Sam Bankman-Fried sentence: After years of 'hubris, incompetence and greed', crypto king's jail term is end of an era
An estimated 80,000 of Sam Bankman-Fried's victims were based in the UK. Some of them had millions of pounds tied up in the company after entrusting him with their life savings. In a way, his sentencing marks the end of an era for crypto.
Renowned for his messy hair and unkempt appearance, he graced the covers of Forbes and Fortune, who pondered whether he could become the next Warren Buffett.
The 32-year-old was the founder of FTX, which had quickly become the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange - a place where investors could buy and sell digital assets like Bitcoin.
Star-studded adverts featuring the tennis player Naomi Osaka and the comedian Larry David added to its allure - with eye-watering sums spent on sponsorship deals.
But in November 2022, Bankman-Fried's crypto empire came crashing down after it emerged that customer funds worth $10bn (£7.9bn) was missing.
A year later, a jury convicted the fallen entrepreneur of fraud and money laundering after just five hours of deliberations - based on evidence from close colleagues who had turned against him.
