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BreakingSam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Stay with us, we will bring you more updates shortly.
Judge cites SBF's lack of remorse for 'terrible crimes'
Natalie Sherman
Reporting from court
The judge is speaking at length about SBF's ambition and also his lack of remorse.
Judge Kaplan provides a harsh assessment, saying it was clear Bankman-Fried was motivated by a drive to be politically influential.
He says that despite “protestations of sorrow” about customer losses, SBF had said “never a word of remorse for the commission of terrible crimes”.
He cites SBF’s now infamous interview from November 2022 in which he said "(expletive) regulators".
And said he keeps returning to Caroline Ellison’s testimony, SBF's former girlfriend, in which she said he was willing to flip a coin on the destruction of the world.
Judge continues to review facts of the case
Judge Kaplan is still going over the details of the case, talking about facts that he will use in his decision.
We could potentially hear Sam Bankman-Fried's sentence soon.
Stick with us.
How did Sam Bankman-Fried become so loved by the crypto world?
Joe Tidy
Cyber correspondent
Image caption: Sam Bankman-Fried listens during the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami
Copyright: Getty Images
Bankman-Fried was a rare thing in business – a scruffy social media influencer loved by legions of grassroots crypto fans and a high-flying business executive that investors trusted with their millions.
He often portrayed himself as a modest maths genius who wasn’t interested in personal wealth. He was a billionaire who drove a bashed-up family saloon car and slept on a bean bag in his office. He had hopes to give to charity.
Deep-pocketed investors looked past his haphazard lifestyle and his habit of playing computer games whilst on important video calls. They looked at his company’s bottom lines and saw dollar signs.
His crypto exchange, FTX, grew to be the second largest in the world with $10-$15bn (£7.9 - £11.8bn) traded daily. An NBA stadium was named after his company and he secured celebrity endorsements from the likes of the NFL's Tom Brady.
Towards the end, when the crypto market took a dive, it was SBF that was going around with handouts to save faltering crypto firms.
So when his own empire collapsed it left everyone from business leaders to small time investors shocked. And out of pocket.
Judge Kaplan is now speaking
We've heard from Sam Bankman-Fried and now the judge is addressing the court.
He is detailing SBF's background, from his family life to his education at a prestigious university.
An 'avalanche' of paperwork submitted to judge
Erin Delmore
Reporting from court
Judge Lewis Kaplan has described the volume of submissions ahead of this hearing as being comparable to an "avalanche".
Of the 1,500 documents, around 450 were submitted by the defence and around the same from the prosecution.
Judge Kaplan noted that the number of government submissions did not include victim impact statements - which have also been given to the court ahead of today.
Some victims have also been testifying about the financial, emotional and mental distress they have been going through since FTX collapsed.
One man said Bankman-Fried and his inner circle must be held accountable for "customers to be made whole", while another told Judge Kaplan that he should consider that SBF and his team had "been helpful" to those suing the company as part of a class action lawsuit.
Bankman-Fried falls short of offering an apology
Natalie Sherman
New York business reporter
As SBF continues his address in the courtroom, he seems to be falling short of taking full ownership for his lies and theft.
“They’ve been failed by more people than I can count,” he says, speaking of customers. “It’s been excruciating to watch.”
He tells the judge that he had only been trying to help when he reached out to FTX after the bankruptcy, contact that the judge cited when he determined that Bankman-Fried had tried to obstruct justice.
While acknowledging that a lot of people had suffered he adds: “I don’t think the reasons for that have been properly told."
Statements like this are the kind that are unlikely to go over well with Judge Kaplan, as many legal experts have explained ahead of today's sentencing hearing.
FTX collapse 'haunts me every day'
Natalie Sherman
New York business reporter
Sam Bankman-Fried spoke clearly and quietly, but he mostly stuck to his story that FTX had the holdings to repay customers at the time of its collapse.
He spoke about the pain he has caused former customers and colleagues, whom he praised, including Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, who testified against him at trial.
“I know a lot of people feel really let down," he says to Judge Lewis Kaplan. “They all built something really beautiful, they threw themselves into it and then I threw it all away. It haunts me every day” he adds.
'I made a series of bad decisions'
Natalie Sherman
Reporting from court
Sam Bankman-Fried's testimony continues, with the former billionaire admitting: “I made a series of bad decisions”.
“There are a lot of mistakes that I made.”
