US Court Rejects Sam Bankman-Fried’s Appeal for Pre-Trial Release

Pre-Trial Appeal of SBF

Sam Bankman-Fried is the main person-of-interest in the controversial bankruptcy of the crypto exchange FTX. The former CEO has been facing a barrage of lawsuits and allegations of financial foul play at the Court of Appeals. The US Court of Appeals has recently rejected the pre-trial appeal request from SBF lawyers recently.

His attorneys have been trying to get him out of prison before the lawsuit formally starts. On this account, they filed an appeal to grant him temporary release from jail so that he may review necessary documents before attending his trial on 3rd October this year.

On this account, the New York District Court has denied the appeal and stated that the arguments made in the appeal are unpersuasive. The appeal is now formally repealed as per the decree of the Second circuit Court of Appeals. SBF was sent to prison when prosecutors brought charges of witness tempering against him.

He made an attempt to leak the private diary of his former colleague and girlfriend Caroline Ellison to New York Times. At the same time, prosecutors also alleged that he was attempting to make contact with potential witnesses through encrypted messaging applications.

SBF Accused of Tampering Evidence

The prosecution has increased the burden of charges already facing SBF. The new allegations are corroborated with the decision issued by district courts. These charges accuse SBF of attempting to temper evidence involving two witnesses that breaches code USC 1512(b).

Furthermore, the charge claims that SBF attempted to influence the witnesses through unlawful means. Meanwhile, the appeals court sides with the district court conclusion that a defaulter on witness tampering through speech cannot access the constitutional protection.

SBF may end up getting a sentence of spending 100 years behind bars. In case, he is found guilty of the fraud charges against him that include but are not limited to conducting fraud. He is also facing the allegations of colluding with FTX executives for misusing consumer funds valued in billions of dollars to fuel their failed investments.

The firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing last year. FTX was deemed as one of the top trading platform before its unexpected fall last year. The demise of the firm led to fall of various crypto firms and resulted in losses for named investors.

FTX Crypto Liquidations are Unlikely to Impact Prices

FTX has received approval from the court to sell its crypto holdings. The incident has sparked a conversation about the possible price decline on account of massive crypto inflows from the marketplace.

Analyst David Duong revealed that digital currency liquidations from FTX are capped at $50 million per week in the initial phase.

However, this amount can be increased to $100 million per week with the progression of time. Documents from the FTX trial indicate that the firm holds around $1.162 in Solana, $560 million in Bitcoin, $192 million in Ethereum, and $1.49 billion in miscellaneous altcoins.

The analyst has stated that courts have ordained strict control over token sales with rules like 10-day advance notice for insider-affiliated coins. The researcher working for Coinbase stated that the Sol reserves of FTX are locked till 2025. He also claimed that the court have appointed an investment advisor to oversee the virtual currency sales for FTX.