FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, according to media reports, is close to concluding a new bail agreement with federal prosecutors.
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Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried, who is accused of involvement in several cases of fraud using cryptocurrencies, including the deliberate collapse of the crypto exchange, are currently preparing for a new agreement. The media report this information, referring to letters from lawyers and prosecutors, which were sent to the judge.
Sam Bankman-Freed was released on $250 million bail after his arrest last year. But in 2023, this agreement was challenged as an unreasonable decision. Prosecutors accused the founder of the crypto exchange of falsifying testimony. The lawyers said that these charges do not correspond to reality. Judge Lewis Kaplan announced the possibility of revoking bail if the accused ignores the new restrictions on electronic communications.
In early March, prosecutors clarified the restrictive measures. Sam Backnman-Fried has the right to use a mobile phone without Internet access and a laptop, access to which will be limited to virtual private networks.
The news about the conclusion of a new agreement with prosecutors appeared a few days after the new management of the crypto exchange reported that transactions worth $ 3.2 billion were recorded, and sent to the accused and his inner circle. These financial operations were made after the start of the work of the new management. Most of the money was received by Sam Bankman-Freed in the form of payments and loans, which came mainly from the hedge fund Alameda Research, a subsidiary of FTX.
John J. Ray III, the current CEO of the crypto exchange, in early March, announced a huge deficit of heavily mixed assets in the amount of more than $ 8.6 billion.
The situation with FTX and the currently actively discussed collapses of American banks that occurred in the first half of March formally have nothing in common. In the case of the crypto exchange, deliberate fraud was recorded, which was not in the stories with financial institutions. But at the same time, both FTX and banks missed the risks. This circumstance unites the situations but does not indicate their identity.
Silicon Valley Bank and Signature collapsed a few days after passing the KPMG LLP audit. SVB had $15 billion in unrealized off-balance sheet losses exceeding equity. Inspections of banks and FTX have confirmed that customers and investors have made a choice in favor of insufficiently stable and not the most transparent business models in order to dispel fears and eliminate panic. As a result, fears and panic moods became even stronger.
