FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fried found guilty

[Rikafip]

Okay, so he was found guilty. Nice, actually slightly suprised. But let's see how the sentencing will really end.
In the article it says "up to 110 years". Why do they need another 4 months to decide on the actualy time of his sentence?

Because they obviously want to decide a proper sentence which is appropriate for the crime commited.

I'll be suprised if he will stay in jail for more than 5 years, if even. But let's see.

Lol you serious? People who steal few millions get that kind of sentence while our boy SBF embezzled billions, and was found guilty on seven charges (some of them very serious)  so I think that you are going to end up very surprised. My guesstimate is few decades.

And for almost a year all I could hear on this forum was
...

Well, some of us were trying to be reasonable amidst all those conspiracy theorists. The moment his ex -gf got a deal and ratted him out, it was pretty obvious how this will end up.

I wonder what the next move of the nay-sayers will be because god forbid we would have an instance where the system works.

As you can see, now they move goalpost to SBF getting only few years in prison.


For those who want to read how the sentencing works.

Source: https://twitter.com/katie_haun/status/1720267164278780141

Prison time is recommended by combining a defendant’s prior criminal history with a total numerical offense level. Take the wire fraud count. The guidelines specify an offense level of 7 (§2B1.1) but that offense level gets enhanced for any number of factors the government may demonstrate (eg # of victims, amount of $ loss, sophisticated means, leadership, etc). Here, the loss amount is far and away the real driver of a recommended guidelines prison term. Although the indictment doesn’t allege a specific total monetary loss, the guidelines loss enhancements actually cap out at $550m.

Here’s some quick math re guidelines:
+7 Base Offense Level §2B1.1
+30 loss amount $550M+ §2B1.1(b)(1)(P) (big driver)
+6 25 victims suffered financial hardship §2B1.1(b)(2)(A)
+2 scheme abroad/sophisticated means §2B1.1(b)(10)
+2 leadership role §3B1.1
= 47 Total Offense Level (TOL)**

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[mindrust]

Finally something good happened. I was sick and tired of seeing criminals getting away without getting punished just because they are billionaires. This one should send a message. Nobody is untouchable. Samwell Fried Chicken had many “friends” in the senate and yet he is going to jail anyway. Money can still buy some legal protection (sadly) but it won’t make you completely invincible. (Gladly) I hope there isn’t a hidden deal between this fuck and the gov so he will serve his time in the can like a real criminal. The gov should seize his assets and distribute it to the victims btw. Without it, there won’t be complete justice.

[GreatArkansas]

With FTX Ceo Sam Bankman Fried found guilty, I'm curious what will happen to the customers who lost their money deposited in the exchange.
Even though I can see a lot of people already undergo to the process where in somehow they will get back their deposited cryptocurrency in the exchanges, I am worried how it will affect them with Sam Bankman Fried found guilty?

[franky1]

If the government would want to enforce this completely p2p would hardly be a solution.
You need a bank transfer to pay that guy or any other centralized solution, now just think, how many normal users send bank transfers to complete strangers around the country by the dozen each day? You just have to target those, then you find the trader get all the transfers he made, and knock at the other guy's door!
P2P when doing the payment over a 3rd party is just an illusion of privacy, you either meet with the guy face-to-face and deal in cash or you simply acknowledge you can't do it completely and by the book.

here in the UK they already targeted defi- p2p traders.. it was during the Localbitcoin.com era. where as you say when people were doing random wire transfers to people for certain amounts too often the banks would freeze accounts because the banks deemed people were operating a business but using a personal bank account not a business account. people needed to register as a business and get a money service business to begin operation again..which then required them to keep records and KYC their peers.. DE-FI platforms are not immune (unless they are trading stable coin for btc, to avoid bank monitoring) for those that want to trade real fiat wire transfers for btc

[franky1]

Yeah, this is going to be a lesson to some CEX with ill intention, although I thought some months ago there was some news of the same FTX in agreement to repay some of the victims their funds that were lost during the fall of their exchange. I think they didn't repay anyone. This should also serve as a lesson to those that have been keeping their assets on the centralized exchange. I know that there were a majority of crypto investors who lost a huge amount of money during the crash of this exchange, and they will never get back that much money because it's gone.

