Sam Bankman

By Yasin Ebrahim

- FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will be Australian regulated foreign exchange platformreleased on a $250 million bail following a deal agreed by his attorneys and federal prosecutors, a New York federal judge ruled on Thursday.

Federal prosecutors last week indicted Sam Bankman-Fried, or SBF as he is widely known, on eight criminal counts that included wire fraud, money laundering and campaign finance violations.

The charges followed the bankruptcy of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange, founded by Bankman-Fried. FTX has been accused of transferring customer funds to cover up trading losses at Alameda Research, a trading firm founded by SBF.  

The new Chief Executive of FTX, John J. Ray III, who is tasked with recovering client funds, has said the crypto exchange's collapse was caused by "a very small group of grossly inexperienced and unsophisticated individuals.” 

Under the conditions of his bail, Sam Bankman-Fried is required to stay with his parents in California. The bail package included a personal $250M recognizance bond, which doesn't require the posting of bail but a written promise to appear in court as required, was secured by his parents' house in California. 

SBF's associates including Gary Wang, chief technology officer of FTX, and Caroline Ellison, co-CEO of Alameda Research, were allowed to post bail as part of a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York. Wang and Ellison pleaded guilty to federal charges of fraud.  

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