Bankman-Fried "Haunted Every Day" by the Damage He Caused

After Getting a 25 Year Prison Sentence, Sam Bankman-Fried Now Feels Remorse for FTX and his Actions

“It’s most of what I think about each day,” Bankman-Fried told ABC News. “I never thought that what I was doing was illegal. But I tried to hold myself to a high standard, and I certainly didn’t meet that standard. I’ve heard and seen the despair, frustration and sense of betrayal from thousands of customers; they deserve to be paid in full at the current price.”

The former FTX boss said the insolvency of FTX was the result of several “bad decisions” he made in 2022. Bankman-Fried also noted that the customers “could and should” have been paid in 2022, and it’s “excruciating to see them waiting, day after day.”

“I’m haunted, every day, by what was lost. I never intended to hurt anyone or take anyone’s money. But I was the CEO of FTX, I was responsible for what happened to the company, and when you’re responsible, it doesn’t matter why it goes bad. I’d give anything to be able to help repair even part of the damage. I’m doing what I can from prison, but it’s deeply frustrating not to be able to do more,” he said to ABC News.

Bitcoin Is Soaring This Year. This Goldman Sachs Skeptic Isn’t Biting

… Wall Street giants including BlackRock and Fidelity have embraced bitcoin, launching funds in January that make it easy for everyday investors to invest in it.

Some financial advisers have also begun advising clients to include crypto in their portfolios.

Mossavar-Rahmani couldn’t care less what the others do.

“We do not think it is an investment asset class,” she said in an interview, comparing the recent crypto enthusiasm to the tulip mania of the 1600s. “We’re not believers in crypto.”

She says clients are well aware of her team’s crypto criticisms and haven’t asked about jumping in. Mossavar-Rahmani’s view is based on the fact that it is nearly impossible to accurately value cryptocurrencies, which don’t produce earnings, cash flow or dividends. “If you cannot assign a value, then how can you be bullish or bearish?” she asks, rhetorically.

Insider Trading (SEC v. Bechtolsheim)

That’s unusually indirect: Bechtolsheim did not work at Acacia. He did not work at Cisco, the company that acquired Acacia, or at its banks or law firms. He did not work at the (unnamed) company that was considering acquiring Acacia, or at its banks or law firms. He works at a fourth company, Arista, which has some sort of technology and business relationship with the unnamed third company. When the unnamed tech company was pinged about maybe buying Acacia, its executives asked Bechtolsheim for advice, and he allegedly went and bought Acacia call options. He worked for a company that talked to a company that thought about competing with a company that bought a company, and he traded that last company’s stock. That’s about as outside as insider trading gets, but probably enough.

Binance Names Board of Directors in First for Crypto Exchange

Binance Holdings Ltd. named a board of directors for the first time, as the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange seeks to reshape itself after pleading guilty last year to US charges of anti-money laundering and sanctions violations.

UK Billionaire Lewis Deserves Leniency for Insider Tips, US Says

British billionaire Joe Lewis would be sufficiently punished with less than a year and a half in prison for passing secret corporate information to his private pilots and girlfriend, US prosecutors told a federal judge ahead of the 87-year-old’s sentencing later this week.

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The plea deal will likely whittle down any sentence for Lewis, who faced as long as 45 years in prison if convicted at trial. His attorneys sought an expedited sentencing due to his age.

The government said in a court filing late Monday that while federal sentencing guidelines call for a term of 18 to 24 months in prison, Lewis deserves leniency given his age, his significant health issues and his voluntary decision to travel to the US to accept responsibility for his crimes.

Life Sciences Companies Remained Frequent Securities Suit Targets in 2023

The number of securities class action lawsuits filed against life sciences companies in 2023 remained steady compared to 2022, as suits against life sciences companies represented almost one in five of the securities class action lawsuits filed during the year, according to a new report from the Dechert law firm. The report, entitled “Dechert Survey: Developments in Securities Fraud Class Actions Against U.S. Life Sciences Companies: 2023 Edition,” states that there were a total of 43 securities suits filed against life sciences companies in 2023, the same number as were filed in 2022. The Dechert law firm’s March 27, 2024 press release, which links to the full report, can be found here.