Photo: Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images News / Getty Images
Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of stealing $8 billion from the customers of his cryptocurrency exchange on Thursday (November 2) in what prosecutors called "one of the biggest financial frauds in American history."
After just a few hours of deliberations, a jury convicted Bankman-Fried on all seven counts he faced, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. He faces over one hundred years in prison and will be sentenced on March 28, 2024.
"[It was] a multibillion-dollar scheme designed to make him the King of Crypto – but while the cryptocurrency industry might be new and the players like Sam Bankman-Fried might be new, this kind of corruption is as old as time," Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.
"This case has always been about lying, cheating, and stealing, and we have no patience for it."
Bankman-Fried's legal troubles are far from over. He faces a second trial in March on charges of foreign bribery and bank fraud conspiracies.