The conviction of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the bankrupt FTX exchange, brings closure to a dark chapter in the cryptocurrency industry, Yat Siu, the co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands, told Forkast.
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Fast Facts
- “This brings final closure to a very dark chapter in our industry, and also it makes it very clear that [Bankman-Fried] ultimately was simply a fraud,” Siu told Forkast.
- Bankman-Fried was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy on Thursday. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 28, 2024. He faces a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison.
- “It was absolutely always an issue with [Bankman-Fried],” said Siu, highlighting that the fraud case didn’t occur because of cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology.
- Siu added that the conviction also marks the industry’s evolution from other “black swan” events like the bankruptcy of Three Arrows Capital, a Singapore-based hedge fund, and May’s Terra-Luna collapse that erased billions of dollars in value.
- “For us as an industry, I think we’re cheering it on and we’re really glad that we can hopefully not talk too much about [Bankman-Fried] in the future,” he said.
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