Get Out of Jail Fried
Market Meditations | December 29, 2022
Sam Bankman-Fried will be spending his holiday season in the comfort of his parents’ estate thanks to a federal judge.
- Fresh off his extradition from the Bahamas, SBF appeared in U.S. federal court in New York yesterday to face charges alleging his role as kingpin of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange, FTX.
- The judge set bail at $250 million for accusations including fraud, money laundering, and campaign -financing violations.
- Much to the chagrin of many justifiably vindictive patrons, the bail was quickly posted by Bankman-Fried’s parents, who put up their Palo Alto, California property to secure his release.
- More conditions were also stipulated as part of SBF’s tentative freedom. He isn’t allowed to conduct financial transactions for more than $1,000 and cannot open any new lines of credit, amongst other requirements.
The disgraced former CEO of Alameda research Carolina Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang signed plea bargains requiring them to plead guilty to federal charges and comply with investigators in their search for information regarding the actions taken leading to the downfall of the exchange.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler also publicly commented that “Caroline Ellison and Sam Bankman-Fried schemed to manipulate the price of FTT… to prop up the value of their house of cards.”
While it’s good to see officials publicly disparaging actions attributed to SBF, one has to wonder how much damage FTX will have when regulation arrives.