But he also struck a defiant tone, maintaining that customers “could have been paid back. There were enough assets. There are enough assets".
It prompted at least one onlooker in the overflow room to shake his head and raise his hands in a questioning gesture.
BreakingSam Bankman-Fried takes the stand
Stay with us - we'll bring you updates on what SBF is saying in the New York court soon.
Judge says SBF's claim that money will be repaid is 'misleading'
Erin Delmore
Reporting from court
A lot has been said by US district court judge Lewis Kaplan over the past hour, with some indication about where this is going for the former crypto mogul.
Perhaps the most important detail heard in court so far is Kaplan rejecting the defence's claim that FTX customers and investors had not lost anything because they would be repaid by the bankruptcy process.
"The defendant's assertion that FTX customers and creditors will be paid in full is misleading, it is logically flawed, it is speculative," the judge told the New York courtroom.
Quote Message: A thief who takes his loot to Las Vegas and successfully bets the stolen money is not entitled to a discount on the sentence by using his Las Vegas winnings to pay back what he stole." from Judge Lewis Kaplan
A thief who takes his loot to Las Vegas and successfully bets the stolen money is not entitled to a discount on the sentence by using his Las Vegas winnings to pay back what he stole."
This striking turn of phrase comes after the judge calculated that customers of the collapsed crypto exchange lost $8bn (£6.3bn) and investors in the firm lost $1.7bn - on top of the $1.3bn lost by the collapse of SBF's hedge fund Alameda Research.
But it's also important to note Kaplan has not yet announced the sentence SBF will receive and this hearing could last several more hours.
SBF not a 'financial serial killer', his lawyer argues
We're now hearing from Sam Bankman-Fried's defence lawyer, who is maintaining that his client did not set out "every morning to hurt people" and was not a "ruthless financial serial killer".
"Sam Bankman-Fried doesn't make decisions with malice in his heart," Marc Mukasey says at the hearing while arguing for leniency in his client's sentencing, Reuters reports.
He was an "awkward math nerd", he says, adding that Bankman-Fried worked hard to get his clients' money back after the collapse of FTX.
"He makes decisions with math in his head," Mukasey says to Judge Kaplan.
Court hears from FTX customer who lost $2.1m
Natalie Sherman
New York business reporter
Judge Lewis Kaplan was sceptical of Bankman-Fried at trial and remains so today.
He said he would be adjusting the sentence to take into account attempted witness tampering as well as three times SBF lied at trial, including when he claimed he did not know that Alameda had spent customer deposits until October 2022.
Sunil Kavuri - who lost $2.1m (£1.7m) in the collapse - has just testified on behalf of former customers.
He said he lives the “FTX nightmare every day” and that losing access to his funds meant he couldn’t buy a house or plan for his children’s education.
Kavuri was cut short by the judge as he detailed his concerns that the bankruptcy is mishandling recovery of funds. Asked to focus on the sentencing, he said he felt there were other people “in addition to Sam” who were involved in the crime who need to be held accountable.
The BBC spoke to Sunil Kavuri last year - you can read more about his experience here.
Image caption: Sunil Kavuri is thought to be the worst-hit British victim of the FTX collapseCopyright: BBC
What’s SBF like in person?
Joe Tidy
Cyber correspondent
Image caption: Bankman-Fried agreed to an interview with the BBC in The Bahamas back in December 2022. He was arrested a few days later.Copyright: BBC
Myself and producer Emma Ailes travelled to The Bahamas to interview Sam Bankman-Fried at a strange time.
It was December 2022 and SBF was essentially in hiding in his luxury apartment on the island.
Customers and investors were raging on the airwaves and online about the collapse of his empire. Everyone thought it was just a matter of time until he would be arrested.
He accepted an interview request from the BBC and several other reporters, and over the course of about a week, did his best to convince the world that he was sorry that it had all gone so wrong - but that he wasn’t a fraudster. None of it was deliberate, SBF repeatedly said.
He turned up late for our meeting in his trademark shorts and scruffy t-shirt. He was glued to his phone both before and after our 45-minute interview, and it was the strangest one I’ve ever done.
He accepted all the tough questions I had for him and there was no time limit. All the while, his left leg furiously bounced up and down but his demeanour was otherwise measured and calm.
He was obviously exhausted and although he didn’t admit it – he must have known police would knock on the door soon.
And they did a few days later. The next time I saw him was in photos - he was in handcuffs at the airport being extradited to the US.
