Founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX pleads not guilty A dozen hammerhead sharks in the sea: famous Sydney beach closed

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, charged with fraud, money laundering and other crimes, has pleaded not guilty as expected. At a hearing in New York, the trial was scheduled to begin on October 2, according to US media.

The prosecution accuses Bankman-Fried, among other things, of misleading investors in his crypto empire, which collapsed about two months ago, and of massively embezzling customer money. The 30-year-old admits mistakes but dismisses intentions to cheat. He faces up to 115 years in prison if convicted on all eight counts.

Bankman-Fried was arrested Dec. 12 by order of U.S. law enforcement in the Bahamas, where FTX — one of the largest trading platforms for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin before the collapse — was headquartered. Other former FTX top executives have pleaded guilty and heavily sued the group’s founder.

Following his extradition to the United States, Bankman-Fried was released on $250 million bail. In US procedures, however, usually only a fraction of the deposit amount needs to be deposited. Bankman-Fried said in November he only had about $100,000 left. According to US media, the house of his parents, two professors at the US elite Stanford University, was brought in as collateral for the bail application.

Billions of customer credits not paid out

Bankman Fried’s FTX group collapsed within days in October due to massive withdrawals in the wake of liquidity problems. Billions of customer credits could not be paid out. Bankman-Fried, known as SBF in the crypto industry, resigned on November 11 and filed for bankruptcy for the group in the US state of Delaware. Shortly before, the authorities in the Bahamas had already frozen corporate funds.

Civil and class action lawsuits are also pending against the founder of FTX in the United States. It’s a spectacular crash: just a few months ago, the young entrepreneur graced the front pages of US business magazines as a crypto prodigy. Before FTX’s bankruptcy, Forbes and Bloomberg once estimated his net worth at over $26 billion. (sda/dpa)