FTX Founder Seeks Dismissal Of Indictment

USA – FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried sought a dismissal of criminal charges against him in a court filing late Monday, saying prosecutors have improperly made federal crimes out of civil and regulatory issues that resulted from an industrywide collapse of cryptocurrency markets dubbed the “Crypto winter.”

Lawyers for the onetime head of a multibillion dollar cryptocurrency exchange said in papers in Manhattan federal court that the U.S. government had a “Dramatic and troubling” response to a broad market crash in cryptocurrency last year that affected every corner of the market.

They said Bankman-Fried’s non-U.S. FTX company lasted far longer than others in the industry before it entered bankruptcy in November when the global exchange ran out of money after the equivalent of a bank run.

A trial is tentatively set for the fall.