Bitcoin slumps as US to proceed with initial charges against Sam Bankman-Fried

CORRECTS DAY TO THURSDAY, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves court following his extradition to the U.S., Thursday Dec. 22, 2022, in New York. Bankman-Fried's parents agreed to sign a $250 million bond and keep him at their California home while he awaits trial on charges that he swindled investors and looted customer deposits on his FTX trading platform. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaving court. Photo: Yuki Iwamura/AP (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Bitcoin's value fell by almost 4% today as the US Department of Justice declared FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will face trial on the initial eight charges levied against him.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) dipped 4% in the past 24 hours to $24,894 (£19657.80), with ether (ETH-USD) at $1,636, down 5.9% in the past 24 hours.

In a recent development, US Department of Justice prosecutors have chosen to proceed with charges that include securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. These charges, filed in December 2022, are part of 13 total charges against Bankman-Fried (SBF).

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Five additional charges were brought forward via superseding indictments in February and March 2023.

SBF's lawyers, in a motion to dismiss, claimed that these charges, which include bank fraud, operating an unlicensed money transmitter, and bribery, require the Bahamas government's approval since SBF was arrested there and later extradited to the US.

On Tuesday, a Bahamian court obstructed the US government from proceeding with additional charges until the former FTX CEO's legal team had the opportunity to contest this approval.

To address this issue, US Attorney Damian Williams and his team wrote to Judge Lewis Kaplan of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, "In light of the uncertainty concerning when The Bahamas will render a decision with respect to the specialty, and to simplify the proof at trial and decrease the burden of trial preparation on the defendant, the government is prepared to proceed to trial as scheduled on the counts contained in the original Indictment."

The charges in question, derived from the recent superseding indictment, include counts four (derivatives-related fraud impacting FTX customers), six (securities fraud against FTX investors), nine (conspiracy to carry out bank fraud), 10 (conspiracy to operate an unregulated money transmitting business), and thirteen (conspiracy to bribe foreign officials).

The remaining charges will be taken to trial in the first quarter of 2024, while the trial for the initial charges is scheduled for this October. Despite attempts by SBF's defence team to dismiss most of these charges, the DOJ has rebutted their arguments.

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