In the SBF story, many people lost their savings and suffered two years of stress.
advertisementSam Bankman Freed The fallen “Code King”As he was once known, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding customers and investors of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Thursday's ruling shows how the legal system is trying to crack down on crypto fraud. However, while this ruling serves as a warning to the industry, it is unclear whether it will be the turning point that wipes out cryptocurrencies.
Bankman Fried is a treasured figure in the industry, and after appearing on the cover of Fortune magazine in September 2022 as head of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, he spent two years in a khaki prison uniform. He sat in court wearing shackles. later.
The sentence was shorter than the 40 to 50 years that federal prosecutors had hoped for, but much longer than the five years Bankman Fried's lawyers had asked for.
“This is a loud and clear message. They [the Department of Justice] We will not condone nefarious, criminal, white-collar criminal activity in the crypto space or industry,” said Moises Vela, a lawyer and former chief of staff in the administration of then-Vice President Joe Biden.
But Vella, who is also an advisor to the cryptocurrency Unicoin, said this may not save the industry from bad actors.
“it is, [legal punishment] It doesn't work because people keep committing the same crimes.
“But I hope it works out. I have to believe that people understand that if you misbehave and act in a pattern of gross criminal behavior, you will be punished,” he said.
The cryptocurrency market is experiencing unprecedented growth, and many see it as a get-rich-quick method.
But the SBF story saw many people lose their savings and endure two years of stress. Cryptocurrency investors may become more wary of the industry.
As digital assets gain momentum, regulation becomes increasingly important. In the United States, this field is closely monitored by federal agencies such as the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Europe has signed the MiCA regulation, which aims to protect investors and maintain financial stability.
However, Vella cautioned that the crypto industry and government should work together when it comes to regulation.
“This is an area that's not going anywhere. It's part of our global future. I'm sure we'll find that middle ground. It's almost never going to work the first time,” he said.
“Eventually we will reach that halfway point. And certainly, we will have a policy and regulatory environment that fosters growth and fosters investment,” he added.
“I have no remorse.”
During the trial, Judge Lewis Kaplan said Bankman-Freed had shown no “expressed remorse for committing a horrific crime.”
“There's a risk that this guy will be in a position to do something very bad in the future…and that's not a trivial risk,” Kaplan added.
Bankman Fried is appealing the ruling, even saying FTX employees lost the opportunity to build something promising and suggesting they should band together to build another project together. did.
advertisement“It's not about what I ended up doing, at least for a while, but about what the world thought I would do, what I wanted me to do, what I wanted to do for the world.” I think there's a huge opportunity in the world to do what we used to do,''' Bankman-Fried told the court.
“And the 300 people I used to work with were incredibly talented, selfless, impressive people who were looking for something to do. If that happens… If they do what they can for the world, I get to see their successes every night, not just my failures.”
