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Nearly two years since the FTX cryptocurrency exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, the world will finally get to know the punishment that former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried gets today, Thursday, March 28. During the mid-morning New York session, Judge Lewis Kaplan received 1,500 documents, out of which the defense submitted 450.
Throughout his testimony, SBF demonstrated remorse for the suffering caused to the FTX victims including financial stress and emotional pain. However, SBF maintained that the FTX customers could have been paid back as there were enough assets.
“I know a lot of people feel really let down. They all built something really beautiful, they threw themselves into it and then I threw it all away. It haunts me every day,” SBF told Judge Kaplan today.
Judge Kaplan’s Note on the Case
As the presiding judge weighs in on the fact that SBF crashed the former second-largest crypto exchange valued at around $35 billion at the time of its collapse, tension remained high on both sides; defense and prosecutors. According to Judge Kaplan, SBF and his attorneys have previously lied under oath even after losing $8 billion of customers’ funds.
“The defendant’s assertion that FTX customers and creditors will be paid in full is misleading, it is logically flawed, it is speculative. A thief who takes his loot to Las Vegas and successfully bets the stolen money is not entitled to a discount on the sentence by using his Las Vegas winnings to pay back what he stole,” Kaplan noted.
What Awaits SBF Ahead
If the Judge followed the law as provided, SBF faced a statutory maximum of 110 years in prison. The prosecutors had been pushing for SBF to get 40-50 years imprisonment. However, the SBF defense attorneys have urged the Judge to consider the good deeds and issue less than 6.5 years imprisonment.
Nonetheless, the Judge issued a 25-year imprisonment to the 32-year-old former crypto leader.