In a culmination of a cinematic story, that saw a meteoric rise, followed by an even more dramatic fall, Sam Bankman-Fried has been punished with a quarter of a century in prison.
Bankman-Fried in Jail
A Manhattan court passed an order on the sentence, which would mean, that the founder of former cryptocurrency exchange platform, FTX would have to serve a sentence of 25 years.
The judgement was passed by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan.
Bankman-Fried, who was once regarded as the 'Crypto King' had probably seen and done it all, from appearing in prime time interviews to making it to the cover of the Forbes, the now 32-year-old beguiled his investors and other stakeholders of the company by fraudulently representing the company's progress and manipulating its potential.
A jury (not a judge, unlike in India) convicted Bankman-Fried, on November 2 of seven fraud and conspiracy charges related to FTX's collapse in 2022.
Officials, who are a part of the proceedings have labeled this event as one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history.
Jane Rosenberg/Reuters
Crypto Conundrum
This incident also brought fore, the importance and need of scrutiny and regulation in the crypto sector, that has ballooned in its prospects over the past few years. Exchange and other crypto platforms have come under fire for lack of transparency in the recent past.
In what could be observed or seen as a sign of an apparent decline in the frenzy around the phenomenon, that the digital currency had become, especially during the pandemic years, its appeal appears to have tapered down, in relative terms. As a result of which major currencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum saw their values drop.
Nevertheless, in the past week, especially in the month of February, these elements appear to be on track to rebound, with Bitcoin even scaling the USD 70,000 mark for the first time. Although the future of this domain is anyone's guess, regulation from government's across the globe cannot be ruled out.
