25-Year Sentence for Sam Bankman-Fried: How Fraudulent Crypto Trading Led to Prison Time

Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of cryptocurrency platform FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for defrauding and stealing billions of dollars from customers. US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan handed down the sentence in federal court in Manhattan. Despite his claims of regret over the failure of FTX, which revealed a fraud of about 10 billion dollars, Bankman-Fried faced 110 years in prison after being found guilty last year of seven felonies, including fraud and conspiracy, according to Bloomberg.

The trial focused on the seriousness of the crime, with Judge Kaplan noting the risk that Bankman-Fried could commit another heinous act in the future. Prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of diverting billions of dollars from FTX to its sister hedge fund, Alameda Research, for speculative investments and political donations. As market volatility hit in 2022, lenders demanded their money back and Bankman-Fried used funds from FTX clients to repay them. However, an avalanche of customer withdrawals led to FTX filing for bankruptcy in November 2022 and Bankman-Fried resigning as CEO.