FTX funds misappropriated

Bankman-Fried appeals against prison sentence

The US crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried has appealed against his 25-year prison sentence. This is according to a court document published on Thursday.

The sentence was imposed by a New York judge two weeks ago. The founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency platform FTX was found guilty by a jury in November of embezzling billions in customer funds.

FTX, the world's second-largest crypto exchange at the time, went bankrupt in November 2022, triggering an earthquake in the crypto world. Bankman-Fried had previously embodied the rise of cryptocurrencies to a supposedly reputable investment object like no other. However, the business construct collapsed when it became known that FTX was using customer funds in part to support the crypto investment fund Alameda Research, which was also founded by Bankman-Fried.

Following the bankruptcy of FTX, the entrepreneur was arrested in the Bahamas, where the company was based, and extradited to the USA.