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What's next after Sam Bankman-Fried's conviction in fraud trial: CNBC Crypto World

A jury of twelve found FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried guilty of all seven criminal charges brought against him. The question of how long he’ll remain in prison, however, is one that Judge Lewis Kaplan will spend the next few months deliberating by himself.

The no-nonsense 78-year-old judge is a veteran of the Southern District of New York and has presided over some of the biggest cases to roll through the courthouse at 500 Pearl Street in downtown Manhattan.

Kaplan is straightforward and has no patience for pageantry in his courtroom. If a witness is deliberately avoiding a question, or an attorney is being redundant and sloppy in his cross-examination, Judge Kaplan is quick to admonish the offender and set the conversation back on course. He also has no problem calling out members of the gallery for chewing gum in his courtroom.

The judge’s lack of patience with Bankman-Fried during the defendant’s four days on the stand was obvious to anyone who was there — or who later read the transcript.

The 31-year-old graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology was a sight to behold on the stand. Under direct examination, he would sometimes rush through convoluted, repetitive and contradictory sentences.

“So I should preface this by saying I’m not a lawyer,” Bankman-Fried began one answer.

“I’m not giving a legal interpretation of this. I’m just giving, as best I can, what my memory is. And the parts of this that jibe with that, I, you know — I’m not trying to give a definitive legal ruling on what this does or doesn’t say. The — I’m not sure that I would quite answer yes to the question as you most recently phrased it. I’m going to try as best I can to give the answer that I believe, which is that the — as — at least as I remember understanding it at the time, FTX either itself or I think as actually happened, without FTX as an intermediary, customers’ fiat funds would be sent to Alameda bank accounts, FTX would retain a — effectively a debt from Alameda for those and a — in the lien section here, a lien on Alameda’s assets as security for that ongoing liability, that it would be repayable on direction from FTX in the return section here, and — and in the payment directive section.”

Later, on cross-examination, Bankman-Fried suddenly clammed up, replying with “Yup,” and “I don’t recall,” hundreds of times. After several dozen of these instances, the government often presented evidence that would either directly refute the defendant’s testimony or offer an answer to the question Bankman-Fried had dodged.

Multiple litigators told CNBC that Bankman-Fried’s combative attitude toward Assistant U.S. attorney, Danielle Sassoon, wasn’t a good look for the jury or judge either.

So now, the question of prison time goes to Judge Kaplan. The sentencing date is March 28 at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Government exhibit in the case against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.

Source: SDNY

Decades behind bars

Bankman-Fried was convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud against FTX customers and against Alameda Research lenders, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit commodities fraud against FTX investors, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

That the jury was able to reach a unanimous verdict in a just few hours suggests that they were truly convinced and that there were no holdouts that needed to be coaxed, Yesha Yadav, law professor and Associate Dean at Vanderbilt University, told CNBC.

“This overwhelming consensus should give the judge confidence to follow the jury’s decisiveness by imposing a more severe sentence than a lighter one,” continued Yadav.

In this case, the statutory maximum sentence is around 115 years, but there is a sliding scale for sentencing according to recommended guidelines given the scale of the crimes and the criminal history of the defendant.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if SBF spends the next 20 or 25 years of his life in prison,” Renato Mariotti, a former prosecutor in the U.S. Justice Department’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Section, told CNBC.

“The sheer scale of his fraud was immense, he was defiant and lied on the witness stand, and Judge Kaplan had very little patience for his antics while out on bond. He will have more sympathy for the victims than he has for Bankman-Fried,” added Mariotti.

Caroline Ellison, former chief executive officer of Alameda Research LLC, leaves Manhattan Federal Court after testifying during the trial of FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, on October 10, 2023 in New York City. 

Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

In August, Judge Kaplan revoked Bankman-Fried’s bail and sent him back to jail for witness tampering.

“The federal sentencing guidelines will likely be sky high, but they are just that — guidelines — and the judge is required to consider all of the circumstances surrounding SBF and his offense,” said Mariotti.

Yadav added that the issue of sentencing is governed by guidelines that look to factors such as how many have been harmed and the overall dollar quantum, as well as the seriousness of the damage a defendant has inflicted.

“Here, there are some factors that could push the judge toward a very lengthy prison term, possibly close to the 110 years that the sentencing guidelines suggest,” said Yadav.

The sentence will come down to what the judge believes is sufficient to punish Bankman-Fried, deter others, and promote respect for the law, he added.

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin J. O’Brien, who specializes in white-collar criminal defense in NYC, agreed, saying that, “Since judges have discretion even under the Guidelines, I believe his sentence will be in the 15 to 20 year range.”

O’Brien added that given Bankman Fried’s age, he thinks the judge will be inclined to give him a chance to live a full life after his prison term.

Bankman-Fried’s case has been compared with that of Elizabeth Holmes, founder of medical device company Theranos, which ceased operations in 2018.

Holmes, 39, was convicted in early 2022 on four counts of defrauding investors in Theranos after testifying in her own defense. She was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison, and began serving her punishment in May at a minimum-security facility in Bryan, Texas.

But former federal prosecutor Paul Tuchmann tells CNBC that he expects harsher terms for the former FTX CEO, because “the amount of losses that were suffered is simply staggering.”

Tuchmann compared Bankman-Fried’s case to that of Bernie Madoff, who was sentenced to 150 years in prison.

“Like Madoff, a lot of the losses in this case were small investors. They weren’t all large institutions, which really tends to create a greater pressure for a significant sentence,” said Tuchmann.

“Certainly, there may be some mitigation here. Sam Bankman-Fried is very young. The judge may take that into consideration. Bernie Madoff went to jail for 150 years when he was obviously much older – with limited productive years left,” Yadav said of the Madoff comparison.

