Jailing Sam Bankman-Fried marks an end to Wild West days of crypto

The ‘Crypto King’ was once the new technology’s revered figurehead. Now, as he begins a 25-year prison sentence, he could become an unlikely symbol of its newfound maturity, writes Anthony Cuthbertson

‘He presented himself as the good guy, all in favour of the appropriate regulation of the crypto industry’ (Getty)

In September 2022, Sam Bankman-Fried’s face was on the cover of Fortune magazine, the name of his company was splashed across stadiums, and he was in talks with Elon Musk to help finance the takeover of Twitter. As the head of the world’s biggest crypto exchange, he had become the world’s richest person under the age of 30 and was being touted by Silicon Valley investors as a future trillionaire.

Just three months later, the man dubbed the “Crypto King” was arrested and charged with fraud and money laundering that ultimately resulted in the collapse of the FTX exchange. In that moment, he may also have broken a record for going from billionaire to broke in the shortest amount of time.

This week, after more than a year of legal proceedings, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his crimes.