial, his legal counsel has confirmed. The founder of stricken crypto exchange FTX has endured three weeks of bruising testimony in federal court from ex-colleagues, peers, and other witnesses. But Bankman-Fried will now take the opportunity to relay his own version of events to the jury. … Read more

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Are Doing Just Fine, Actually

In the three weeks since his trial began, Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of crypto exchange FTX, has watched in near silence as a parade of ex-colleagues, peers and other witnesses have taken the stand. They have testified to his greed, recklessness, bullying and chicanery. His lawyers have offered relatively little in the way of riposte—and have … Read more

SBF’s Magic Hair and Other Big Moments From the FTX Trial

During cross-examination, defense attorney Mark Cohen continually tried to stress that Alameda’s total net value assets were the same across the alternatives, and Ellison kept responding that, yes, but the balance sheets were still misleading. Things Sam Is Freaking Out About According to Ellison’s “things Sam is freaking out about” document, Bankman-Fried was stressed about … Read more