Dethroned crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried to be sentenced for defrauding FTX investors

Former crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, facing the potential of decades in prison, waited to hear his fate today [Macau time] as a sentencing proceeding began in a New York court to assess the penalty for his role in the 2022 collapse of FTX, once one of the world’s most popular platforms for trading digital currency.

Bankman-Fried, 32, was convicted in November of fraud and conspiracy — a dramatic fall from a year earlier when he and his companies seemed to be riding a crest of success that resulted in a Super Bowl advertisement and celebrity endorsements from stars like quarterback Tom Brady and comedian Larry David.

A jury found that Bankman-Fried illegally used money from FTX depositors to cover his lavish spending, which authorities said included buying luxury properties in the Caribbean, flying on private jets, making outsized charitable donations and contributions to political candidates and paying bribes to Chinese officials.

Prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of 40 to 50 years.

“The defendant victimized tens of thousands of people and companies, across several continents, over a period of multiple years…” prosecutors told Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in a court filing.