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Bankman-Fried should do 40 to 50 years behind bars, federal prosecutors say

Bankman-Fried should do 40 to 50 years behind bars, federal prosecutors say
Snapshot
Sam Bankman-Fried will be sentenced on March 28. Credit: Andrés Tapia
By
Mike Millard
  • Prosecutors' filing urges 40 to 50 year sentence for SBF.
  • Starbucks is closing Odyssey Beta NFT rewards platform.
  • Hong Kong warns public about unlicenced crypto exchange.

Bankman-Fried should get 40 to 50 years: prosecutors

Federal prosecutors said disgraced former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried, convicted in November in a multibillion-dollar fraud case, should spend 40 to 50 years in prison, the New York Times reported.

Bankman-Fried, who faces a maximum of 110 years, is to be sentenced on March 28.

“Justice requires that he receive a prison sentence commensurate with the extraordinary dimensions of his crimes,” the prosecutors said in a filing to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.

Separately, the federal probation department recommended a 100-year sentence for Bankman-Fried, 32, but prosecutors said the equivalent of a life sentence was not warranted, according to the report.

Lawyers for Bankman-Fried argued last month that he should be given a maximum of six and a half years.

A Bankman-Fried spokesman said a lawyer will file a response to the federal prosecutors next week.

Starbucks is closing its Odyssey Beta NFT platform

Starbucks will shut down its Starbucks Odyssey Beta platform, which offered NFT rewards minted on the Polygon blockchain, according to its FAQ. The NFTs could be bought, sold, and viewed in the Odyssey Market.

The coffee giant will shutter the platform on March 31.

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“The Starbucks Odyssey Beta must come to an end to prepare for what comes next as we continue to evolve the program,” the FAQ said.

Hong Kong warns MEXC is operating without licence

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission warned investors that crypto trading platform MEXC was operating there without a licence, CoinDesk reported.

“The SFC will not hesitate to take enforcement action against unlicensed platforms where appropriate,” the SFC said in an emailed statement.

About a year ago, Japan’s Financial Services Agency said MEXC had been operating there without registration, followed by a similar warning in October from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, the report said.

Crypto market movers

  • Bitcoin is down 0.71% today at $69,010.00.
  • Ethereum is down 0.67% today at $3,717.59.

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