The move is a small win for Bankman-Fried, who was initially charged with eight federal counts of fraud and conspiracy when he was extradited from the Bahamas in December. Following his return to US shores, federal prosecutors tacked on five more charges. He has pleaded not guilty to all of them. Bankman-Fried’s attorneys have challenged the legality of the five newer charges on the grounds that they weren’t part of the original extradition deal from the Bahamas, where FTX was based.
Bankman-Fried’s crypto platform, FTX, collapsed into bankruptcy in November after customers and investors fled over concerns about its solvency. FTX and its co-founder soon became the center of a massive federal investigation that prosecutors have described as one of the biggest financial frauds in US history. At least three former FTX employees have pleaded guilty to similar charges and are cooperating with prosecutors.