With Sam Bankman-Fried’s conviction yesterday on seven counts of fraud in federal court, the long-running FTX saga appears to be nearing a conclusion .
Noelle Acheson, former head of research at CoinDesk and writer of the “Crypto Is Macro Now” newsletter: “The jury heard evidence that Sam Bankman-Fried was out for himself, and that's reflected in the verdict. This case serves as a reminder that rules that have existed for a long time created a path to accountability for these crimes.
“I also think that, in a way, this verdict is a win for the crypto industry itself. After all, it was the industry that discovered and exposed SBF’s wrongdoing, and certain market participants that were themselves harmed by FTX and Alameda testified in the case against SBF. SBF being found guilty may be an important milestone or marker that enables the digital asset space and the broader market to move on from the events of 2022, because the bad actor is, in fact, being held accountable.
But he doesn’t think Sam Bankman-Fried will spend the rest of his life in prison, more like"something in the neighborhood of 15 years, or maybe even 20 years.""He's a relatively young man, his whole life is in front of him," O’Brien said.