💰 Hey Bail

A mixture of surprise and anger greeted the news that Sam Bankman-Fried would be roaming free until October. The chess strategy has begun and we may be in for a long, drawn-out affair:

• Sam Bankman-Fried made a brief appearance in court yesterday, where he recorded a not guilty plea to all charges. He is facing “eight felony counts including fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering“.
• In contrast to this, SBF’s close associates Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang both pleaded guilty to counts of fraud. In addition, Ellison also admitted to money laundering. It is believed that they are both cooperating with prosecutors.
• The judge set his trial date for October 2nd, 2023. Until then, SBF will remain out on bail.
• In a move that raised eyebrows, SBFs lawyer, Mark Cohen, also successfully requested that the bail bond signatories remain anonymous. He argued that there was a threat of harassment and violence toward those backing the $250 million bail given the high level of media interest.
• Speculation has already begun on Crypto Twitter about who the anonymous backers might be.
• In a final twist, the judge also tweaked SBF’s bail conditions, prohibiting access to any FTX or Alameda funds leftover.
• The White House has also been defending several meetings that occurred last year between SBF and senior Biden officials. They claim they were all related to “pandemic preparedness initiatives“.