Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of FTX, has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for defrauding and stealing billions of dollars from clients of the cryptocurrency platform. Despite claiming remorse for the collapse of FTX, which uncovered a fraud of about 10 billion dollars, Bankman-Fried faced up to 110 years behind bars after being found guilty last year of seven crimes, including fraud and conspiracy.
Bankman-Fried, 32, initially denied knowingly committing fraud and alleged that he and his cryptocurrency empire were victims of the 2022 market crashes. However, US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan dismissed Bankman-Fried’s statement, stating that he was not truly remorseful and focusing instead on the seriousness of the crime. “There is a risk that this man will be in a position to do something very bad in the future,” Judge Kaplan said.
During the trial, prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of diverting billions of dollars from FTX to its sister hedge fund, Alameda Research, to spend on speculative investments, more than 300 political donations, and expensive real estate assets. Faced with market volatility, lenders began asking for their money in 2022 and Bankman-Fried used FTX client funds to pay them back. However, an avalanche of customer withdrawals culminated in FTX filing for bankruptcy in November 2022 and Bankman-Fried resigning as CEO.