FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison

The court of the Southern District of New York sentenced the founder and former CEO of the FTX exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), to 25 years in prison. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $11 billion. The businessman was found guilty on seven counts of charges related to multibillion-dollar fraud and the bankruptcy of his former companies.

In 2017, Bankman-Fried founded the trading company Alameda Research, and two years later launched the FTX exchange. Over the years, his companies have become one of the leaders of the crypto industry. In 2021, FTX revenue exceeded $1 billion, and in January 2022, the exchange's valuation reached $32 billion.

During the outbreak of the crypto winter, SBF companies declared their readiness to help firms and organizations that were on the verge of collapse. The entrepreneur claimed that he had "several billion dollars" to improve the industry.

FTX and Alameda Research have been actively investing in troubled companies. Among the firms that were allocated money were the BlockFi landing platform and the Voyager Digital crypto lender. These two companies alone received about $900 million from FTX and Alameda.

However, as the crisis developed, problems arose for Bankman-Fried himself. In May 2022, his companies faced a lack of liquidity and other financial difficulties. For several months, the management of FTX and Alameda Research managed to hide the growing volume of problems. However, in November of the same year, the media learned about the crisis situation and presented all the details to the public.

The journalistic investigation has sent the industry into a state of shock. Within a short period of time, FTX and Alameda Research collapsed, and Bankman-Fried was forced to retire from the business.

The businessman was arrested and accused of multibillion-dollar fraud. He refused to admit guilt and stated that the investigators did not have the necessary evidence.

Source: https://incrypted.com/osnovatelja-ftx-sema-benkmana-fryda-prygovoryly-k-25-godam-tjurmy/