FTX Founder to be Banned from Using Smartphone with Internet Access
- SBF’s lawyers and prosecutors have reached an agreement that prevents the founder of FTX from accessing and using online messaging applications.
- The new bail conditions are yet to be approved by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is currently responsible for overseeing the case.
- The prosecutors want the FTX founder to use a basic laptop with limited functions and monitoring software to track user activity.
- Bankman-Fried’s parents signed an affidavit, which stated that they were not allowed to bring prohibited items into their home.
The founder and former CEO of FTX, a crypto exchange that went bankrupt in November last year, Sam Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF in the crypto space, has been trying to rattle the regulatory cage. Prosecutors want the crypto entrepreneur in jail as he continues his attempts to approach former employees and other officials in an unofficial manner. According to a report from Reuters, SBF’s lawyers and prosecutors have reached an agreement that prevents the founder of FTX from accessing and using online messaging applications.
The report states that the lawyers of SBF and the prosecutors have reached an agreement on the new bail terms, which will allow the former FTX executive to stay at his parents home in Palo Alto but prevent him from gaining access to online messaging platforms along with electronic devices and applications.
However, it is crucial to note here that the new conditions are yet to be approved by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is currently responsible for overseeing the case. Interestingly, Bankman-Fried will not be allowed to use smartphones with internet access, and he can only use applications like voice calls and text messaging.
The prosecutors want the FTX founder to use a basic laptop with limited functions and monitoring software to track user activity. Moreover, the use of any other electronic device is strictly forbidden. On the other hand, Bankman-Fried’s parents signed an affidavit, which stated that they were not allowed to bring prohibited items into their home.
If SBF has a “reasonable suspicion” of a violation, he must submit his devices for a search, the report added. While Kaplan needs to approve this agreement before it goes into effect, the judge believes that the FTX founder deserves to be jailed.
In January, Bankman-Fried was accused of approaching former employees of his bankrupt crypto exchange and its sister trading company, Alameda Research. SBF is accused of using the investors and depositors’ money from FTX to plug losses at his Alameda Research hedge fund and make hefty donations to political causes.
It was believed that the former FTX executive was trying to tamper with witnesses by approaching them, but his lawyers claimed that he was just trying to help. As a result, the lawyers and prosecutors reached a deal under which SBF will be allowed to have a flip phone and a laptop with limited functions. However, Kaplan rejected the deal, arguing that Bankman-Fried could “find a way around it.”
Kaplan has also expressed his concerns regarding the presence of electronics belonging to SBF’s parents in their home. Both the parents of the crypto entrepreneur are Stanford University law professors, which could make it difficult to monitor his conduct, said the judge.
“We are dealing with somebody, who … has done things that suggest to me that there may very well be probable cause to believe that he either committed or attempted to commit a federal felony while on release,” Kaplan said. “Why am I being asked to turn him loose in this garden of electronic devices?”
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
