Sam Bankman-Fried: FTX, Regrets, and a 25 year prison sentence

Lewis A. Kaplan has been a district court judge for almost 30 years, but even he was staggered by the audacity of Sam Bankman-Fried. “When he wasn’t outright lying, he was evasive, hairsplitting, dodging questions,” Kaplan said when he handed the FTX fraudster a 25 year prison sentence last week. Zeke Faux, a reporter for Bloomberg, was there to watch the sentencing. He's met SBF a few times – before and after his multi-billion dollar scam came crashing down. This week on Whale Hunting, host Tom Wright chats to Zeke about Kaplan's fury, how SBF reacted to his sentence and why his victims still aren’t happy. They also discuss the surprising bounce-back of FTX's assets, and how crypto's 'number go up' mentality just won't quit.

You can find Zeke’s book, Number Go Up, online and in all good bookshops. To hear the story of Sam Bankman-Fried and his rival, Changpeng Zhao, from the very beginning, check out Project Brazen’s podcast Crypto Kingpins, available wherever you listen to podcasts. 

For more from Whale Hunting, follow the podcast wherever you listen – and you can subscribe to our newsletter at whalehunting.projectbrazen.com. 

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