Sam Bankman-Fried

Sam Bankman-Fried, once a pivotal figure in the cryptocurrency industry, was convicted in November 2023 of committing fraud and conspiracy for stealing billions of dollars of money belonging to customers of his FTX crypto exchange, funneling the money to Alameda Research, his hedge fund. FTX had been one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges before its demise, a major player in derivatives trading including perpetual futures. The company's undoing was spurred by a CoinDesk scoop in November 2022 showing Alameda's balance sheet was mysteriously full of the FTT token issued by FTX – calling into question both Alameda and FTX's financial stability. The Bahamas-based company filed for bankruptcy nine days after the story. Before his downfall, SBF (as the former billionaire is commonly known as) had been a leading figure in crypto, pushing for regulation of the industry in the U.S. He was a major political donor and the public face of effective altruism, a movement geared toward maximizing the amount of good done by philanthropy. SBF was arrested in December 2022, and his bail was revoked due to alleged witness tampering. His trial began in October 2023, and he was convicted on Nov. 2, 2023, a year to the day after the CoinDesk story that caused his crypto empire to crumble.

Videos

SBF's Motions to Dismiss Criminal Charges Rejected; What TradFi Giant Could Apply for Spot Bitcoin ETF Next?

"CoinDesk Daily" host Jennifer Sanasie breaks down the top crypto stories making headlines, including a federal judge denying FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's pretrial motions to dismiss criminal charges. Fidelity is reportedly expected to submit a spot bitcoin ETF filing. And, Robinhood is ending support for three tokens on Tuesday.

Jun 27, 2023

Policy

Judge Rejects FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried's Motions to Dismiss Criminal Charges

The judge had already denied some of the motions.

By Nikhilesh DeJun 27, 2023

Sam Bankman-Fried (Liz Napolitano/CoinDesk)

Opinion

The Second FTX Asset Recovery Report Is Packed With Bombshells

New claims put Sam Bankman-Fried and his friends even closer to the center of a brazen conspiracy.

By David Z. MorrisJun 27, 2023

Videos

Alameda Seeks to Claw Back $700M Paid to ‘Super Networkers’

Alameda Research, the hedge fund arm of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, is seeking the return of $700 million founder Sam Bankman-Fried appears to have paid for access to celebrities and politicians. "The Hash" panel discusses the details from the latest court filing.

Jun 23, 2023

Policy