With FTX Ceo Sam Bankman Fried found guilty, I'm curious what will happen to the customers who lost their money deposited in the exchange.
Even though I can see a lot of people already undergo to the process where in somehow they will get back their deposited cryptocurrency in the exchanges, I am worried how it will affect them with Sam Bankman Fried found guilty?

scam banker fraud has not been managing the company for a year.. it has been in the hands of bankruptcy administration.. there are funds located and it will be distributed.. but if the MTGox bankruptcy is anything to go by.. not any time soon, give it a few years

[Z-tight]

Do you think that after the collapse of FTX, governments will increase regulation for exchanges? If that happens, fraudulent exchanges will no longer exist, but it will also mean that we will once again be controlled by the government. That's the scenario I'm thinking of.
The collapse of FTX and the imprisonment of SBF, is not a warning to the remaining CEXs, it is a good reason for the government to have the right to intervene in the market and regulate things.

Centralized exchanges are already regulated by the government, though every jurisdiction regulates crypto differently, some are very strict, while others may be a little bit lenient with their laws, this is why sometimes centralized exchanges stop offering their services to certain jurisdictions when they cannot cope with their laws.

Take note that government regulation of centralized exchanges does not mean that many of them would stop being fraudulent. They would surely comply with AML and CFT laws, but it won't stop them from using your money in fractional reserve scam, and even proof of reserves cannot prove that an exchange is solvent, so don't store your funds in an exchange and don't think that such regulations would mean BTC is controlled by the government.

[franky1]

Centralized exchanges are already regulated by the government, though every jurisdiction regulates crypto differently, some are very strict, while others may be a little bit lenient with their laws, this is why sometimes centralized exchanges stop offering their services to certain jurisdictions when they cannot cope with their laws.

Take note that government regulation of centralized exchanges does not mean that many of them would stop being fraudulent. They would surely comply with AML and CFT laws, but it won't stop them from using your money in fractional reserve scam, and even proof of reserves cannot prove that an exchange is solvent, so don't store your funds in an exchange and don't think that such regulations would mean BTC is controlled by the government.

not all CEX's are regulated. some operate without MSB licences..
also as you hint at. most of the jurisdictions are not about the crypto part. but the ability of the service to accept a countries native fiat for deposit/withdrawal.. so a CEX accepting USD would need to be licenced with a US regulator and follow US rules for that services relationship with their US customers

this is why some CEX operate in countries outside of certain jurisdictions and then use a secondary service to take the deposits and then have relations with customers on the third service(outside of jurisdiction) for the main exchange/market, to evade regulation

EG FTX used a US sister company(ftx.us) for deposits/withdrawals, FTX.com was panama, alemeda was japan. so alemeda had alot less(none) US oversight

governments are right now strengthening laws where if a business is custodianising US fiat. even in the form of a crypto pegged USD stablecoin or virtual currency emulating USD, they too would be classed as a US money service business even if they operate outside of the US.

[Rikafip]

With FTX Ceo Sam Bankman Fried found guilty, I'm curious what will happen to the customers who lost their money deposited in the exchange.

Nothing will happen. By the way, SBF is FTX former CEO, not the current one. 

Even though I can see a lot of people already undergo to the process where in somehow they will get back their deposited cryptocurrency in the exchanges, I am worried how it will affect them with Sam Bankman Fried found guilty?

Why would fact that SBF got found guilty affect them in any way? As far as I know, debtors are supposed to get part of their money out soemtimes in the first half of 2024 and there are even talks about relaunching the exchange.

[DapanasFruit]

The saga of FTX and SBF has partially ended with this verdict which is for me quite expected considering what transpired with his own platform and the many bad things he made abusing the trust people bestowed to him as the head of the said crypto-based business. There are a lot of big lessons here and let's hope that the message is clear: Doing business in crypto and with crypto is not a license to be a fool and abuse the power to the detriment of many.

[Darker45]

Sam Bankman-Fried deserves it. I was relieved when I heard this news the first time over Twitter. I was afraid Sam Bankman-Fried, thanks to his connections and donations in the past, could get away from justice. It seemed to me that justice was too lenient on him. He seemed to be given special treatment. But then this came out. I hope he will serve his time in jail.

And let this be a strong reminder to anybody who is running a centralized crypto platform not to mess with people's money. They're merely custodians. That their clients made deposits to their platforms doesn't mean they have absolute freedom over their money.

