# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/81 "2022-12-29T04:51:23Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > If I had to guess why, it’s because bitcoin and tech stocks share a lot of investors I think at least some people who buy cryptocurrency think they are investing in technology. They are confusing the non-governmental currency with the underlying enabling technology. People have used non-governmental currencies before but block chain makes it feasible to do it globally. Still, the concept is the same. It’s just some guy who prints slips of paper and a bunch of people agree to use it like money. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/82 "2022-12-29T16:28:13Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > He described SBF as quiet and definitely on the spectrum. He said that if you would have asked him who in his class would have been part of a giant crypto fraud, he would have ranked him at something like 20 out of the 30. Well if he blew one assessment of Bankman-Fried, I’m not sure his assessment of him being “on the spectrum” is all that reliable. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/83 "2022-12-29T16:31:00Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > But it becomes deflationary because people keep losing access to their wallets Bitcoin would be deflationary even if no one ever lost access to a wallet; even if all 21 million BTC were forever available, the world’s supply of goods and services keeps increasing, thereby causing deflation against BTC. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/84 "2022-12-29T16:42:50Z")
Good point. Perhaps this has a bigger effect than lost keys. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/85 "2022-12-29T16:47:09Z")
No shit. For some reason you cut off the part where I said that he didn’t know him very well. It was interesting to me to be one degree of separation from the person. When you grow up with people you’re not at all surprised at how they turn out and others surprise you very much. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/86 "2023-08-11T19:57:54Z")
No longer living with parents: > U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ordered Bankman-Fried’s bail revoked after prosecutors said he’d tried to harass a key witness in his fraud case last month when he showed a journalist her private writings and in January when he reached out to the general counsel for FTX with an encrypted communication. > **[Judge sends FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to jail, says crypto mogul tampered...](https://apnews.com/article/sam-bankman-fried-court-hearing-5d85e43225c4da2b1abdf65b153bb760)** > > FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been sent to jail after a bail hearing in New York City. Federal Judge Lewis A. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2023, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/87 "2023-08-11T20:06:29Z")
It’s not clear from the article that he’s actually reported to jail yet. His lawyers have asked for a stay while the order is appealed. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/88 "2023-08-12T02:23:38Z")
The article has been updated, he’s clearly incarcerated. They request for a stay was denied. It described him handing his valuables off to this lawyer and getting handcuffed. Then it said _Bankman Fried was sent for the night to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn._ His lawyer will probably appeal it, and he might be moved to another facility, but right now he’s in jail. ETA: it’s weird when an article is seriously updated after it’s been commented on, I had a real WTF moment there. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/89 "2023-08-12T02:25:43Z")
Incredibly dumb for a defendant to tamper with witnesses. Stay away and let the attorneys handle the case. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/90 "2023-08-12T13:09:58Z")
He’s a disruptor. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2023, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/91 "2023-08-12T13:11:46Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Incredibly dumb for a defendant to tamper with witnesses. Maybe. We only know of the cases where the tamperers get caught. Maybe vast numbers of cases are altered or dropped by successful tampering. Tampering is probably far more effective when you’re a gang boss than when you’re a disgraced and spoiled white collar crook. The notorious challenges of getting poor folks to testify against the endemic violence in their neighborhoods is a form of ambient tampering rather than explicit tampering. But it sure hampers the effective administration of justice. IOW, tampering works. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/92 "2023-08-12T15:04:53Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Maybe. We only know of the cases where the tamperers get caught. Maybe vast numbers of cases are altered or dropped by successful tampering. > > Tampering is probably far more effective when you’re a gang boss than when you’re a disgraced and spoiled white collar crook. In my area there was this brash, arrogant councilman who installed spyware on the computer of anither council member and released that info to the public, thinking it was perfectly legal. It wasn’t. He went to prison for a year. Afterwards he went on trial again, and (brashly and arrogantly) tampered with the grand jury. This time he (literally) [cried and begged not to be sent to prison again,](https://mycolumbiasc.wordpress.com/2011/04/01/greenville-county-silences-its-harshest-critic/) saying he had learned his lesson and would never be heard from again. He spent a few months in prison for that. A few years later he [fell out of a tree and died](https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2018/07/26/former-greenville-county-councilman-dies-accidental-fall/845336002/). (I’m posting mostly for the unexpected twist at the end.) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/93 "2023-08-12T15:17:39Z")
