Breezy Explainer: Decoding charges against Crypto Tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried

After deciding that Sam Bankman Fried, the founder of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, had repeatedly sought to influence witnesses against him, a US judge revoked his bail.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan noted that the court considered Bankman-Fried to have pushed the limitations of his bail condition to the point where the prosecution’s safety could not be guaranteed unless the 31-year-old was imprisoned. After the hearing, Bankman-Fried was handcuffed and led out of the courthouse.

Sam Bankman-Fried case: What has happened so far?

• Bankman-Fried was arrested from his Bahamas condominium on December 12 at the behest of New York authorities in connection with the collapse of his cryptocurrency business. He was imprisoned for nine days before deciding not to fight extradition to the United States.
• In connection with the collapse of his cryptocurrency corporation, the 31-year-old crypto entrepreneur pleaded not guilty to accusations of fraud and conspiracy in money laundering, as well as election finance crimes. Last December, Sam Bankman-Fried was released on a $250 million bail deal. He has spent much of his time at his parents’ house in Palo Alto, California.
• Bankman-Fried’s bail package limited his access to the internet and phone.
• In the most recent hearing, prosecutors alleged that Bankman Fried’s conduct as a source to the publication amounted to witness intimidation, citing a New York Times piece including the private writings of Caroline Ellison, who once worked at FTX’s sister trading business, Alameda Research. Ellison, who had a romantic relationship with Bankman-Fried earlier, is a cooperating witness in the government’s case.
• The prosecutors said that Bankman-Fried was attempting to smear Ellison’s reputation and influence other witnesses by discussing her profession and her intimate relationship with him.
• Judge Lewis A Kaplan stated that there was probable cause to believe Bankman-Fried attempted to “tamper with witnesses at least twice” since his December arrest, most recently by showing a journalist the private writings of a former girlfriend and key witness against him, and in January when he communicated with FTX’s general counsel via encrypted communication.
• Kaplan had earlier issued a gag order requested by the prosecution for the Crypto mogul, giving both parties until August 3 to explain whether the former billionaire needed to be imprisoned.
• Alameda Research and FTX went bankrupt in November last year, collapsing a business that once was valued at $32 billion by the market.