SBF's weight loss and return of distinctive hair obvious in court
Natalie Sherman
New York business reporter
Bankman-Fried arrived in court shortly after 09:40 New York time (13:40 GMT) in a baggy beige prison jumpsuit.
The weight he has lost behind bars is visible and his distinctive curly hair, cut short for trial, has returned.
The crowd in the packed overflow room on the 26th floor instantly quieted, expecting proceedings to begin shortly.
The line of onlookers included family and friends, as well as customers who have lost access to millions following the collapse of FTX - including Sunil Kavuri.
Though he has been one of the most vocal victims, he chatted with SBF's parents while waiting.
He told me afterwards that SBF's father, Joseph Bankman, was eager to note that money would be recovered in the bankruptcy.
Kavuri does not share that view, but he believes Bankman-Fried is being made a scapegoat for problems at FTX for which the responsibility is more widely shared.
Both Kavuri and SBF have blamed Sullivan and Cromwell - the law firm that advised FTX before its failure and continues to work on its bankruptcy - for the failure of the cryptocurrency exchange.
LISTEN: What in the world is cryptocurrency?
Copyright: BBC
As we await the sentencing of the disgraced 'Crypto King' Sam Bankman-Fried, you might be trying to get your head around the confusing world of cryptocurrency.
Crypto has been in the spotlight this month after Bankman-Fried was found guilty of fraud and money laundering.
But there are many people who believe crypto could be transformative, especially for young people and failing states, Michael Kimani, a tech entrepreneur from Kenya, explains.
And Erin Delmore, the BBC’s North American business correspondent, who is in court for the sentencing in New York today, takes us back to basics.
What happened at the trial?
Copyright: Reuters
Sam Bankman-Fried stood in front of the jury with his hands clasped as the verdict was read in November last year.
His parents sat with their heads in their hands. The jury found him guilty of lying to investors and lenders and stealing billions of dollars from FTX, helping to precipitate its collapse.
He had pleaded not guilty to all the charges, maintaining that, while he had made mistakes, he had acted in good faith.
Three of his former close friends and colleagues, including his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison, pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against him in hopes of reducing their own sentences.
During the trial, the prosecution presented evidence that Bankman-Fried's crypto trading firm Alameda Research received deposits on behalf of FTX customers from the early days of the exchange, when traditional banks were unwilling to let it open an account.
Instead of safeguarding those funds, as Bankman-Fried repeatedly pledged to do in public, he used the money to repay Alameda lenders, buy property and make investments and political donations.
'There’s no way this wasn’t fraud'
Natalie Sherman
New York business reporter
Copyright: Supplied
Arush Sehgal and his wife had $4m on the exchange, half of it in Bitcoin and half in dollars, deposited as the family planned for a house purchase.
He said the collapse of the firm had hurt their relationship, and cost him a job, as he became consumed in efforts to try to recover the money.
The tech entrepreneur had worked in the industry helping to build similar platforms.
“The everyday person might think that it’s just a big mistake… but in actual fact, if you know how these things work… there’s no way that this wasn’t fraud,” he told the BBC.
He said the judge should stick to the sentencing guidelines. “You can’t have everything you’ve worked for and saved your whole life taken from you,” he said.
SBF's parents arrive at court
Image caption: Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman arrive at court in New YorkCopyright: Getty Images
Barbara Fried and Allan Joseph Bankman have arrived at the New York court where their son is expected to be sentenced later today.
Sam Bankman-Fried's parents, both law professors at Stanford Law School, were central fixtures at their son's trial back in October last year.
During difficult portions of the trial, his mother fought back tears.
The pair were often seen sitting in the third row of the courtroom, within a close distance of their firstborn child.
What do FTX customers think?
Natalie Sherman
New York business reporter
Copyright: Supplied
I spoke to several former FTX customers about what they thought Bankman-Fried deserved ahead of the sentencing.
They said they were more focused on what would happen to their money than to him, but were sceptical of calls for leniency, no matter how much they had at stake.
For example, Rick Norwood, a retired accountant from Florida, had deposited $1,000 (£790) on FTX a few months before its collapse. Norwood said potentially losing the money was not personally devastating, but that he was mindful of the ways financial disruption can wreak havoc and that others might be more affected.
"Whatever they throw at him, he deserves," he said.
"I don't have any sympathy for him whatsoever."
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