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 SBF was arrested in December 2022, and his bail was revoked due to alleged witness tampering.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.

Finance

Sam Bankman-Fried ya no es billonario tras perder US$14.600M de la noche a la mañana

El CEO de FTX perdió aproximadamente US$14.600 millones, casi el 94% de su riqueza total, según el Índice de Multimillonarios de Bloomberg.

By Cheyenne LigonNov 9, 2022, 8:52 a.m. EST

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)

Finance

Stablecoin Heavyweights Circle and Tether Distance Themselves From FTX, Alameda

FTX was one of the investors in Circle's financing round of $440 million last year.

By Parikshit Mishra, Jamie CrawleyNov 9, 2022, 2:22 a.m. EST

Director de Estrategia de Circle, Dante Disparte (izquierda), y director ejecutivo, Jeremy Allaire. (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)

Finance

NFL Legend Tom Brady Caught in FTX Fallout, Risks Losing Complete Strategic Investment

A tarnished record after coming out of retirement, a divorce and now a wipeout of the strategic investment in FTX. It has been a rough year for the seven-time Super Bowl champion.

By Sam ReynoldsNov 9, 2022, 1:49 a.m. EST

Sam Bankman-Fried and Tom Brady at Crypto Bahamas conference in Nassau in April 2022 (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Markets

These Four Key Charts Shed Light on the FTX Exchange's Spectacular Collapse

Nansen’s on-chain metrics suggest several reasons why FTX decided to sell itself to Binance.

By Sage D. YoungNov 8, 2022, 7:05 p.m. EST

Obra de IA sobre el colapso. (DALL-E/CoinDesk)

Policy

FTX’s Push for US Crypto Clearing Left In Suspense by Binance Deal

The fate of FTX U.S. Derivatives’ application for the authority to clear customers’ crypto transactions – a potential game changer in U.S. markets – is now unclear.

By Jesse HamiltonNov 8, 2022, 5:49 p.m. EST

Sam Bankman-Fried (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)

Markets

Crypto Markets Take a Wild Ride Following Surprise Binance/FTX Deal

Investors are seeking answers to a multitude of questions about the mega deal involving the two crypto exchanges. Will price volatility continue beyond Tuesday?

By Glenn Williams Jr.Nov 8, 2022, 4:42 p.m. EST