Opinion: Why SFB deserves a new lease of life after prison

Author: Daniel Kuhn, CoinDesk; Compiler: Tao Zhu, Golden Finance

Sam Bankman-Fried asked for sentencing for the crime of the century A sentence of no more than 6.5 years is patently absurd. Equally ridiculous is the fact that in arguing for a reduced sentence, his newly hired defense attorney cited SBF's autism and vegetarianism, and took advantage of the victims' potential for full compensation. One's diet is not grounds for leniency, and more importantly, the fact that FTX's estate was able to recover some (but not all) of the billions of dollars worth of missing assets was not because of the SBF's efforts.

“There’s a lot we didn’t get back, like bribes paid to Chinese officials, or the hundreds of millions of dollars he spent buying access or time with celebrities or politicians, or the investments he made for those with zero due diligence A grossly excessive price has been paid,” FTX CEO John J. Ray III, who oversaw the exchange’s bankruptcy proceedings, wrote in a March 20 memo. "The harm was immense. The remorse was non-existent."

However, sentenced SBF to the equivalent of a life sentence The punishment is also crazy. Under U.S. sentencing guidelines, SBF faces up to 110 years in prison. Justice Department prosecutors prosecuting the case sought a prison sentence of 40 to 50 years on two counts of fraud and five counts of conspiracy against SBF. As Judge Lewis Kaplan said when imposing the 25-year sentence, "It will be unnecessary."

Public opinion on the matter (and indeed it is) appears to be divided, < strong>Many said the sentence was too lenient. SBF is required to serve at least 85% of the 25-year period, meaning the 32-year-old is Freedom can be regained in your early 50s. SBF betrayed the trust of its investors, customers and employees. Dozens of victim statements recount the shock and financial distress he caused and the countless lives he derailed. Judge Kaplan also found that SBF attempted to obstruct justice and committed perjury on three counts.

However, with the announcement of today’s verdict, the cryptocurrency industry is likely to wish SBF well. Setting aside the horrific statistics and realities of life in federal prisons—including that the United States incarcerates five times more people per capita than most other countries, as well as racial disparities in criminal justice—SBFs are losing their lives to nonviolent crimes. This may be an unpopular opinion considering the harm SBF has caused to many cryptocurrency holders and the industry as a whole.

There is no point in arguing that SBF is guilty. Whether he intended to deceive the world is meaningless. There is also no reason to believe SBF's argument that he can help clients better than the highly paid bankruptcy attorneys currently doing the job. It is clear that SBF made no attempt to protect or recover its customers’ funds before the fraud was exposed. Likewise, there is no point in trying to answer the question of whether SBF turned bad out of a utilitarian goal of doing the greatest good in the world or started out that way.

There are few feasible safeguards against SBF events. The dozens of character witnesses who testified against him painted a picture of a bright kid. SBF’s MotherBarbara Fried wrote, Sam is an "angel of mercy" who carries the pain of the world in his depressed mind without mentioning his victims. His philanthropy was worthless; it was easy to give away other people's money.

But it’s weird to expect someone to be locked up for decades – never getting a chance to atone or try to do the right thing. Incarceration serves several purposes: retaliation for harm done to society, deterrence of others from committing similar crimes, and for reasons of public safety. Prosecutors tried to argue that it was "highly likely" that SBF would commit more crimes after his release, Therefore, it is requested that he be imprisoned until he is in his 80s.

Prison has another purpose: to reform. Although SBF's lawyer Marc Mukasey told the judge that the FTX founder was not a "ruthless financial serial killer" intent on robbing clients, only A mind reader can tell exactly what his intentions are. It is clear that SBF began withdrawing funds from customer accounts within a year of the FTX Futures exchange’s founding and has shown little remorse for its crimes. But, as human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith says: “Never Judge a man solely by his worst behavior."

The demonization of SBF, sometimes referred to as the “face of cryptocurrency,” is actually a demonization of cryptocurrencies as a whole. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts should hope that the SBF will reform in time and feel remorse, just as the industry itself should strive to rid itself of fraud. I can't comment on whether SBF's effective altruism is sincere, but I want to believe in the possibility of good in him, just as cryptocurrency proponents believe in the good that cryptocurrencies can impact the world despite their critics.

In short: SBF deserves to move on after prison.