Crypto community mixed reactions to SBF’s 25-year sentence

In a historic sentence on SBF enabling the crash of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange,  Judge Lewis Kaplan, who supervised the extreme case, sentenced the former FTX chief SBF  to 25 years in prison. On March 28th, the court convicted the defendant on bank robbery charges and fraudulent currency issuance. Amid the concerns about the case, its significance to the crypto community and beyond has drawn wide attention.

25 years behind bars

Judge Kaplan meted a sentence to Bankman-Fried on 28 March after the trial, deliberating over the magnitude of punishment for Bankman-Fried’s conviction. Initially, prosecutors had argued for a maximum sentence of 50 years, while the defense team had petitioned for leniency, saying that a sentence of up to 6 and a half years would be more appropriate. On the other hand, the judge did not see Bankman-Fried’s act as lenient, and the sentence was 25 years, considering witness intimidation and perjury aggravating factors.

Crypto community reaction and legality perspective

Unlike major crimes, suicide is not a death penalty-eligible offense, and that does not necessarily mean longer sentences. After the statement, many people expressed mixed feelings about their opportunities on social networks. This point was made clear by some people who believe this sentence was too short and insufficient because it reflected the gravity of the crime committed. 

These people used longer sentences for lesser crimes as their arguments. What is even more remarkable is Edward Snowden contrasting Bankman Fred’s crime to that of Chelsea Manning, who had gotten 35 years of jail for leaking classified information violation. To him, Bankman Fred did the ‘way worse’ than what Manning had done.

Legal specialists talked about this judgment, suggesting that. In contrast, it is understandable that the prison terms do not exceed 100 years based on the existing sentencing guidelines; the sentence handed down was quite significant and was a good sign that accountability exists in the crypto space. Mark Bini, former Assistant U.S. Attorney, pointed out that the judge emphasized the multiple sentencing factors making the ruling commensurable and the real consequences for anyone convicted of crypto crimes.

Discussion concerning justice and accuracy

In addition to certain individuals trying to rest as the ball was going in the right direction, others were unhappy with the result. Terrence Yang, CEO of Swan Bitcoin, said “too lightly,” Bankman-Fried definitely cannot be given only 1 year in jail because many people have been financially broken because of his behavior. 

Yang mentioned the pain and destruction in those families and their lives, as well as the coldness of the former CEO, during the following session. Regardless of the requests for Proposition to be less ruthless due to Ber Jake’s diagnosis, Yang stated that the gravity of crime deserved to be punished harder.

Bankman Fried was then directly marched out of the courtroom to the metropolitan detention center in Brooklyn, where he has been detained since the revocation of his bail in August of 2023. The story is still developing: Ryan Salem, the former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO, will be sentenced on May 1st. Other Alameda Research and FTX directors have already admitted their guilt and taken the deals, raising the expectations for the following court hearings.