Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange and a prominent Democratic donor, has faced a setback as a judge decided to revoke his bail ahead of his upcoming trial on fraud charges. The judge’s decision was influenced by concerns of witness tampering by the crypto magnate.
During a court hearing in New York, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan asserted, “There is evidence suggesting that the defendant may have attempted to manipulate witnesses on two occasions.” This alarming development has led to the decision to cancel Bankman-Fried’s bail. While the accused individual will be permitted to spend time in his legal team’s office to prepare for the trial scheduled for October, the revocation of bail implies that he will likely remain in custody until the trial commences.
Sam Bankman-Fried, often recognized by his initials “SBF,” experienced one of the most high-profile examples of a cryptocurrency rise and fall. He was among the wealthiest figures in the crypto realm before the dramatic downfall of FTX. The cryptocurrency exchange filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2022 due to a sharp decline in liquidity.
Bankman-Fried, who emerged as a significant Democratic donor, aimed to extend his influence in political circles. He became the second-largest contributor to Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign. Despite being relatively young, his aspirations included surpassing George Soros as the most substantial donor to Democratic causes.
FTX’s demise coincided with the lowest point of the cryptocurrency downturn that followed the meteoric rise of major cryptocurrencies in 2021, which yielded substantial gains for even joke-based digital assets like Dogecoin.
During FTX’s collapse, Bitcoin, the dominant cryptocurrency, saw its value drop to nearly $15,000 per BTC from a peak of about $65,000 during the bull market zenith. However, Bitcoin has since regained a significant portion of its value and is currently trading at approximately $29,000 per BTC.