The once-celebrated crypto leader Sam Bankman-Fried, nicknamed SBF, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday.
He was found guilty of a huge financial scam, one of the biggest ever.
Prosecutors wanted him locked up for 40-50 years. SBF apologized in court but the judge wasn’t impressed. He said SBF showed no remorse and might commit more crimes if he’s free.
SBF’s lawyers will appeal the sentence. They say he’s not a bad guy, just a young, well-meaning person who made mistakes. But the jury didn’t believe that and neither did the judge.
SBF was a super successful crypto whiz who built a giant company, FTX, in just a few years. But then it all came crashing down because he made risky bets with customer money.