On Tuesday, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the FTX crypto exchange that is accused of defrauding investors out of billions of dollars, made his initial appearance in a federal court in Manhattan. SBF pleaded not guilty to each of the criminal charges before the U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan which he is currently being held accountable for.

SBF’s Trial Set For October

According to the latest reports, the court has suggested October 2, 2023, as the date for the beginning of the SBF trial. Moreover, the prosecuting attorneys have requested an additional requirement that the disgraced cryptocurrency exchange founder be prohibited from accessing or transferring any assets associated with FTX or Alameda Research.

Additionally, as reported earlier on CoinGape, SBF’s request to redact the identities of his two bail guarantors was readily accepted by Judge Kaplan.

Read More: SBF’s Crypto Wallets To Be Investigated By U.S. Authorities

In what prosecutors have referred to as a fraud of epic proportions, Bankman-Fried is accused of stealing billions of dollars worth of customer deposits from FTX in order to prop up his Alameda Research hedge fund, carry out real estate purchases, loan out crypto media outlets and make political contributions totaling to millions of dollars.

The $8 Billion Hole In FTX

John J. Ray III, the newly appointed CEO of FTX, testified before the House of Financial Services Committee last month, that the exchange had lost close to $8 billion worth of customer funds. And even though, in several interviews with various media outlets last year, Bankman-Fried was seen denying the commingling of funds, later admitted to the fact that FTX did not place enough emphasis on risk management.

Following his initial appearance in United States federal court on December 22, Bankman-Fried was released on a $250 million bail. The Palo Alto home where he resides with his parents — who are renowned Stanford University law professors — was also ordered to remain under house arrest.

Sam Bankman-Fried, who was claimed to be one of the wealthiest individuals in the crypto-sphere and the increasingly becoming the public face of the crypto industry until the latter half of last year, has seen a remarkable fall from grace as a result of recent events.

If found guilty, Bankman-Fried could be sentenced to 115 years in prison.

Also Read: What is Physical NFT? and How to Sell Physical Items as NFT

Pratik has been a crypto evangelist since 2016 & been through almost all that crypto has to offer. Be it the ICO boom, bear markets of 2018, Bitcoin halving to till now – he has seen it all.

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