- Sam Bankman Freed was found guilty on all seven charges against him.
- He displayed a characteristic lack of self-awareness during his testimony.
- The future of cryptocurrencies will likely lie in regulation and institutions, marking the end of the Wild West.
A New York jury took less than five hours Thursday to find Sam Bankman Freed guilty of all seven charges the FTX founder faced.
During the month-long trial, Bankman Fried testified in her own defense, displaying characteristically meandering and evasive responses to cross-examination from the judge. tell him: “Here, please answer the question.”
At one point, the judge was challenged by Bankman Fried's attorney, but the former billionaire answered prosecutors' questions anyway. “He felt he needed to answer that,” he said, drawing laughter from the courtroom, according to Insider.
Throughout his four days on the stand, Bankman Fried seemed better able to express his arrogance than his innocence.
“He finally found himself in a situation that he couldn't negotiate his way out of,” said Renato Mariotti, a former prosecutor in the Justice Department's Securities and Commodities Fraud Division.
Now facing up to 110 years in prison, SBF's conviction is the final nail in the coffin for the get-rich-quick crypto fraternity.
What started out as a decentralized currency, its volatility made it an asset for speculative investors and is now shrouded in mistrust and suspicion.
But that doesn't mean the sector is dead.
Bitcoin prices have risen 24% in the last month, but have only fallen about 2% since Bankman-Fried's conviction, according to data from Markets Insider.
There was a backlash around mid-October after asset management firm BlackRock falsely reported that it had received regulatory approval for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Its price fell again after BlackRock said it was actually still under consideration. However, this episode shows how cryptocurrencies are becoming institutionalized, even as they end their days of speculation.
Also consider the emergence of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Although these are not cryptocurrencies, support has started with the spread of blockchain technology. And everyone from Japan to Britain to the Federal Reserve is exploring its use.
Cryptocurrency is still regulated face further obstacles Bankman Fried was a key figure in promoting the legislation.
SBF spent millions of dollars chartering private jets to Washington, D.C., and prosecutors say he donated $100 million to remove “anti-crypto” politicians and gain favorable influence. announced.
Evidence at his trial included DMs he sent to Vox reporters that said things like “Fuck the regulators.”Bankman Freed too testified He believed the regulation would help give FTX a competitive edge against rival crypto exchange Binance.
Binance is also facing legal issues.
In June, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Binance with a “blatant disregard” of securities laws.
That complaint includes a particularly damning exchange in which the SEC alleges that Binance's chief compliance officer said:
“We operate as a stock exchange that is not licensed in the United States.”
There is also the case of Do Kwon, the founder of the TerraUSD stablecoin, who was accused by the SEC of running a fraudulent scheme that ultimately stripped TerraUSD and its sister currency Luna of $40 billion.
And let's not forget the countless scams, such as the group that took over the Twitter accounts of Elon Musk, Joe Biden, and others and falsely claimed that they would double every Bitcoin sent.
With the conviction of Sam Bankman Freed, fraud may become synonymous with cryptocurrencies for many people. In the future, regulations may become stricter and there may be more institutions that people can trust.
New York Magazine reported that there were jeers, cheers, side bets and the sound of e-cigarettes in the overflow room of the courtroom where spectators watched his trial on livestream.
Perhaps this is the last party before the crypto industry eschews cargo shorts and T-shirts for good.