That first article says, > Trout was convicted in state court in Greenville March 31 on charges of attempting to influence a grand jury. A judge sentenced him to six months behind bars, but the defiant Trout was found not guilty of misconduct in office – a misdemeanor for which he could have served 10 years – and his lawyer said after the trial that with good conduct Trout might be free in three months. A _ten-year sentence_ for a misdemeanor? I thought misdemeanors had penalties of no more than one year. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/94 "2023-08-12T15:20:29Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > A few years later he [fell out of a tree and died](https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2018/07/26/former-greenville-county-councilman-dies-accidental-fall/845336002/). (I’m posting mostly for the unexpected twist at the end.) Thanks for that one. Before I clicked I desperately hoped he’d fallen out of the tree w a rope around his neck. Or was pushed out wearing said rope. The more prosaic truth was still fine poetic justice. The world is a better place for his passing. ---
**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:** [August 14, 2023, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/95 "2023-08-14T15:35:47Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > The article has been updated, he’s clearly incarcerated. They request for a stay was denied. It described him handing his valuables off to this lawyer and getting handcuffed. The article below said that he is heading to jail now, at one of the worst jails in the country. > **[Bankman-Fried heads to Brooklyn jail notorious for poor conditions](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bankman-fried-heads-brooklyn-jail-100746482.html)** > > NEW YORK (Reuters) -Sam Bankman-Fried will prepare for his fraud trial from a Brooklyn jail where inmates ranging from convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell to Honduras' former president have complained of subpar conditions. U.S. District Judge... ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/96 "2023-08-14T18:53:23Z")
I updated the title. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2023, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/97 "2023-08-15T01:22:57Z")
> Sam Bankman-Fried used stolen customer funds to make more than $100m in campaign contributions ahead of the 2022 US midterm elections, federal prosecutors said on Monday in a new indictment filed against the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. > **[Sam Bankman-Fried charged with using stolen funds for political donations](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/aug/14/sam-bankman-fried-latest-charges-campaign-donation-ftx)** > > New indictment charges former billionaire with seven counts of conspiracy and fraud ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2023, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/98 "2023-08-15T08:37:26Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > People want to wear gold jewelry more than they want to wear silver or copper. They think it’s prettier. I don’t believe that’s true. Gold jewellery is more popular because it’s perceived as more valuable. The same applied to diamonds. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2023, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/99 "2023-08-15T08:52:55Z")
This is essentially a nature versus nurture debate, isn’t it? Do we consider precious metals valuable because our culture has decided they are, or is there also a genetic factor to it? > [@bob\_2](#): > > I don’t believe that’s true. Gold jewellery is more popular because it’s perceived as more valuable. The same applied to diamonds. If lead were as rare as gold, would it be as valuable? I don’t think it would. It’s well documented that plenty of animals, including corvids and primates, are attracted to shiny objects. The theory is that they use them for mating displays, like they would with colorful plumage. Humans, as primates, are no different. We are inherently attracted to glittery things. Now, do social and economic factors influence the relative value of gems and precious metals? Of course they do. When we finally get around to synthesizing diamonds at an industrial scale, their price will definitely drop through the floor. But even then, when diamonds cost the same as glass, we’ll still like having them around, because we think they’re pretty. As for silver and coper versus gold, I can’t tell you. Copper is less shiny than the other two, so I bet it would always be less valuable. For gold versus silver, I guess technical and social factors might decide which is more valuable. Gold has the advantage of not tarnishing, which means that on average, its more glittery than silver is. That, along with being rarer, is probably why it’s more expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2023, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-bankman-convicted-2023-11-02-was-living-with-parents-then-jail-is-btc-and-cryptocurrency-busted-too/977019/100 "2023-08-15T08:56:19Z")
In the end, fashions change, cultures change, economies change, but gold and silver jewelry is always popular, everywhere in the world. There’s got to be more to it than cultural and economic factors. [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=4) [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=6)