Winners and Losers of Sam Bankman-Fried’s Trial

Well, it’s over. Sam Bankman-Fried has been convicted on all seven counts, with another trial on the docket for this spring to gauge SBF’s guilt and responsibility in a multi-year scheme to buy political favor for the FTX crypto exchange. At this point, Bankman-Fried faces up to 110 years in prison, though sentencing won’t happen for months.

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For many crypto fans, SBF’s conviction is the first of many that need to happen to rid the industry of bad actors, scammers and thieves that captured the public imagination and defined what this technology fundamentally is during the 2020-21 bull run. Over the long term, it’s entirely possible crypto polishes out the tarnish.

See also: Could Sam Bankman-Fried’s Saga Happen Without Crypto?

Of course, SBF can appeal the decision and angle for a mistrial, arguing he didn’t have adequate access to ADHD medication, his legal team (after being remanded into jail for repeatedly violating the terms of his bail) and, maybe, that District Judge Lewis Kaplan was heavy-handed in his oversight of the trial.

But legal experts largely agree those claims are groundless, and that the former Boy Wonder is likely to spend the next few decades in prison. As is his wont, Bankman-Fried took a gamble that he could use customer and investor funds for essentially anything he wanted at the moment, illegally, and get away with it.

The jury’s complete, quick and decisive ruling is clear: Bankman-Fried lost that wager. But who or what, if anyone or anything, will come out ahead at the end of this trial? While prison time is a type of retribution for tens of thousands of victims of SBF, it will not exactly make anyone whole or eliminate the stink of the biggest public spectacle that has haunted crypto for the past year.

First, we should talk about the losers.

Sam Bankman-Fried: SBF was convicted on all counts of wire fraud as well as conspiracy charges to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud and money laundering. During the trial it came to light he had essentially founded FTX as a new source of capital for his hedge fund, Alameda Research, which was a money-losing operation while SBF…