# Sam Bankman convicted 2023-11-02 (was living with parents, then jail). Is BTC and cryptocurrency busted too? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 23, 2022, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019 "2022-12-23T20:10:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/241 "2023-11-02T00:35:25Z")
Here’s your daily Lopatto > **[Closing time for Sam Bankman-Fried](https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/1/23942828/sam-bankman-fried-trial-closing-arguments)** > > An underwhelming finale to a feeble defense. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/242 "2023-11-02T00:40:39Z")
Prosecution and defense have completed closing arguments. Prosecution gets to rebut first thing tomorrow and then it’s to the jury. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/243 "2023-11-02T00:55:54Z")
Again, we’re not seeing everything those in court are. Buuuuut… based on reporting to date, I don’t think the jury is going to need to deliberate particularly long. And it sounds like there’s very little luck of anything that would be overturned on appeal if guilty (which I expect). Good. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/244 "2023-11-02T01:07:19Z")
Some pundits are expecting a verdict by the end of the day tomorrow. I am expecting a 20 year sentence which is the maximum on most of the counts and then serving them concurrently. Maybe more because of the perjury and lack of remorse. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/245 "2023-11-02T03:20:34Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > I gotta wonder about how SBF thought it would be any kind of shot. “But… but… I can’t just sit there and let it happen, like I’ve already resigned myself to it!” We’ve seen the same thing with others, the notion of lawyers telling them “no, shut up, say nothing” is alien. Like **hajario** said, they think, “if there is even the slightest identifiable chance to baffle them with BS…” ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/246 "2023-11-02T13:17:53Z")
It’s funny that the ads embedded in the Verge article are for another crypto scam/exchange. ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/247 "2023-11-02T14:19:03Z")
It’s too bad SBF didn’t choose to study finance, choose a specific sector with particular characteristics, get certifications to sell a vehicle that interested him. I guess that wasn’t fast money enough for him. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/248 "2023-11-02T15:15:47Z")
Also entirely too boomer. It’s not the thing to do if you believe the old rules don’t apply to you. Move fast, break shit. (Get thrown in prison.) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/249 "2023-11-02T16:07:27Z")
The jury has it once they finish lunch. They will be allowed to deliberate until 8:30 pm and if they don’t finish will take it up again on Monday. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/250 "2023-11-02T20:35:17Z")
I just went to the FTX article on Wikipedia to try to understand what this case is all about. I was lost in all the technical stuff. Then I came to this line: > Anonymous sources cited by the _Wall Street Journal_ on November 10 said that Alameda Research owed FTX some $10 billion, as FTX had lent funds placed on the exchange for trading to Alameda so that Alameda could make investments with the money. Ah. The old, old story. Probably known to Sumerians trading corn. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/251 "2023-11-02T20:51:53Z")
Yeah, that’s the main thing. “Don’t use other people’s money in ways different from what you told them, in ways they neither know about nor explicitly approve, in ways which may also be illegal, and in ways which would raise major managerial/financial flags at any well-managed institution”. The technobabble and such is vaguely interesting in its own right but for purposes of this case mainly a smoke screen that made it easier to fleece the victims ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/252 "2023-11-02T20:52:31Z")
ETA: Ninja’ed. Yeah. That’s why SBF’s claims of innocence make zero sense. There is no way anyone who knows beans about finance would think that secretly loaning customer money to an affiliated trading arm to place bets on other stuff for the trader’s gain was even remotely legal. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/253 "2023-11-02T22:28:59Z")
On a side note, I know there have been some horrendous trial artist sketches, but the artists covering this trial are pretty bad. Or is he just that hard to sketch? Or maybe courtroom sketch artists could be replaced by AI. [![](https://s.abcnews.com/images/Business/sbf-trial_hpMain_20231010-150122.jpg) ](https://s.abcnews.com/images/Business/sbf-trial_hpMain_20231010-150122.jpg) [![](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/ecc3d1babd84f2082ff315222d7ef8397813ca41/0_227_3024_1815/master/3024.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none) ](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/ecc3d1babd84f2082ff315222d7ef8397813ca41/0_227_3024_1815/master/3024.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none) [![](https://gray-weau-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/pEARNZNZ-hTpUo6A3tCsirOpag8=/1200x675/smart/filters:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/WP7LMCCOF5Y3IFYKHDKP4AXD44.jpg) ](https://gray-weau-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/pEARNZNZ-hTpUo6A3tCsirOpag8=/1200x675/smart/filters:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/WP7LMCCOF5Y3IFYKHDKP4AXD44.jpg) [![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/03/22/76133421-12590649-image-a-1_1696368488288.jpg) ](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/03/22/76133421-12590649-image-a-1_1696368488288.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/254 "2023-11-02T22:41:07Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > The old, old story. Probably known to Sumerians trading corn. Every regulator ever: Customer funds must be strictly segregated. Crypto bro: We need a medium of exchange that is independent of government oversight and regulation. Crypto exhange: Sorry, somebody stole your money. Cypto bro: WTF? How could this happen? Why isn’t the FBI trying to find my money? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/255 "2023-11-02T22:45:07Z")
He got a haircut prior to the trial and probably lost weight in the clink. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/256 "2023-11-02T22:57:27Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > …the artists covering this trial are pretty bad. Or is he just that hard to sketch? I certainly would not have recognized him from any of the three sketches you posted if seen out of context. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/257 "2023-11-02T23:01:06Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > He got a haircut prior to the trial and probably lost weight in the clink. I’m not sure why, but I can’t find any recent photo of him. Is it because he’s going straight from jail to courthouse, and there’s nowhere that the press can get a photo of him during the trial? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/258 "2023-11-02T23:04:10Z")
In other news, Gerry Cotten is still dead. So far as we know. > [@Cryptocurrency exchange founder dies and takes password to the grave](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963): > > [$190M of cryptocurrency at the QuadrigaCX exchange is inaccessible](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/04/quadrigacx-canada-cryptocurrency-exchange-locked-gerald-cotten?fbclid=IwAR1QVlKwH6xXBx6Sz9KrsZybamSpYoWZ5wje5Y9B2tocZ9kYS9nR3tMg5-U) after apparently the only person with the key has died, leaving nobody else in the company knowing it or how to get it. What does a cryptocurrency exchange do, and why would they have hundreds of millions of dollars of other people’s money under their absolute control? I thought that if you owned cryptocurrency, you had it in your own wallet. How is it that an exchange is holding that much of other other people’s crypto? I thoug… ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/259 "2023-11-02T23:14:05Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I’m not sure why, but I can’t find any recent photo of him. Is it because he’s going straight from jail to courthouse, and there’s nowhere that the press can get a photo of him during the trial? I think that’s the case. All of the news reports are using older bushy hair pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/260 "2023-11-02T23:22:36Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Every regulator ever: Customer funds must be strictly segregated. > Crypto bro: We need a medium of exchange that is independent of government oversight and regulation. > Crypto exhange: Sorry, somebody stole your money. > Cypto bro: WTF? How could this happen? Why isn’t the FBI trying to find my money? The big draw to cryptocurrency is supposed to be that you don’t need banks. Except it turns out that banks are pretty much essential to making them actually practical, so you get banks anyway. All you get out of is the part where the bank isn’t allowed to rob you blind. > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > In other news, Gerry Cotten is still dead. > > So far as we know. Honestly, I think that it’s the assumption that he’s actually dead that qualifies as the conspiracy theory, at this point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019.md?page=14)