Community Deems Sam Bankman-Fried’s Sentence ‘Too Lenient’

On March 28th, former CEO of the collapsed FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), was sentenced to 25 years in prison. However, the crypto community viewed even this term as lenient.

Dan Held, General Partner at Asymmetric, remarked that the sentence was “not nearly long enough given his [SBF’s] actions and the actual damage caused.”

Breaking: SBF gets 25 years in prison.

Not nearly long enough given his actions, feelings around his actions, and actual damage caused.

— Dan Held (@danheld) March 28, 2024

Jake Chervinsky, Chief Legal Officer at Variant Fund, compared the sentences of SBF and Ross Ulbricht, who received two life sentences plus 40 years for creating the darknet marketplace Silk Road.

If you’re following all the news about SBF today, take one moment to reflect on Ross Ulbricht.

SBF got 25 years. That’s a long time, but he’ll get out and have a life left afterward.@RealRossU got two life sentences, plus 40 years.

This is not justice.https://t.co/nOnKQFkctx

— Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) March 28, 2024

“This is not justice,” he wrote.

Former NSA and CIA employee Edward Snowden expressed surprise at the “lenient” verdict for Bankman-Fried.

“Damn, they gave him less for a much worse crime than Chelsea Manning,” noted Snowden [post deleted at the time of writing].

Seraphim Cheker, Head of Development at Ethena.Labs, drew parallels with the case of Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev, who faces up to five years in prison.

Doesn’t it drive you mad

SBF defrauds the whole world and gets 25 (will probs get out early)

Pertsev on trial for writing a smart contract and is treated the same way or worse

— Seraphim (@MacroMate8) March 28, 2024

“Doesn’t it drive you mad? SBF defrauds the whole world and gets 25 (will probs get out early). Pertsev on trial for writing a smart contract and is treated the same way or worse,” added Cheker.

The sentence for Bankman-Fried could mark the end of a troubled era for the crypto industry, according to Michael Zilberberg, Head of Communications at Alt Tab Capital:

“We are focused on the crypto market, and this trial is the end of its sad chapter. Enron did not mean all energy markets were fraudulent, and [Bernard] Madoff was not an indicator of all hedge funds. We believe in the reliability of the cryptocurrency market and support the prosecution of wrongdoers.”

Influencer 0xSisyphus emphasized that the term for SBF is “short,” yet still significantly longer than the existence of the crypto industry.

SBF’s sentencing time is “short” but still meaningfully longer than the amount of time the crypto industry has existed for

— Sisyphus (@0xSisyphus) March 28, 2024

Meme Tokens Featuring Sam

Before and after SBF’s sentencing, the market was flooded with thematic meme tokens.

Launched hours before the trial on the L2 solution Base, the coin Sam Baseman Fraud with the ticker FTX surged by 23,300% in less than a day to a peak of $0.0145. However, the asset later corrected to $0.0034.

According to DexScreener, at the time of writing, the market capitalization of FTX is $341,000.

Simultaneously, a meme coin Som Bonkmon Fraud (SBF) appeared on Solana. The token quickly rose from $0.000095 to $0.012 — a 12,500% increase. However, traders swiftly sold off the asset, crashing the price by 95% from its peak.

The coin joined a series of parody tokens of celebrities with misspellings like Danold Tromp and Olen Mosk. The market capitalization of one such meme coin — Jeo Boden (BODEN) — exceeded $200 million.

The native token of the FTX exchange (FTT) fell by 20% to $1.90 following the sentencing of its founder.

Back in late February, SBF’s lawyer Mark Mukasey requested a sentence for his client in the range of 63 to 78 months in prison. The attorney described the proposed life sentence as too “grotesque.”

The court received 29 letters in support of Bankman-Fried requesting leniency in his future sentence, including from family members and a cellmate.