Sam Bankman-Friedfounder of the cryptocurrency exchange platform FTXwas sentenced to 25 years in prison for stealing $8 billion from platform customers, now bankrupt. Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Bankman-Fried’s defense that his clients did not actually lose the money, finding him guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy over the 2022 collapse.
“He knew it was wrong“Kaplan spoke about Bankman-Fried before uttering the sentence, which he followed up by stating that he was considered a child prodigy in cryptocurrencies”I knew it was a crime“. “He regrets having made a very bad bet on the probability of getting caught. But he is not going to admit anything, because he has the right to do so,” he concluded.
Bankman-Fried admitted to the judge that FTX customers suffered this bankruptcy and apologized to his former colleagues on the platform. FTX customers lost $8 billion, investors lost $1.7 billion, and Alameda Research lenders lost another $1.3 billion.
“Defendant’s assertion that FTX’s customers and creditors will be paid in full is misleading, logically flawed and speculative” said Kaplan, who sent a tough message to Bankman-Fried: “A thief who takes his loot to Las Vegas and successfully bets the stolen money is not entitled to a reduced sentence using his Las Vegas winnings. Vegas to return what he earned. stole.”
Federal prosecutors had requested a prison sentence from 40 to 50 years old. Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, Marc Mukasey, had argued that a sentence of less than five and a half years would be appropriate. “Customers suffered…I didn’t mean to downplay that at all. I also think that’s something that was missing in what I said during this process, and I’m sorry for that,” he said. Bankman-Fried said. told the judge. .
Three of his former associates testified as prosecution witnesses at trial that he directed them to use FTX client funds. to cover losses at Alameda Research.
Bankman-Fried, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, brought the value of bitcoin and other digital assets to a net worth of 26 billion dollars before turning 30, according to Forbes magazine.