The crypto king who vaporized billions in customer funds. A failure of innovation or the scam of the century?

SDNY sentencing (March 28, 2024) of Samuel Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX.com. Following his November 2, 2023 jury conviction on all seven counts (two counts of wire fraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count each of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, commodities fraud, and money laundering), Judge Lewis A. Kaplan imposed 25 years in federal prison, 3 years of supervised release, and $11.02 billion in forfeiture. Prosecutors had sought 40-50 years; the defense requested approximately 6.5 years. Judge Kaplan found that Bankman-Fried showed no genuine remorse and had committed perjury three times during trial testimony. Customers lost approximately $8 billion, investors $1.7 billion, and lenders $1.3 billion. Kaplan recommended placement in a medium-security facility near the San Francisco area. This is among the largest sentences ever imposed in a U.S. crypto-fraud case.