Topline
Sam Bankman-Fried will no longer be able to use a smartphone or access the internet freely on his laptop, according to a proposed amendment to his bail conditions filed late Monday in New York federal court, as the former boss of cryptocurrency exchange FTX will have to find new ways to kill time in the seven months before he goes to trial for fraud.
Sam Bankman-Fried, center, leaves Manhattan federal court in January.
Key Facts
The proposal, jointly submitted by prosecutors and defense for judge approval, includes a variety of restrictions, such as replacing his personal cell phone with a phone only equipped to make voice calls and send SMS text messages.
Bankman-Fried’s laptop will also be replaced with a new device with similar restrictions, restricting the former billionaire’s personal Internet use to 23 websites—including Forbes, NFL.com and, oddly, DoorDash, among others (see full list below).
Notably, Bankman-Fried will no longer be able to use any messenger apps or access a virtual private network, conditions that came after he allegedly contacted potential government witnesses via the encrypted messenger Signal.
The conditions outlined Monday closely match those proposed by prosecutors earlier this month.
Key Background
Bahamian authorities arrested Bankman-Fried on U.S. request in December, extraditing the California native back to his home country soon thereafter. Bankman-Fried was released on bail that month, returning to his parents’ home near Stanford University. In January, Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to his eight federal charges. Bankman-Fried’s trial will begin in October, marking one of the highest-profile nonviolent criminal trials in U.S. history. Once worth as much as $26.5 billion, Bankman-Fried dramatically fell from grace last November as cracks began to show in his crypto empire including FTX and his Alameda Research hedge fund.
Chief Critic
Numerous private citizens have expressed their discontent with Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions in letters to the judge presiding over his case. In a January letter, former Connecticut detective Thomas Morrisey said Bankman-Fried is “mock[ing]…the system of justice” with his behavior.
Surprising Fact
Under the new, more stringent bail conditions, noted gamer Bankman-Fried will no longer be able to play any video games, including the multiplayer game League of Legends, a long-time favorite of the 31-year-old. Bankman-Fried infamously once played League during a pitch meeting with venture capital giant Sequoia.
Tangent
Earlier Monday, U.S. authorities sued Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire CEO of the crypto exchange and Bankman-Fried’s rival, for allegedly breaking federal trading rules.
Here’s What Bankman-Fried Can Surf
These are the 23 sites proposed by prosecutors and defense that Bankman-Fried will have access to:
- Amazon.com
- Beincrypto.com
- Bloomberg.com; bloomberglaw.com
- Businessinsider.com
- Coindesk.com
- Cointelegraph.com
- Decrypt.co
- Doordash.com
- Forbes.com
- Ft.com
- MLB.com
- Netflix.com
- NFL.com
- Nypost.com
- Nytimes.com
- Opensecrets.org
- Prnewswire.com
- Puck.news
- Reuters.com
- Spotify.com
- Theblock.co
- Ubereats.com
- WSJ.com
Further Reading
Exclusive: Sam Bankman-Fried Recalls His Hellish Week In A Caribbean Prison (Forbes)
Sam Bankman-Fried Unplugged: DOJ Proposes Only A Flip Phone And Limited Internet While FTX Founder’s On Bail (Forbes)
Ex-Stanford Dean Bailed Out Bankman-Fried To Help ‘Steadfast Friends,’ He Says (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2023/03/28/no-more-smartphone-or-league-of-legends-for-sam-bankman-fried/