FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Requests Additional Time From Court

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried wants more time to negotiate bail terms.

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Requests Additional Time for Court to Provide Required Conditions

Cryptocurrency Attorneys for the FTX executive of the stock exchange FTX sent a letter Friday requesting the federal judge to give him until March 3 to resolve the details of the ongoing bail dispute. Bankman-Fried also requested more time to find a technologist to notify the court.

“We respectfully request the court to extend the defense to submit our offer for technical counsel and additional bail conditions,” said Bankman-Fried’s lawyers.

Prosecutors asked Judge Lewis Kaplan to tighten Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions and severely restrict internet access after he used an encrypted app to text a former employee and a VPN to watch the Super Bowl.

Bankman-Fried faces a number of charges. He was temporarily banned from using encrypted or ad-hoc apps like VPN or Signal, and he was banned from communicating with current or former FTX employees. He is under house arrest on $250 million bail in California.

Kaplan asked Bankman-Fried to bring a technologist to court to discuss the use of VPN. Bankman-Fried has agreed to pay for the expert, and his lawyers say they are still looking for a candidate. The judge also asked prosecutors and Bankman-Fried’s lawyers to propose new bail orders to the court.

Bankman-Fried is awaiting trial in October in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. This week, the court released a supreme indictment on the case, charging him four new charges, including bank fraud.

*Not investment advice.