[posi]

With FTX Ceo Sam Bankman Fried found guilty, I'm curious what will happen to the customers who lost their money deposited in the exchange.
Even though I can see a lot of people already undergo to the process where in somehow they will get back their deposited cryptocurrency in the exchanges, I am worried how it will affect them with Sam Bankman Fried found guilty?

Sam Bankman Fried was no longer CEO of FTX when FTX filed for bankruptcy, so I don't think compensation to users and his going to jail would have any connection. FTX is being managed by a completely new leadership team and whether they will compensate former users is still a question. There has been a lot of news about FTX wanting to restart its business and to be able to do that, they need to compensate the victims. Otherwise, their plans will never come true. But the compensation amount is very large and it is unknown where they will mobilize from to compensate investors.

[Stepstowealth]

yesterday the jury decided. guilty on all 7 charges. with sentencing to be decided next march(28th) 2024

also the feds have another 5 or so other charges it didnt push this year, but may press charges against him before or after next march, to add extra possible time to his sentencing

hope this teaches other dodgy CEX's a large lesson

This will be justice to the people who were victims to his fraud and have been following up the case since to see how it will end. He was highly connected as we hear but the connections were not enough for him not to be found guilty. This proves that the justice system in some countries still work, unlike in some other countries where people can get away with this so far they are highly connected and Powerful. Sam Bankman Fried will likely face a very long sentence.

[m2017]

That's called karma;

It seemed to me that this is called justice.

when you do bad things to others, expect that you will reap a bad result in the end, for sure.

Well, that's not entirely true. There are many cases in history where many people managed to avoid a “bad result in the end”.

With the amount of money involved and the number of people who have been victimized, it is very unfair for the victims to see that the person who was victimized is free to go wherever he wants and the situation is still good, right?

That is why the justice system could not ignore this high-profile case.

So for me, that's good news; I just don't know if it's bailable or non-bailable. I just hope that no one is bribed with money from people related to that investigation.

Have you been a user of FTX? One gets the impression that almost everyone wishes Sam Bankman-Fried a cruel and long-term punishment, even if they are not direct victims of his activities.

In fact, indirectly, all cryptomarket participants are victims, because the FTX collapse negatively affected the entire cryptoindustry as a whole.

[DaveF]

Okay, so he was found guilty. Nice, actually slightly suprised. But let's see how the sentencing will really end.
In the article it says "up to 110 years". Why do they need another 4 months to decide on the actualy time of his sentence?

I'll be suprised if he will stay in jail for more than 5 years, if even. But let's see.
Now, I still want my 2-seasons netflix series about this crypto-soap-opera.

1) Because lawyers have to lawyer.
2) Appeals / negotiations and things like that
3) The wheels of justice move slowly.

All in all, we will probably get a large amount of time but it's going to be in federal country club prison, not pound you in the ass prison.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2-1wcJYrWA

Also, he will probably be there for the full time, unless he can turn over evidence of other peoples crimes. Don't know what he has in terms of that but with all the money he moved there were probably some things that he tucked away in his pocket just in case.

-Dave

[Woodie]

Sam Bankman has set an example for anyone having intentions of scamming using exchanges and what not to know what awaits them, sad for Sam but good precedent to protect crypto users.

hope this teaches other dodgy CEX's a large lesson

When it comes to the USA, we all know that very few companies can survive their regulations which is why many companies avoid this market!!

As of the dodgy CEOs  , if not operating in the USA I honestly don't see them being prosecuted for their wrong doing as the jurisdictions they operate in have porous regulations AFAIK!

[kryptqnick]

It's good to see that courts work alright in some countries, and people get charged with financial crimes when they're guilty. This guy caused a lot of pain to a lot of people, so it's important to punish fraud to ensure that others understand the risks. That being said, he's basically facing a life sentence, and I've said it before that I don't think people who aren't guilty of violent crimes should have huge prison sentences. What's important is to return money to the victims, and a guy like SBF could be more useful generating wealth than being kept on taxpayers' money for decades while rotting in prison.

