From November 2, 2022, when red-flags were raised about the financial dealings of Alameda Research and FTT, a token issued by FTX, the fraud charges against crypto exchange founder and billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried came to an end on March 28, 2024.
He was sentenced to 25 years or approximately 300 months imprisonment by a U.S. court for defrauding and stealing more than $10 billion from his investors and customers, some of whom put their life savings on one of the largest crypto exchanges FTX.
In addition to the sentence, Judge Lewis Kaplan also ruled that Bankman-Fried forfeit more than $11 billion, including property, as recommended by prosecutors.
FTX is one of the biggest crypto scams of all time, which shook the crypto community causing a massive plunging of prices across exchanges around the world.
Here is the timeline of how the 32-year-old Bankman-Fried found his way to prison:
November 2, 2022: A report of how Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency trading firm, was facing a cash crunch surfaced online. Crypto news-based online platform Coindesk in the report detailed how the finances of Alameda Research and FTX were intertwined. That was the beginning of his long-walk into jail.
November 6, 2022: Binance former CEO Changpeng Zhao in a tweet announced that Binance would sell all its holdings in FTT. The announcement sparked massive sales of FTT by holders, resulting to the fall of FTT price in the crypto market.
November 8, 2022: Changpeng said it planned to buy FTX exchange but would understudy the finances of FTX before taking a decision, causing a panic sale in the market.
November 9, 2022: Changpeng announced that Binance would not buy FTX, saying, “…the issues are beyond our control or ability to help,” instigating at more than 14% drop in the price of Bitcoin while the price of other coins also plunged.
November 10, 2022: Cryptocurrency lender BlockFi temporarily suspended withdrawal as a result of it becoming obvious that FTX was undergoing financing stress.
November 11, 2022: Bankman-Fried announced his resignation as CEO and FTX filed for bankruptcy aka Chapter 11. On the same day, John Ray III, a long-time bankruptcy litigator was named the new CEO.
The announcement officially marked the shutdown of FTX on November 11, 2022.
November 17, 2022: Ray gives a damning description of FTX’s operations under Bankman-Fried, from a lack of security controls to business funds being used to buy employees homes and luxuries.
November 30, 2022: The 32-year-old FTX founder admitted in an interview with New York Times:
“Look, I screwed up,” and didn’t knowingly misuse clients’ funds,” blaming it on a huge management failure.
December 12, 2022: He was arrested in the Bahamas, where FTX is headquartered.
December 13, 2022: The U.S. government levelled several charges against him, including financial crimes, intentionally deceiving his customers to enrich himself and playing a central role in the company’s multibillion-dollar collapse.
Federal prosecutors accused him in a 13-page indictment of intentionally founding FTX to defraud customers and investors, using proceeds from it to cover expenses and use funds for risky trades at Alameda Research
December 22, 2022: His parents, who are both Professor of Law, agreed to sign a $250 million bond and keep him at their California home while he awaits trial.
August 11, 2023: Application for his bail was revoked by a Judge, after concluding that there were enough evidence to show that Bankman-Fried was trying to influence witnesses against him.
October 3, 2023: The 32-year-old FTX billionaire’s road to jail began, following the selection of Jury for his trial.
October 27, 2023: Bankman-Fried admitted management failure but denied intentionally defrauding his customers and investors.
November 3, 2023: The young crypto billionaire was convicted of fraud for stealing about $11 billion from FTX customers and investors.
March 28, 2024: District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years or 300 months imprisonment.
The sentencing is being hailed in the crypto community, particularly FTX investors and customers who lost billions of dollars.
