Historians have noted that the world moved from being flat to round to simply, being crooked. 

But consider its scale. If the Malaysian duo of Fearless and Felonious (Malaysian ex-premier Najib Razak and  Jho Low) rewrote global fraud records with their US$5 billion heist in  2011, a new fraudster has emerged to rain upon their charade.  

On Thursday, Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced former crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried  to 25 years for stealing US$8 billion from customers of his now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange.

Crypto, as everyone knows, is the new Greek as in “it’s all crypto to me.” Even its root, “cryptic” is from the  Greek “hidden” and comes across as “mysterious” or “obscure.” 

Which sums up cryptocurrency. Essentially, it’s a digital currency that’s created from encryption technologies. These technologies mean they function both as a currency and as a virtual accounting system. You might say it’s gold for nerds. 

Cryptocurrencies have become increasingly accepted as a medium of exchange worldwide. All one needs to trade in it is a cryptocurrency wallet with your own PIN number. And even God can’t help if you forget your PIN.  

None of the developed countries have recognised digital currencies as legal tender but that could change. Presently, El Salvador is the only  country that  recognises bitcoin as legal tender.   

For students of history, it was actually Felonious who hit upon the idea of a cryptocurrency way back when. He thought he would call it Decibel. It was a word that resonated with him and it had all the hallmarks of a sound investment. But 1MDB was, shall we say, simpler and, like Everest, was there for the taking.

But I digress. 

If there are cryptocurrencies, there must be exchanges where it can be traded. Bankman’s FTX was the third largest exchange in the US with over a million users. 

It went bankrupt in 2022 after a spike in depositor withdrawals revealed a massive US$8 billion hole in its accounts. Criminal charges weren’t far behind for Bankman, a math prodigy once estimated by Forbes to be worth US$26 billion. 

Bankman, 32, was found  guilty in November 2023 on fraud and conspiracy charges in what prosecutors called one of the biggest financial frauds in US history.

Kaplan said the sentence reflected “that there is a risk that this man will be in a position to do something very bad in the future. And it’s not a trivial risk at all.”

To his credit,  Bankman-Fried stood and apologised. “A lot of people feel really let down. And they were very let down. And I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry about what happened at every stage,” he said. “My useful life is probably over. It’s been over for a while now, from before my arrest.”

It could have been a lot worse for him. Bankman-Fried could have received up to 110 years behind bars for his crimes. The 25-year sentence was also less than the 40-50 years that the prosecution sought.

The leniency may have come from his effective altruism. The former magnate had believed in donating all or part of one’s wealth to charity rather than, say, volunteering at a soup kitchen. And he had donated liberally in the past.  

Even so, he had embezzled customer funds systematically and over a long period. 

“The defendant victimised tens of thousands of people and companies, across several continents, over a period of multiple years. He stole money from customers across several continents who entrusted it to him,” prosecutors said.

If it all sounds familiar, it is. The only difference is that our duo screwed an entire country. 

Bankman just screwed his clients. They couldn’t bank on him and they got fried. 

ankmanENDS