[franky1]

This will be justice to the people who were victims to his fraud and have been following up the case since to see how it will end. He was highly connected as we hear but the connections were not enough for him not to be found guilty. This proves that the justice system in some countries still work, unlike in some other countries where people can get away with this so far they are highly connected and Powerful. Sam Bankman Fried will likely face a very long sentence.

the thing is now that he was been found guilty of running a service fraudulently. this can escalate into finding other people in the future linked to the fraud. such as those promoting it and those personally gaining from it.
one thing would be his parents being civilly sued by the bankruptcy administration. where by now he is guilty their lawsuit against his parents become 100million x easier

[bluebit25]

Yep, this is definitely a big failure for other CEXs in this market because of the violations that FTX, and the managers behind, want to manipulate and make profits for their pockets. Although I am not someone who hates SBF, his wrongdoings also need to be paid through the legal system.

I accidentally read some shares on X, many people said that about the penalty range applied to this case, some people mentioned the death penalty. I don't really understand this issue, but it reminds me of some comparisons about criminals with some people who break the law with drug trafficking, or money laundering,... and they have applicable death penalty ranges. And if SBF is in some countries with different penalties, in terms of crime scale and amount of money, then I think that could happen to SBF.

[Zlantann]

It's good to see that courts work alright in some countries, and people get charged with financial crimes when they're guilty. This guy caused a lot of pain to a lot of people, so it's important to punish fraud to ensure that others understand the risks.

In my area the court only finds the poor quilty while the wealthy can just bribe their way out of any crime they commit. Judges are so corrupt that they sell court judgement to the highest bidders. I am happy that he was found quilty of the seven count criminal charges and he might face up to a maximum jail term of 110years. Other top executives connected to Sam Bankman-Fried such as Caroline Ellison the former Alameda CEO, Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX  and Nishad Singh the failed exchange ex-engineering head who all pleaded quilty so as to get more lenient sentences will also know their fate next year.

That being said, he's basically facing a life sentence, and I've said it before that I don't think people who aren't guilty of violent crimes should have huge prison sentences.

Yes his crime is none violence but it has destroyed many lives. Some persons used thier pension funds or even thier life savings to invest in FTX and many of them might be suffering from health issues or some might have even committed suicide due to his financial recklessness. He would have gotten a death sentence in some countries.

What's important is to return money to the victims, and a guy like SBF could be more useful generating wealth than being kept on taxpayers' money for decades while rotting in prison.

It is also important to deter others from engaging in criminal activities. If criminals are given the option of just paying back what they stole, many people will engage willfully in crime. Many people are scared going to prison that is why they are avoiding crime. I also wonder how SBF will be able to generate funds to pay his debtors. He might not be able to raise money from any business because he has lost him reputation.

[stompix]

And for almost a year all I could hear on this forum was
...

Well, some of us were trying to be reasonable amidst all those conspiracy theorists. The moment his ex -gf got a deal and ratted him out, it was pretty obvious how this will end up.

I wonder what the next move of the nay-sayers will be because god forbid we would have an instance where the system works.

As you can see, now they move goalpost to SBF getting only few years in prison.

Sometimes I wonder what's with all the masochists here who really want everything to turn for the worse.
The economy is going to crash, no way out of this, and we're doomed!
Nobody is going to ever get convicted for this, there is no justice!
Nothing is going to change, the system is malfunctioning, and we're doomed!
I seriously wonder how guys who see this everything this black can go on with their lives!

As for SBF case, it's the same as Madoff, everyone was saying nothing was going to happen, they would not arrest him, that they would not convict him, then they would not send him to jail, then he would get out in a few months, and then he died in prison! This goalpost moving is nauseating!

here in the UK they already targeted defi- p2p traders.. it was during the Localbitcoin.com era. where as you say when people were doing random wire transfers to people for certain amounts too often the banks would freeze accounts because the banks deemed people were operating a business but using a personal bank account not a business account. people needed to register as a business and get a money service business to begin operation again..which then required them to keep records and KYC their peers.. DE-FI platforms are not immune (unless they are trading stable coin for btc, to avoid bank monitoring) for those that want to trade real fiat wire transfers for btc

Lately, all over Europe they are targeting guys who resell stuff bought from China with no papers and of course, stolen stuff the papers are full of cases.
It's so damn easy I'm amazed they think they can get away with it, you just have to filter the accounts that have done a bank transaction to more than 10 other personal accounts a month and you have basically flushed everyone! Same with sending packages, how often does the average Joe send a package?

I had a chat with a few college friends about this and what a surprise out of a dozen guys only two or three remembered the last time they did a wire transfer so some relative or a stranger, somebody who does 10 transactions a day over LocalBitcoins or Bisq or anything else using a bank will glow like a lighthouse in the bank logs.