Category Archives: Sam Bankman-Fried

Caroline Ellison sentenced to two years after serving as star witness against FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried

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Ex-Alameda CEO and ex-girlfriend of fallen crypto mogul pleaded guilty, but prosecutors requested lenient sentence

Caroline Ellison, the former crypto executive and romantic partner of the disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, was sentenced to 24 months in prison in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday. Ellison was a central figure in the FTX bankruptcy saga and key witness for the prosecution in the $8bn fraud trial that ended with Bankman-Fried’s conviction.

Ellison served as the chief executive of Alameda Research, which was the trading arm of the now defunct FTX crypto exchange. The collapse of FTX, once valued at $32bn, was directly linked to revelations that it was attempting to financially prop up Alameda with fraudulent accounting. Subsequent investigations and criminal charges found that FTX and the hedge fund had used billions in customer funds for risky trades and lavish personal spending.

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Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX says it will be able to repay creditors full $11bn

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CEO confirms once company has sold off remaining assets it will have more than amount required

The bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has said it will be able to repay creditors the full $11bn (£8.8bn) it owes, as the boom-bust cycle repeats itself with a sharp increase in bitcoin prices.

John Ray III, who succeeded the disgraced Sam Bankman-Fried as the chief executive of FTX shortly after its collapse, said that once the exchange had sold off its remaining assets, it might have more than $16bn – well in excess of its debts.

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Sam Bankman-Fried appeals FTX fraud convictions and 25-year prison sentence

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Ex-CEO and former crypto mogul, 32, was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy to launder money in November

Sam Bankman-Fried appealed his fraud convictions and 25-year prison sentence on Thursday.

The ex-CEO of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange was found guilty on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy to launder money in November and sentenced to more than two decades in federal prison in late March. The former crypto mogul, 32, had signaled he would contest the court’s rulings shortly after he learned of his sentence. It’s not yet clear on what grounds Bankman-Fried will argue for an appeal, which could take years.

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FTX scraps plan to revive exchange and will repay billions to customers

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Cryptocurrency exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried ‘an irresponsible sham created by a convicted felon’, lawyer says

FTX has abandoned efforts to restart its crypto exchange, instead opting to liquidate all assets and return funds to customers, a company attorney said on Wednesday.

The exchange, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, has been negotiating for months with potential bidders and investors, but none were willing to put in enough money to rebuild it, FTX attorney Andy Dietderich said at a bankruptcy court hearing in Delaware.

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Sam Bankman-Fried will not face second trial after multibillion-dollar crypto fraud conviction

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US prosecutors say ‘strong public interest’ in prompt resolution of case against 31-year-old outweighs benefits of second trial

US prosecutors say they do not plan to conduct a second trial against Sam Bankman-Fried, who was convicted last month of stealing from customers of his now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange.

In a letter filed on Friday night in federal court in Manhattan, prosecutors said the “strong public interest” in a prompt resolution of their case against the 31-year-old former billionaire outweighed the benefits of a second trial.

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Was crypto on trial with Sam Bankman-Fried?

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Binance and Coinbase are under investigation – but Bitcoin was trading at highest value in a year as FTX founder convicted of fraud

As the trial of the former crypto star and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried began last month, headlines declared cryptocurrency was on trial too.

But when Bankman-Fried was found guilty on seven counts of wire fraud and money-laundering conspiracy Thursday evening, after less than five hours of jury deliberations, Bitcoin was trading at its highest price in a year.

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Sam Bankman-Fried built ‘pyramid of deceit’, jurors hear in closing arguments

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Founder of FTX platform, 31, painted by prosecution as scammer and liar who defrauded customers out of billions of dollars

Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto fraud trial neared its end with closing arguments on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court following weeks of testimony that lifted the veil of FTX’s stunning collapse – and a broader murkiness surrounding digital currency markets. The prosecution quickly painted Sam Bankman-Fried as an unabashed scammer rather than the image of the wayward math nerd proffered by the defense throughout the trial, saying he created a “pyramid of deceit” with his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX.

Assistant US attorney Nicholas Roos also used Bankman-Fried’s own testimony against him.

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Sam Bankman-Fried denies messy hair part of ‘tech genius’ persona during trial

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Disgraced former CEO of crypto exchange FTX admits to disparaging regulators on third day of testimony

Sam Bankman-Fried testified in his own blockbuster crypto trial again Monday, with prosecutors grilling the one-time crypto mogul about the many discrepancies between his public and private claims about crypto-exchange FTX.

Bankman-Fried appeared to have had a haircut over the weekend, just in time for prosecutors to start their cross examination and question whether his famously unkempt hair was part of a deliberate, anti-style “tech genius” persona.

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Prosecutor grills Sam Bankman-Fried about his hair and tech genius persona – as it happened

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Bankman-Fried gives details about the day FTX went bankrupt

Days after Binance’s sale of FTT, the cryptocurrency issued by FTX, and CoinDesk’s story on the multibillion-dollar hole in Alameda Research’s balance sheet, there was a rush of customer withdrawals, Bankman-Fried said.

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Sam Bankman-Fried admits to ‘large mistakes’ in crypto fraud trial testimony

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Bankman-Fried says his biggest mistake was not implementing a dedicated risk management team for crypto trading platform FTX

Sam Bankman-Fried admitted to making management mistakes while at the helm of FTX, his former multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency empire, during testimony in his defense at trial.

“I made a number of small mistakes and a number of large mistakes,” Bankman-Fried, 31, said in sharing his version of the rise and fall of crypto trading platform FTX. The biggest mistake, he said, was not implementing a dedicated risk management team.

