U.S. prosecutors and SBF’s lawyers reached an agreement on bail conditions on Thursday, and the judge granted bail. However, many members of the crypto community still have questions about the specifics.
CNBC has reported that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was released yesterday on his own recognizance after posting a $250 million bail bond.
The crypto industry’s founding family used their $4 million Palo Alto mansion as bail. According to the documentation, two other unnamed signatories have also pledged “considerable assets” to cover the $246 million bond shortfall.
So, SBF didn’t pay anything to get him out of jail, but instead made a promise that if the crypto startup’s founder broke the bond’s conditions, those people would have to give up the assets listed above.
John Deaton, an attorney who advocates for XRP, shared an opinion piece by Murphy & McGonigle co-founder James Murphy on CoinDesk in which Murphy expressed his outrage at this situation. Murphy’s article notably omits mention of the two other anonymous signatories.
By signing a document promising to pay the court $250 million if he decides to flee to another country with no extradition, “Bankman-Fried walked out of court essentially a free man,” writes Murphy. “Of course, this is completely ridiculous.”
The US government does not permit defendants in financial crime and drug cases to post bail, as the defendants may make payment from fraudulently acquired sources, as explained by Jason Brett, founder of Value Technology.
In addition, as Alex Thorn, Galaxy’s Head of Research, points out, it may be more difficult for the crypto startup’s founder to escape than Murphy lets on. Thorn shared a few passages from the transcript of SBF’s hearing on Thursday, emphasizing that the court granted bail due to his “notoriety.” The founder of FTX will have a hard time committing financial crimes or evading detection now, according to the court.
Beyond this, Pretrial services will continue to keep a close eye on SBF while he wears an ankle monitor.
Several people in the crypto community are naturally curious about the identities of the anonymous signatories. It’s worth noting that at least one of them is not a blood relative. According to Thorn, the public will have more access to details on this topic after January 5, when the deadline for signing by both parties has passed. Brett thinks it’s likely that these people will either hide their identities or have them leaked.
Bloomberg reports that after bail attempts in the Bahamas were unsuccessful, SBF requested immediate extradition to the US.
The US Department of Justice is seeking more than 100 years in prison for the FTX founder on multiple counts of fraud. Civil charges have been brought against the person who made the cryptocurrency by both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
After a bank run exposed a $8 billion hole in their balance sheet in November, FTX and its subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy.
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