Who is the crypto billionaire in trouble?
Sam Bankman-Fried, the jailed founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is sworn in as he appears in court for the first time since his November fraud conviction, at a courthouse in New York, U.S., February 21, 2024 in this courtroom sketch.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange who was convicted of stealing billions of dollars from customers, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday, capping an extraordinary saga that upended the crypto industry and became a cautionary tale of greed and hubris.
Sam Bankman-Fried said he wanted FTX—the cryptocurrency exchange he founded—to save the world. Now, guilty of fraud, Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison. Bankman-Fried has maintained that he is innocent. He plans to appeal.
Sam Bankman-Fried, disgraced co-founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday for his part in defrauding customers of billions of dollars.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the securities fraud conspiracy that doomed his cryptocurrency exchange and a related hedge fund, Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried also was ordered to pay $11 billion in forfeiture at the sentencing in Manhattan federal court.
| Characteristic | Net worth loss in billion U.S. dollars |
|---|---|
| Changpeng Zhao (Binance) | 82 |
| Sam Bankman-Fried (FTX) | 23 |
| Brian Armstrong (Coinbase) | 4.7 |
| Gary Wang (FTX) | 1.7 |
His crimes have been exposed,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon told the jury of the onetime billionaire just before they were read the law by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan and began deliberations. Sassoon said Bankman-Fried turned his customers' accounts into his “personal piggy bank” as up to $14 billion disappeared.
At Bankman-Fried's sentencing hearing, Kaplan agreed. He said FTX's customers had lost some $8bn and that its investors had lost $1.7bn.
Changpeng Zhao, who goes by CZ, is the founder and former CEO of Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. The Chinese-Canadian coder cut his teeth building high-frequency trading systems for Wall Street's flash boys. Zhao founded Binance in 2017, raising $15 million through an initial coin offering.
Crypto.com is a cryptocurrency exchange company based in Singapore that offers various financial services, including an app, exchange, and non-custodial DeFi wallet, NFT marketplace, and direct payment service in cryptocurrency. As of June 2023, the company reportedly had 80 million customers and 4,000 employees.
Is crypto currency legal?
As decentralized currencies, crypto is not and will likely never become banned in the U.S. Currently, the sale and purchase of cryptocurrency is legal in all 50 states.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former billionaire who was found guilty of defrauding customers and investors of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday by a federal judge, who ruled that Bankman-Fried committed perjury and attempted witness tampering.
FTX bankruptcy: What customers should know about getting crypto and Bitcoin money back. According to the company, all customers will be recouped for their losses—but there's a catch. It's been more than a year since FTX, a one-time mammoth cryptocurrency exchange, collapsed and subsequently declared bankruptcy.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and senior staff spent customer funds on technology investments, luxury real estate and political contributions, among other things. The missing funds are at the heart of Bankman-Fried's criminal trial, which kicked off in Manhattan federal court this week.
FTX was a leading cryptocurrency exchange that went bankrupt in November 2022, amid allegations that its owners had embezzled and misused customer funds. Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of the exchange, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to repay $11 billion.
These celebrity endorsers include supermodel Gisele Bündchen, NBA star Stephen Curry, tennis phenom Naomi Osaka, former baseball superstar David “Big Papi” Ortiz, and Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary. They are all implicated for appearing in paid advertising campaigns and endorsing the exchange.
1. Charles Ponzi (Securities Exchange Company) – Loss estimated at $20 million. The term “Ponzi scheme” is named after Charles Ponzi's famous pyramid scheme.
Tino De Angelis, perpetrator of the 1963 Salad oil scandal, which ultimately caused over $180 million ($1.79 billion today) in losses to 51 corporations.
The total market cap of all cryptocurrencies is $1.18 trillion. Out of all 425 million crypto users, just 22 are crypto billionaires. There are 182 crypto centimillionaires. And there are 88,200 crypto millionaires.
| Primary Subject | Scam Type |
|---|---|
| Bytobit.com | Fraudulent Trading Platform High Yield Investment Program |
| Bitcoin Mining svcoin.space my-minings.top | Identity Theft Advance Fee Scam |
| 100Ex | Fraudulent Trading Platform Pig Butchering Scam |
| Coinegg ceggcc.vip | Fraudulent Trading Platform Pig Butchering Scam |
What does FTX stand for?
FTX is an abbreviation of "Futures Exchange".
FTX, which owes $3.1 billion to its 50 largest creditors and at least $5 billion more to its nine million customers and smaller creditors, filed for bankruptcy November 11 between FTX and Bankman-Fried's hedge fund Alameda Research.
The live FTX price today is $1.88 USD with a 24-hour trading volume of $1.02M USD.
When crypto crashes, the money doesn't disappear; instead, it shifts from those selling to those buying at lower prices. Protecting investments means diversifying your portfolio and using secure wallets for storing your cryptocurrencies.
| Year | Users (mm) |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 0.1 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2021 | 1.2 |
