SBF was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Full view of the views of all parties at the trial.

Author: Nikhilesh De, Sam Kessler, Cheyenne Ligon, CoinDesk; Compiled by: White Water, Golden Finance

• FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 on Thursday on seven separate fraud and conspiracy charges years in prison.

• Bankman-Fried was accused of massive fraud at FTX and Alameda, which collapsed dramatically in 2022, costing customers an estimated $8 to $11 billion.

A federal judge ruled Thursday that Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) must go to prison for fraud and conspiracy. 25 years later, he eventually led to the bankruptcy of his once massive cryptocurrency exchange, FTX.

In preparation for sentencing, Judge Lewis Kaplan said SBF had never expressed "remorse for the horrific crimes he committed". Kaplan said the SBF's attempt to project a positive, selfless image in the public eye was at least partly "an act." He rejected the defense's argument that SBF would not commit future crimes. "Mr. SBF's name is now pretty much in the dust all over the world" buthe is "persistent" and "a great marketer personnel," the judge said in explaining why the FTX CEO should receive a lengthy prison sentence.

Judge Kaplan announced his decision after a two-hour hearing in a Manhattan courtroom in which prosecutors, attorneys for SBF, one of the victims, and representatives of other FTX victims Comments were made by the lawyers who spoke, as well as by SBF himself. SBF was previously convicted on seven criminal counts in November, a year after FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The former FTX CEO will appeal his conviction, a process that cannot begin until Kaplan makes his sentencing decision, his attorney said Thursday.

SBF was also fined $11 billion, including the forfeiture of agreements to sell assets such as private jets.

Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, said: "Today's sentence will prevent the defendants from committing fraud again and provide others who may be tempted with Those who engage in financial crimes send an important message: Justice will be served quickly and the consequences will be severe." New York, DC said in a statement on social media platform X,

"A beautiful enigma"

SBF attorney Mark Mukasey told Judge Kaplan that his client " He doesn’t make decisions with bad intentions, he makes them based on the math in his head,” adding,“Anyone who really People who know SBF will say that he is not a greedy person, a power-hungry demon...Really, he is a clumsy math nerd."

Mukasey repeatedly mentioned SBF’s autism and social awkwardness, as well as his commitment to altruism, calling him “a beautiful mystery The same man" with a "tireless work ethic and a completely extraordinary and astonishing intellect" and asked the judge not to ruin the prime years of his client's life.

"Don't deny him the opportunity to meet a partner and have children," Mukasey told the court.

SBF’s narration

When it was SBF’s turn to speak, he even Cares about the FTX customer waiting for a refund, not his "emotional life" or "hypothetical future child".

“My lifespan is probably over. It’s been over for a while now,” said the man who spent the past six months at Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC). ) spent SBF said.

As he walked into the courtroom on Thursday - with his parents and a motley crowd of onlookers watching from the court's viewing gallery - SBF was visibly thinner than he had been at last year's trial. SBF's signature curls - which were cut shorter for the October trial - look fuller than before, but also less tousled.

SBF, wearing a tan short-sleeved prison jumpsuit, spoke for several minutes, with U.S. Marshals standing behind him. SBF reiterated his long-standing assertion that "there are enough assets, there are enough assets" and FTX's creditors can receive the full amount repay.

SBF told the court that correcting a "liquidity crisis" caused by the company itself, which he said was "partly due to my actions", would result in " It's been a bad few weeks," but he insisted that "even if he tried to rescue Alameda with FTX customer funds, FTX would survive.

Even if creditors did receive funds now, he said, they would be " "Depriving" the broader cryptocurrency market of the gains made over the past few months, echoing concerns expressed by FTX creditors in victim impact statements filed with the Justice Department.

SBF asked his three predecessors Friends and key government witnesses Nishad Singh, Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison praised him and expressed regret for his leading role in the collapse of FTX. "I am sorry for what happened at every stage...Ultimately, I was let down by someone I cared about Of all the people," SBF added, "I am responsible. ”

Customer Focused

SBF spoke out after FTX creditors and lawyers representing a class action lawsuit filed against the bankruptcy estate, both of whom claimed FTX's bankruptcy estate improperly handled customer funds. All three said, 112, 192);">The asset managers proposed to pay creditors less than they would have received at current market prices.

Adam, the attorney representing the class Moskowitz offered a flurry of support for SBF in a brief statement in court, saying the former CEO and other former FTX executives had helped his team recover some of the funds lost by FTX.

"SBF and his team were very helpful to us," he said. "On behalf of the victims, I ask that you respectfully consider this. ”

The sentence SBF faces

Based on the probation officer’s report, SBF faces up to a century in prison. Kaplan is not bound by this recommendation. SBF’s defense team (with the A different group of lawyers representing him during the five-week trial asked for a sentence of no more than 6 1/2 years, while U.S. Justice Department prosecutors sought 40 to 50 years.

In In reading the verdict, the judge all but dismissed SBF and his testimony at last year's trial.

SBF's verdict The creditor caused "enormous harm", showed "unusual flexibility with the facts" during testimony and showed a "clear lack of remorse".

The judge said: “When he wasn’t outright lying, he was evasive, nitpicking, and avoiding questions. ” He also added that he “tried to get the prosecutor” to rephrase the question.

AlthoughCaplan was clearly frustrated with the SBF, but he ultimately felt that 50 years in prison (let alone 100 years) was "far more than necessary"and recommended that he serve his sentence in a medium- or low-security federal prison. He also recommended that the prison be as close as possible to SBF's hometown of the San Francisco Bay Area to facilitate family visits .

Caplan said his recommendation was based on SBF having no history of violence and that his notoriety, autism diagnosis and ties to wealth would keep him in maximum security are more vulnerable in higher-level prisons.

SBF is required to serve at least 85% of the sentence, which is a requirement under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, which allows for reductions of up to 15% of the federal sentence for good behavior. This, of course, depends on his appeal and whether it is successful. His team has 14 days from the day the judgment is recorded to lodge an appeal, which Mr Justice Caplan said could come as soon as late Thursday.

Words from the Ministry of Justice and defense lawyers

The U.S. Department of Justice said SBF should be severely punished, arguing that FTX, once valued at $32 billion, lost nearly all of its funds as a result of his malfeasance. During the trial, prosecutors said SBF stole $8 billion in client funds, Used to fund venture capital, real estate purchases, political donations and more. Prosecutors submitted dozens of victim impact statements from former FTX clients as evidence, saying the scale of the fraud for which SBF was convicted was so vast that Supports a harsher penalty, even though it is only half of what he could theoretically face.

On the other hand,Defense attorneys argued that SBF had no intention of defrauding clients, had shown remorse and tried to resolve the issue after FTX's bankruptcy began, and called the DOJ's proposal too extreme. Their letters of support tell more about SBF’s personal experiences than FTX and its collapse, with the author pointing to his vegetarianism and anecdotes from his youth. Several letters stated that SBF was neurodivergent and did not seem to understand the seriousness of the situation. Former NYPD officer Carmine Simpson, an inmate at a Brooklyn detention center who pleaded guilty to soliciting minors, wrote a letter claiming vegan SBF was being forced to eat in prison Very bad.