The founder of cryptocurrency firm FTX and fallen billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried will be kept under house arrest at his family’s home in California after they agreed to pay his $250million (£207million) bail. Mr Bankman-Fried, nicknamed SBF in the industry, is awaiting trial on charges of defrauding investors and looting customer deposits on his FTX trading platform.
The bail amount is thought to be the largest federal pretrial bond ever.
The day before the disgraced cryptocurrency entrepreneur agreed to be extradited from the Bahamas, where he was arrested earlier this month.
Assistant US Attorney Nicolas Roos said in US District Court that the 30-year-old “perpetrated a fraud of epic proportions”.
Mr Bankman-Fried was photographed exiting the court and shaking the hands of a supporter before he was driven away.
Magistrate Judge Gabriel W Gorenstein agreed to the bail amount and also approved the house arrest proposal, however he required that the FTX boss had an electronic tag attached.
Mr Bankman-Fried did not speak during the hearing except to answer the judge.
When asked whether he understood that if he fled he would be arrested and charged $250million he replied: “Yes I do.”
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Carolyn Ellison, 28, the former chief executive of Bankman-Fried’s trading firm, Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, 29, who co-founded FTX, have also pleaded guilty to charges including wire fraud, securities fraud and commodities fraud.
US Attorney Damian Williams said in a video statement: “If you participated in misconduct at FTX or Alameda, now is the time to get ahead of it.
“We are moving quickly, and our patience is not eternal.”
In a number of interviews before he was arrested Mr Bankman-Fried insisted it had not been his intention to defraud anyone.
