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Former cryptocurrency exchange boss Sam Bankman-Fried hugged his parents after being denied bail on charges relating to “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history”.

The 30-year-old founder of FTX, has been charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with fraud and violating campaign finance laws. He is also being sued.

Following his arrest in the Bahamas, a judge denied him bail, saying he was a “great” flight risk, and sent him to a local correctional facility instead.

Bankman-Fried will remain in custody in the Bahamas until at least 8 February.

The latest developments cap a stunning fall from grace in recent weeks for the man known as SBF, who amassed a fortune valued over $20bn (£16.2bn) as he rode a cryptocurrency boom to build FTX into one of the world’s largest exchanges before it abruptly collapsed this year.

Bankman-Fried has previously apologised to customers and acknowledged oversight failings at FTX, but said he does not personally think he has any criminal liability.

Earlier on Tuesday, US Attorney Damian Williams in New York alleged Bankman-Fried had made illegal campaign contributions to Democrats and Republicans with “stolen customer money,” labelling it part of one of the “biggest financial frauds in American history”.

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Bankman-Fried faces a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison if convicted on all eight counts, prosecutors said.

He was arrested at his home in a gated community in the Bahamas capital, Nassau.

In the indictment unsealed on Tuesday morning, US prosecutors claimed Bankman-Fried had engaged in a scheme to defraud FTX’s customers by misappropriating their deposits to pay for expenses and debts and to make investments on behalf of his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research LLC.

He also defrauded lenders to Alameda by providing false and misleading information about the hedge fund’s condition, and sought to disguise the money he had earned from committing wire fraud, it is alleged.

Sam Bankman-Fried is escorted out of court in Nassau, Bahamas

Both the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) alleged Mr Bankman-Fried committed fraud in lawsuits filed on Tuesday.

The CFTC sued him, Alameda and FTX, alleging fraud involving digital commodity assets.

Since at least May 2019, FTX raised more than $1.8bn from equity investors in a years-long “brazen, multi-year scheme” in which Bankman-Fried concealed FTX was diverting customer funds to Alameda Research, the SEC alleged.

Bankman-Fried, who founded FTX in 2019, was an unconventional figure who sported wild hair, t-shirts and shorts on panel appearances with statesmen like former American President Bill Clinton.

He became one of the largest Democratic donors, contributing $5.2m (£4.2m) to President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried poses for a picture, in an unspecified location, in this undated handout picture, obtained by Reuters on July 5, 2022. FTX/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

Forbes pegged his net worth a year ago at $26.5bn (£21.4bn).

FTX filed for bankruptcy on 11 November, leaving an estimated one million customers and other investors facing losses in the billions of dollars. SBF resigned as chief executive the same day.

The collapse reverberated across the crypto world and sent bitcoin and other digital assets plummeting.

John Ray, Bankman-Fried’s successor as CEO, was called to testify before the House Financial Services Committee in the US Congress on Tuesday.

A crypto exchange is a platform on which investors can trade digital tokens such as bitcoin.

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Why did Trump drop the F-bomb?

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Why did Trump drop the F-bomb?

Donald Trump has lashed out at both Israel and Iran – clearly frustrated after both sides exchanged missiles despite a ceasefire being declared.

For now though, a cessation of hostilities has held, with Israel saying its operation is now over.

The US president is now in The Netherlands for the NATO summit, and received a gushing text from Secretary-General Mark Rutte while en route.

US Correspondents James Matthews and Mark Stone discuss the latest.

If you’ve got a question you’d like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.

You can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.

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Leaks plunge success of ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’ into serious doubt

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Leaks plunge success of 'Operation Midnight Hammer' into serious doubt

There is a critical question hanging over the events of the past few days.

Behind the chest-thumping from Donald Trump, and the bewilderment beyond at his statecraft-by-social-media, doubts have now reached fever pitch about the success of the American bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites.

Leaks from the US Defence Department suggest the bunker busting bombs dropped on Iran’s three nuclear enrichment sites might only have set the country’s nuclear capabilities back by months.

U.S. President Donald Trump holds a meeting alongside Vice President J.D. Vance in the Situation Room at the White House

“We were assuming that the damage was going to be much more significant than this assessment is finding,” said one of three sources, speaking to NBC News.

“This assessment is already finding that these core pieces are still intact. That’s a bad sign for the overall programme.”

NBC News has spoken to three sources – all of whom say that the initial assessment by the Defence Intelligence Agency has concluded that the US airstrikes were not as effective as Mr Trump claimed.

Similar leaks were made to The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN.

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Why did Trump lash out at Iran and Israel?

Responding to the CNN leak, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community.”

