FTX Founder Bankman-Fried Granted $250 Million Bond And House Arrest After Appearing In New York City Court

Crypto Entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried Issues $250 Million in Bonds While Awaiting Trial on Charges of Defrauding Investors and Looting Customer Deposits on FTX Trading Platform, California will be able to live in her family’s home, a judge said Thursday.

US Assistant Attorney Nicholas Roos said in US District Court in Manhattan that 30-year-old Bankman-Fried “committed a fraud of epic proportions.” Roos offered a $250 million bond and stringent bail conditions, including house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California.

Ruth said a key reason for granting bail was Bankman-Fried’s agreement to waive extradition.

Magistrate Justice Gabriel W. Gollenstein agreed to the bond and also approved the proposal for house arrest. He also said Bankman Freed would need to acquire an electronic surveillance bracelet before he could leave the Manhattan courthouse.

Bankman-Fried wore a suit and tie in court and sat among the lawyers. Two U.S. Marshals sat behind him.

Bankman-Fried, who was arrested in the Bahamas last week, flew to New York late Wednesday after deciding not to appeal his extradition.

While he was on the air, federal prosecutors in Manhattan announced that two of Bankman-Fried’s closest business associates had also been indicted and secretly pleaded guilty.

Carolyn Ellison, 28, former chief executive of Bankman-Fried trading firm Alameda Research, and FTX co-founder Gary Wang, 29, have been charged with wire fraud, securities fraud, and commodity fraud. pleaded guilty.

U.S. Attorney Damien Williams said in a video statement that both sides were cooperating with investigators and had agreed to help prosecute. I warned others.

“If you were complicit in cheating on FTX or Alameda, now is the time to get ahead,” he said. “We are moving quickly and our patience is not forever.”

Prosecutors and regulators allege Bankman-Fried was at the center of several illegal schemes to use the money of customers and investors for personal gain. If convicted on all counts, he faces the possibility of decades in prison.

In a series of interviews before his arrest, Bankman-Fried said he never intended to defraud anyone.

Bankman-Fried is guilty of using money illicitly obtained from FTX clients to enable transactions in Alameda, lavish real estate, and fund millions of dollars in election campaign funds for U.S. politicians. is being asked.

Founded in 2019, FTX has rapidly developed the cryptocurrency investment phenomenon and become one of the largest digital currency exchanges in the world. Seeking customers beyond the tech world, it hired comic book actor and author Larry David to star in TV ads that aired during the Super Bowl, promoting cryptocurrency as the next big thing.

But Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire collapsed abruptly in early November after customers withdrew their deposits in large numbers amid reports questioning some of its financial arrangements.