US prosecutors have been giving Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, a bit of a hard time. In an effort to rein him in, they’ve proposed new internet usage limitations – deeming the existing stipulations too permissive.
Meanwhile, the former Stanford Law School dean and computer science research duo joined forces to provide unprecedented, generous assistance to Bankman-Fried – co-signing a $250 million bail bond with his parents on Wednesday.
However, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, in granting bail to the former billionaire, has imposed a certain restriction. He must avoid contact with any and all current and former employees of their exchange and hedge fund, as well as refrain from using encrypted messaging apps like Signal which allow users to auto-delete messages.
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What’s The Current Fuss?
Reports indicate Bankman-Fried has been utilizing a virtual private network (VPN) despite the ban. Yet, prosecutors are determined to make sure Bankman-Fried stays offline unless he was required to review the evidence for the prosecutors, for taking care of his defense. Simply put, internet access for Bankman-Fried is forbidden – except for in specific cases.
Bankman-Fried’s legal representatives paint a different picture; they allege that his contacts with FTX’s present General Counsel and CEO were directed toward providing assistance, not disruption. Furthermore, they state that he had obtained an international subscription to watch NFL playoff games during his residency in the Bahamas, which is the reason for using a VPN.
Despite this, the US prosecutors suggested a bail condition that restricted his usage of VPNs, unless he needed it in order to access evidence from the prosecutors that he was required to prepare in his defense. They are also ready to allow other forms of communication such as phone calls, emails, SMS text messaging, and Twitter direct messaging while disabling iMessage. The Judge will conduct the hearing for these bail conditions on Thursday.