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Former FTX executive says he was ‘embarrassed and ashamed’ of its excess

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Nishad Singh testifies at Sam Bankman-Fried trial about millions spent by failed crypto exchange on celebrity partnerships

The jury at Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial on Monday saw a photograph of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder with the singer Katy Perry and the actor Orlando Bloom at the 2022 NFL Super Bowl, as prosecutors sought to bolster their case that the failed crypto mogul squandered customer money on efforts to boost his stature.

Prosecutors displayed the image as Nishad Singh, FTX’s former director of engineering, testified about how the company spent hundreds of millions of dollars on celebrity partnerships and marketing in early 2022, months before the exchange declared bankruptcy amid a wave of customer withdrawals.

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Caroline Ellison testifies Sam Bankman-Fried told her to illegally divert FTX funds

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Former Alameda Research CEO says ex-boyfriend largely blamed her for company’s financial collapse

Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial entered its sixth day on Wednesday with more testimony from Caroline Ellison, his ex-girlfriend and the former CEO of the hedge fund associated with his collapsed cryptocurrency exchange. She testified that, during last year’s cryptocurrency crash, Bankman-Fried directed her to illegally appropriate FTX customers’ money.

When downturn began in May 2022, Ellison worried that the walls could soon come down on Alameda Research. Many of the hedge fund’s lenders had open-term loans, which meant they could call them – and ask for their money back – at any point. The crash left Alameda in the lurch after the value of its crypto assets evaporated. The two had broken up in early 2022. Ellison said she was avoiding social settings and one-on-one conversations with him when the crash began.

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Sam Bankman-Fried trial: ex-girlfriend says he directed her to commit crimes

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Caroline Ellison, who dated Bankman-Fried for ‘a couple of years’, tells court that he ‘directed me to commit these crimes’

On the fifth day of Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial, the prosecution’s star witness named the FTX founder as the ringleader of a $10bn fraud scheme at the cryptocurrency exchange and its associated hedge fund.

“While you were working at Alameda, did you commit any crimes?” a prosecutor asked Caroline Ellison.

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FTX co-founder testifies he committed crimes with Sam Bankman-Fried

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Gary Wang, who previously pleaded guilty to his role in FTX’s downfall, is testifying under a plea agreement

Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto fraud trial gained steam on Thursday when the co-founder of his fallen exchange, Gary Wang, took the stand as a government witness in Manhattan federal court.

His testimony came as the highly anticipated trial entered its third day. Bankman-Fried faces seven counts on fraud and conspiracy charges in relation to the implosion of his crypto exchange FTX and its related hedge fund, Alameda Research.

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Sam Bankman-Fried trial: ‘I may have unwittingly contributed to a crime’, FTX developer tells court – as it happened

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Sam Bankman-Fried’s confidants were along for the ride. At his side was Caroline Ellison, Alameda’s CEO and his on-again, off-again lover.

Ellison, too, projected tech bro-like eccentricities, waxing philosophical about free love and drugs. She wrote in a now-notorious tweet.:

Nothing like regular amphetamine use to make you appreciate how dumb a lot of normal, non-medicated human experience is.

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Sam Bankman-Fried built empire on ‘lies’, prosecutor says in fraud trial

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Second day of trial featured prosecutors’ first witness as defense presented Bankman-Fried as ‘math nerd’ with good intentions who got in over his head

Opening arguments began in Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial on Wednesday, with prosecutors accusing the former cryptocurrency star of building his empire “on lies” and living a lavish lifestyle while defrauding his customers. Defense attorneys countered by presenting Bankman-Fried as a “math nerd” with good intentions who got in over his head.

The second day of the trial began with Judge Lewis Kaplan finalizing a group of 12 jurors who would hear the case, along with six alternates, and later in the afternoon featured prosecutors calling their first witness.

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Sam Bankman-Fried arrives in Manhattan court as fraud trial kicks off

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FTX founder shed his signature T-shirt and shorts look to don on suit with freshly cut hair as day one of fraud trial commenced

The criminal trial of the former cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried began on Tuesday, with jury selection getting under way in a Manhattan federal court.

Bankman-Fried, who founded the cryptocurrency exchange FTX and associated hedge fund Alameda Research, is facing trial on finance crimes stemming from the shocking collapse of FTX. Before its sudden downfall last year, FTX was valued at around $32bn.

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FTX sues Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents, claiming they received millions in gifts

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Lawsuit is the company’s first legal pursuit against Bankman-Fried’s parents for their role in the company

FTX is suing the parents of Sam Bankman-Fried, two longtime Stanford Law School professors, alleging that the couple inappropriately used company funds to enrich themselves through gifts and donations.

The cryptocurrency company, now operating under CEO John Jay Ray III, an expert in helping companies recover after bankruptcy, claims Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried received funds from their son’s company in the form of gifts and donations to specific causes.

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Sam Bankman-Fried living off ‘bread and water’ in prison, lawyer says

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Founder of FTX not being provided with a vegan diet and not being given Adderall needed to manage his ADHD attorney tells judge

While in federal custody, disgraced cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried has been living off “bread and water” because he’s not being provided with the vegan diet he requested, his attorney told a judge Tuesday.

During a hearing, Mark Cohen, lawyer for Bankman-Fried, said that improper diet and the jail’s failure to give Bankman-Fried the Adderall he needs to manage his attention deficit hyperactive disorder, will impact his ability to participate in readying his defense case.

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Judge orders FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried to jail after bail revoked

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Lewis Kaplan says he has cause to believe defendant ‘had tried to tamper with witnesses at least twice’ since December arrest

Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail has been revoked ahead of his October fraud trial after prosecutors accused the indicted founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX of tampering with witnesses.

Bankman-Fried is expected to report to jail later on Friday after Judge Lewis Kaplan announced the decision at a hearing over Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions in federal court in Manhattan. Bankman-Fried was taken directly into custody at the conclusion of the hearing. He was led out of the courtroom by members of the US Marshals Service.

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