She continued: “The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear programme. Everyone knows what happens when you drop 14 30,000lb bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”

In his address to the nation on Saturday night, Mr Trump had said: “I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”

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Trump: Iran strikes ‘spectacular success’

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has also dismissed the leaks, saying: “Based on everything we have seen – and I’ve seen it all – our bombing campaign obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons.

“Our massive bombs hit exactly the right spot at each target – and worked perfectly.”

“The impact of those bombs is buried under a mountain of rubble in Iran, so anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the president and the successful mission.”

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Iran’s nuclear capabilities

Battle Damage Assessments (BDAs) take a long time to be close to conclusive and require extensive intelligence analysis.

Speaking to Sky News, former director of the CIA and top US General David Petraeus cautioned about drawing any conclusions at this stage.

“Well, the truth is, it is just too soon. And those who are leaking should know that it takes a long time to do the battle damage assessment. And those who have actually pushed back in very conclusive ways also probably should have wait for the full results,” Gen Petraeus said.

“This is a very painstaking process. It’s an effort by the overall intelligence community, not just Defence Intelligence Agency. In fact, the CIA would be the lead in this effort to mine all sources of intelligence, imagery, intelligence of all types, signals, cyber, even open-source intelligence.”

Read more analysis:
There’s one F word Trump fears most
Can Tehran regard Trump as trusted broker of peace?

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Trump’s ‘ripping up the rule book’

Beyond the debate over the extent of the damage, questions remain over whether Iran might have managed to move equipment including centrifuges. Critically too, the whereabouts of about 400kg of highly enriched uranium is unknown.

The classified assessment of the military’s operation in Iran has been transmitted to Congress and has been viewed by some senators in a secure location, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation.

“I’ve reviewed the classified material,” Democratic Party Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said.

“I’m a little bit disappointed that my colleagues went and looked at it and mainly started talking about it publicly. That’s not we’re supposed to do with a classified report,” he added.

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Iran ‘not at all’ thankful for Trump

Speaking on Sunday to NBC’s Meet The Press, Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon insisted Iran’s nuclear capability had been dramatically set back.

“I think it’s still very early to jump into conclusions. We have to wait for the assessment. I can tell you one thing for sure. If you look where Iran was 12 days ago and where they are today, you understand that both Israel and the US were able to degrade the capabilities, push them back decades, and if we had an imminent threat, it doesn’t exist anymore.”

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Donald Trump’s four-letter fury is a reminder there’s one F word he fears most

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Donald Trump's four-letter fury is a reminder there's one F word he fears most

Failure – it’s the F word Donald Trump fears most.

Hence the early morning rant from a president, F for frustrated.

The day before had seen head-spinning developments in which a ceasefire between Israel and Iran turned on a Truth Social post.

If it felt fragile, that’s how it appeared overnight. There were exchanges between both sides beyond the deadline, and the president woke frustrated.

An unlikely diplomatic result looked exactly that.

Donald Trump speaks to media ahead of boarding Marine One to depart to attend the NATO Summit in The Hague. Pic: Reuters
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Donald Trump lashed out at Iran and Israel before boarding a flight to Europe on Tuesday. Pic: Reuters

Trump’s four-lettered fury was aimed primarily at Israel, which on Tuesday morning gave the appearance of an ally that had reeled him into the fight and wasn’t letting go.

It also leant into doubts around Trump’s influence over Israeli actions.

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If this process is heading towards nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran, Trump doesn’t need questions surrounding his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Tehran needs to believe Trump can tighten the leash.

It will have been comforted by his remarks on board Air Force One, from where he called Netanyahu.

Speaking to the travelling media, Trump said he didn’t want to see regime change in Iran, having floated support for the idea last week.

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Israel’s prime minister’s office issued a statement that spoke of having “achieved all the war’s objectives”.

The wording speaks to a move beyond aggression.

Time will tell, and this ceasefire feels fragile still, but it’ll do for Trump for now, the self-styled peacemaker making peace one social media post at a time.

He is strengthened by the success of his diplomacy, a fact laid bare – where else? – on Truth Social.

Read more:
How much damage did the US inflict on Iran?
Can Tehran trust Trump as a broker of peace?

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on his way to The Hague, to join world leaders gathering in the Netherlands for a two-day NATO summit. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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Trump boarding Air Force One to travel to Europe on Tuesday. Pic: AP

As he flew towards the NATO summit, Trump posted a message from the NATO secretary general, Mark Rutte.

It’s unclear if Rutte knew it would be published, but it’s abundantly clear he’s a man with lips puckered as the US president swaggers towards the gathering.

Referring to NATO countries’ commitment to increase their defence spending to 5% of GDP, he wrote: “Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe and the world.

“You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done.”

The effusive praise speaks to power enhanced for the US president as he prepares to attend the NATO gathering.

His stature is reinforced by his most recent result… as long as it lasts.

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