SBF, the former CEO of FTX, was reportedly denied permission to use specific messaging apps during oral arguments before a federal judge.
Reuters reported on February 9 that United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan maintained his decision to limit SBF use of encrypted messaging applications as a condition of his release on a $250 million bond.
The former CEO’s legal team and prosecutors crafted a compromise allowing for exceptions, including Facebook Messenger, Zoom, and FaceTime. On February 1, the judge ordered SBF not to communicate via apps like Signal.
According to reports, Judge Kaplan stated that he was “far less interested in [Bankman- Fried’s] convenience” than in the former FTX CEO contacting potential witnesses in his criminal case.
SBF restrictions
Court documents revealed SBF had contacted both current FTX CEO John Ray and FTX US general counsel Ryne Miller. According to Bloomberg, the judge reportedly stated that Bankman-Fried might be “intelligent enough to encrypt something without a computer,” indicating the necessity of the existing bail restrictions.
According to Kaplan,
“There are various ways to communicate that don’t carry the same risks, including email and snail email.”
Bankman-Fried personally attended the bail hearing in court but is otherwise confined to his parents’ California home. Kaplan’s decision to prolong his bail restrictions will allegedly be in effect until February 21.
Cryptopolitan previously covered the possibility of a new documentary focusing on the turbulent relationship between SBF and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao “CZ,” one of his sharpest critics.
The documentary is said to unveil the FTX drama and the circumstances that led to the crypto exchange’s bankruptcy. The news outlet Fortune and the non-scripted production company Unrealistic Ideas collaborated on the film.
The two publicly criticized one another on Twitter. SBF was described as a fraudster by CZ, and it was said that Binance liquidated its stake in FTX in July 2021 due to being uncomfortable about Alameda/SBF.
