Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) may not be able to offset the two counts of wire fraud and six counts of conspiracy he faces with the credits to be received for entering a guilty plea instead of going to trial. Set to appear in court in the first days of January to enter a plea deal, Bankman-Fried is "unlikely to receive a favorable deal from prosecutors," argued Mark Kasten, counsel in Buchanan Ingersoll and Rooney’s Blockchain and Crypto Assets practice group. Speaking with Cointelegraph, Kasten explained the government often requires defendants to assist in the prosecution of others in …

The largely disputed Robinhood shares might be transferred to a neutral broker or an escrow account while the courts determine the rightful owner. Digital asset lender BlockFi recently sued former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to claim the shares that were supposedly pledged as collateral for the more than $600 million that BlockFi loaned to Alameda Research. The 56 million Robinhood Markets shares, which are currently frozen, are worth around $450 million. These are owned by Sam Bankman-Fried's holding company called Emergent Fidelity Technologies which was formed in Antigua and Barbuda and held by a brokerage company called Marex Capital Markets. …

30 cryptocurrency wallets linked to Alameda Research, the bankrupt sister company of crypto exchange FTX, became active on Dec. 28 following four weeks of inactivity. These wallets swapped and mixed over $1.7 million worth of crypto assets through various crypto-mixing services. Crypto mixers are often used by market exploiters and criminals to obscure the transaction path so that the funds cannot be traced to the original source. As Cointelegraph reported on Dec. 28, the sudden movement of funds from Alameda wallets just days after Sam Bankman Fried was released on bail raised suspicions across the crypto community. Nearly 24 hours …

Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly been leading a decent lifestyle while under house arrest in his parent’s home in Palo Alto — with daily jogs, a security detail, and a couple of in-home visits. However, it's not exactly a life of endless luxury either. The former FTX CEO is reportedly required to wear an ankle monitor and is only allowed to leave the house under certain circumstances, among other restrictions. The aforementioned Palo Alto home, located on the border of Stanford University’s campus is understood to be a $4 million property equipped with 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a pool according …

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is scheduled to appear in court on the afternoon of Jan. 3 to enter a plea on two counts of wire fraud and six counts of conspiracy against him in relation to the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, Reuters reported Dec. 28 citing court records. Bankman-Fried will appear before District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan. Judge Kaplan was assigned to the case on Dec. 27 after the original judge on the case, Ronnie Abrams, recused herself due to connections between FTX and the Davis Polk & Wardwell law firm, where her husband is a …

Members of the crypto community published their sentiments on social media in response to the former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s reportedly meeting with Michael Lewis, the writer of the popular trading-focused film, The Big Short. With a potential blockbuster film seemingly on the way, community members called out Bankman-Fried’s antics, from describing the meeting as “absurd” to saying that Lewis should also be investigated. In a tweet, a community member mentioned that this could be an attempt to cover for criminals and “control the narrative” through a book. Meanwhile, Bitcoin advocate Nic Carter suggested that Lewis also needs to be …

While the government agencies are queuing to sue the FTX and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried, the group of former customers made an effort to get their money back first. A class lawsuit initiated by four individuals demands priority access to frozen funds of the company for its customers, not investors. The lawsuit was filed on Dec. 27 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Four plaintiffs claim to be representing the whole class of former FTX customers, which might amass up to 1 million individuals. What the lawsuit seeks to obtain are the priority rights to …

The crypto wallets associated with now-bankrupt trading firm Alameda Research, the sister company of FTX, were seen transferring out funds just days after the former CEO Sam Bankman Fried was released on a $250 million bond. The transfer of funds from Alameda wallets raised community curiosity, but more than that, the way in which these funds were transferred grabbed the community’s attention. The Alameda wallet was found to be swapping bits of ERC20s for ETH/USDT, and then the Ether (ETH) and USDT (USDT) were funneled through instant exchangers and mixers. For example, a wallet address that starts with 0x64e9 received …

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, borrowed over $546 million from the exchange’s sister firm Alameda Research to fund his purchase of Robinhood shares. Those same shares were later used by Bankman-Fried as collateral for a loan taken by Alameda from BlockFi, one of the entities that are laying claim to the shares. An affidavit by Bankman-Fried filed in the Antigua and Barbuda High Court on Dec. 12 — the day of his arrest — and made public on Dec. 27, revealed he and FTX co-founder Zixiao “Gary” Wang took out the loans from Alameda through four …

The online community including some cryptocurrency figures has condemned the latest so-called “sympathy” articles from The New York Times — written about FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Throughout the article published on Dec. 26 titled In the Bahamas, a Lingering Sympathy for Sam Bankman-Fried, The New York Times journalist Rob Copeland interviewed local Bahamians who appeared to have mostly positive things to say about the cryptocurrency exchange founder. One resident opined he had a “good heart” with another local saying they “feel bad for him.” A resident interviewed for the article even said it “doesn't make any sense” that Bankman-Fried’s alleged …

FTX founder Sam Bankman Fried (SBF) has been given some free advice on surviving federal prison from former white collar criminal Martin Shkreli, known also as “Pharma Bro.” Shkreli, who spent around four years behind bars for securities fraud between 2018 and 2022, told the currently-on-bail former FTX executive that he should consider shaving his head, deepening his voice and skill himself up on gang culture and rap music. The former prison inmate was speaking on a Dec. 23 episode of the crypto podcast Unchained, where he suggested that SBF needed to rebrand himself for jail, as being a rich …

’Twas the weeks before Christmas on a island far away, None could have foreseen crypto’s golden boy going astray. When politicians and firms took FTX‘s money with glee, Did they truly know the depth of one man’s duplicity? Imagine if you will, the exchange’s younger days, When business people showered the LoL player with praise. The markets were high, adoption was booming… How could we have seen the massive threat looming? “Come in and talk to us,” the SEC pled, As money flowed to agency and lawmaker instead. For many, there would be no Merry Christmas this year, Just a …