Crypto entrepreneur Bankman-Fried convicted in fraud trial The great crash of what was once the most valuable start-up in the world

Former cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried has been convicted in his fraud trial. Jurors in New York found him guilty on seven counts, American media reported from the courtroom on Thursday (local time).

The punishment will be determined later. Bankman-Fried faces decades in prison – in the worst case, it could be more than 100 years in prison.

The jury only took about five hours to make their decision after the prosecution and defense completed their closing arguments. The former star entrepreneur himself testified in the trial, but according to observers did not make a convincing figure.

It is said that he has siphoned off billions

Bankman-Fried became known worldwide as the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which collapsed spectacularly a year ago. The US legal system accuses the 31-year-old of siphoning billions from the assets of FTX clients without their knowledge to finance, among other things, risky trades by his hedge fund Alameda Research.

When these deals went south, FTX also found itself in the vortex. According to the indictment, Bankman-Fried allegedly arranged for Alameda to borrow money from FTX without providing the usual collateral. He himself shrugged off responsibility in court and referred to the decisions of others.

“Very surprised” by the extent of the problems

Bankman-Fried was heavily criticized during the trial by former close colleagues such as Alameda boss Caroline Ellison. He himself said in court that he only partially understood the financial situation of his companies. He was “very surprised” by the extent of the problems when he discovered in October 2022 that Alameda Research had about $8 billion in debt to FTX.

Before its collapse, FTX was one of the largest trading platforms for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. In December, Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas. FTX had its headquarters there. (sda/dpa)