29 March 2024 12:00 am
It is certain the 32-year-old will be going to jail; what is not known is how long for.
The moment has revived debate about the extent of his crimes - and what punishment might fit.
His legal team has called for leniency, but prosecutors are seeking 40 to 50 years in prison.
They say such a sentence is warranted for someone who lied to investors and banks, and stole billions in deposits from customers of his now-bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX.
His defence team has proposed five to 6.5 years, accusing the government of adopting “a medieval view of punishment” by insisting on a lengthy term behind bars for a non-violent, first-time criminal.
The question has generated hundreds of pages of letters from former FTX customers, family, friends of his parents - even complete strangers - trying to sway Judge Lewis Kaplan, the federal justice who will decide his fate.
“He has shown no remorse so why would any judge show any mercy?” said Sunil Kavuri, a British investor who had more than US$ 2 million worth of holdings on the exchange when it collapsed, and one of the people mobilising former customers to share their experience with the court. FTX’s collapse in 2022 was a stunning fall for Bankman-Fried, who had become a billionaire and business celebrity promoting the firm, a platform people could use to deposit and trade crypto.