Sam Bankman-Fried

Sam Bankman-Fried, once a pivotal figure in the cryptocurrency industry, was convicted in November 2023 of committing fraud and conspiracy for stealing billions of dollars of money belonging to customers of his FTX crypto exchange, funneling the money to Alameda Research, his hedge fund. FTX had been one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges before its demise, a major player in derivatives trading including perpetual futures. The company's undoing was spurred by a CoinDesk scoop in November 2022 showing Alameda's balance sheet was mysteriously full of the FTT token issued by FTX – calling into question both Alameda and FTX's financial stability. The Bahamas-based company filed for bankruptcy nine days after the story. Before his downfall, SBF (as the former billionaire is commonly known as) had been a leading figure in crypto, pushing for regulation of the industry in the U.S. He was a major political donor and the public face of effective altruism, a movement geared toward maximizing the amount of good done by philanthropy. SBF was arrested in December 2022, and his bail was revoked due to alleged witness tampering. His trial began in October 2023, and he was convicted on Nov. 2, 2023, a year to the day after the CoinDesk story that caused his crypto empire to crumble.


Finance

Tokens of Alameda-Backed DeFi Projects Maps.me and Oxygen Locked Up at FTX

Alameda Research led funding rounds into both companies in 2021.

Maps.me and Oxygen, two DeFi projects backed by Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research, are considering their options. (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Videos

What’s in the Crypto Legislation Backed by Sam Bankman-Fried?

U.S. Senators are planning to push forward with the bipartisan Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA) crypto legislation backed by Sam Bankman-Fried despite the implosion his crypto exchange FTX. "The Hash" panel discusses the potential outcomes and Bankman-Fried's political reach in the latest fallout.

Recent Videos

Finance

Sam Bankman-Fried Can't Stay Off of Twitter

The ex-CEO of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX claims liquidity, not insolvency, is the issue.

AI Artwork Sam Bankman-Fried SBF in Prison concept (Midjourney/CoinDesk)

Policy

The Long Arm of FTX

It's hard to overstate how much FTX embedded itself into the broader world. That could drive some of the response to its collapse.

Major League Baseball referees wore FTX-branded kits. (G Fiume/Getty Images)

Policy

The ‘SBF Bill’: What’s in the Crypto Legislation Backed by FTX's Founder

The specter of the now-disgraced Sam Bankman-Fried looms large over the bill, but Sens. Debbie Stabenow and John Boozman plan to push ahead anyway.

A crypto bill in Congress is still in the works following the implosion of FTX. (Shutterstock)

Policy

Bahamian Supreme Court Approves Liquidators for FTX Assets

Authorities in the country, where FTX was based, are investigating the exchange for criminal misconduct and breach of securities laws.

Sam Bankman-Fried (Pindar Van Arman/CoinDesk)

Policy

FTX's New Leadership Is in Touch With Regulators, May Have Over 1M Creditors, New Filings Say

FTX filed its first substantive look at the exchange's bankruptcy process days after declaring bank

Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO, FTX and Christine Lee, Lead Anchor, CoinDesk at Consensus 2022 (Suzanne Cordiero/Shutterstock/CoinDesk)

Finance

FTX Hacker Panicked, Still Holds $339M in Ether, Cryptos: Arkham Intelligence

The mysterious looter siphoned about $400 million in digital assets from crypto exchange FTX late Friday night.

(Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Finance

'Big Short' Author Michael Lewis Spent Months With FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried and Is Writing a Book

A letter circulating in Hollywood says the best-selling author is working on a book and has “a dramatic surprising ending” given the shocking collapse of Bankman-Fried’s crypto juggernaut.

Writer Michael Lewis interviewed Sam Bankman-Fried at Crypto Bahamas (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)