“Sam Bankman-Fried still has an opportunity to make some kind of positive contribution during his lifetime. His crimes are also not violent in nature,” continued Yadav.

Another wild card is the fact that the Department of Justice may bring a second, entirely different case with separate charges against Bankman-Fried in Mar. 2024. The government has until Feb. 1 to let the court know if it plans to still proceed. 

“A further issue here is that sentencing will take place in March 2024 – very close to the second criminal trial that Sam Bankman-Fried faces for campaign finance violations and bribery of foreign officials,” said Yadav. “The prosecution is likely to feel very confident going into this next trial. In other words, if he is also found guilty on these additional charges, he may see an even longer sentence potentially than the multiple decades worth of time (at least) that he is looking at presently.” 

Prosecution in Sam Bankman-Fried trial wrapping up in coming days

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Velotric sale takes $400 off e-bikes with extra accessory savings, EcoFlow DELTA Pro Ultra flash bundle $2,072 off, EGO mower, more

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May 1, 2025

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Velotric sale takes 0 off e-bikes with extra accessory savings, EcoFlow DELTA Pro Ultra flash bundle ,072 off, EGO mower, more

Today’s Green Deals are being led by Velotric’s Mother’s Day Sale, which is offering up to $400 off e-bikes, along with some select 30% accessory discounts and free gear, like the Discover 1 Plus Commuter e-bike for $1,299 that you can also bundle with a bunch of add-on gear at $487 off, among others. There’s also EcoFlow’s latest flash sale through the rest of the day that is taking up to 43% off a DELTA Pro Ultra Solar Generator bundle and a dual-RAPID 5,000mAh Magnetic Power Bank bundle from $76. We also have two solid tool deals for you, with EGO’s 56V 21-inch Cordless Electric Self-Propelled Lawn Mower coming with dual-toggle handles and a 6.0Ah battery at $449, as well as CRAFTSMAN’s 1,900 and 2,100 PSI Electric Pressure Washers starting from $149. Plus, all the other hangover Green Deals are in the links at the bottom of the page, like yesterday’s Anker SOLIX F3800 Plus Mother’s Day savings, Jackery’s latest sale, and more.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Velotric Mother’s Day Sale takes up to $400 off e-bikes with select free gear and accessory discounts from $999

Velotric has launched its Mother’s Day Sale with up to $400 being taken off its e-bike lineup while also offering select 30% off accessory discounts and free gear with certain models. Among the offers, one of the biggest discounts we’re seeing during this sale is on the popular Discover 1 Plus Commuter e-bike for $1,299 shipped. Having recently had its price raised to $1,699 due to tariffs, you’re looking at a $400 markdown here, with the option to bundle the e-bike with a rear rack, front basket, phone mount, and left-side mirror at $1,503 shipped. This is the third-lowest price we have seen this model go for, sitting $200 above the all-time low we last spotted during Black Friday.

Upgraded in 2024 to provide more comfort during commutes, the Velotric Discover 1 Plus e-bike is a popular means to get around with its 500W rear hub motor (peaking at 900W) and 691.2Wh battery delivering up to 65 miles of travel with the five PAS levels activated alongside 20 MPH speeds that can be ramped up to 28 MPH when unlocked. There is a throttle to enjoy cruising around on pure electric power, though at the cost of mileage.

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It doesn’t offer as fancy an array of features like its Discover 2 counterpart, like the Apple Find My integration, but does still provide some solid features for the price. It arrives sporting a Shimano 7-speed derailleur, an integrated 60 lux LED headlight, a taillight with braking functionality, double hydraulic disc brakes, larger 26-inch puncture-resistant tires, an increased IPX7 waterproof rating, fenders above both tires, and a 3.5-inch LCD display. The display even has a USB-A port to charge up your phone as you go on top of a walk assist mode to help you get up extreme inclines.

Velotric Mother’s Day Sale offers with free gear:

  • T1 ST Plus Lightweight e-bike: $1,399 (Reg. $1,649)
    • 28 MPH for up to 70 miles
    • comes with free rear cargo rack
  • Breeze 1 Cruiser e-bike (new model): $1,799 (No price cut)
    • 28 MPH for up to 70 miles
    • Comes with free front basket

Velotric’s other Mother’s Day Sale offers (30% off accessories):

You can browse the full lineup of Velotric’s Mother’s Day Sale on the landing page here.

EcoFLow DELTA Pro Ultra Portable Power Station

Through today, EcoFlow takes up to 43% off a DELTA Pro Ultra solar generator bundle or dual RAPID Qi2 power banks from $76

As part of its ongoing Spring-to-Summer Sale that will continue through May 7, EcoFlow is offering flash savings on two backup power packages for members (sign-up is free) through the rest of the day – one for your home and appliances, and one for your personal devices. The first is the brand’s DELTA Pro Ultra Solar Generator bundle that comes with four 125W panels and a trolley for $5,224.05 shipped, after using the sitewide promo code EFRVSALEAFF at checkout for an additional 5% off. Non-members can use the same code to score it at $190 more, with this package normally running you $7,296 in all. This is a first-time offer on this particular bundle, and what’s more, the sitewide extra savings are rarely valid on flash offers, making it all the sweeter a deal. You’ll be getting $2,072 struck from the price tag at the best price we can find.

EcoFlow’s most expansive backup power option, an especially strong choice for home coverage, the DELTA Pro Ultra starts at a 6.1kWh LiFePO4 capacity and 7,200W output that can be built up all the way to 90kWh capacity and 21.6kW output with additional equipment. For example, were you to have the fully expanded system, you’d be able to keep things running for up to 15 days, though that doesn’t account for any solar charging equipment you’ve connected, which extends that timeframe. Adding the brand’s Smart Home Panel 2 to the equation brings smart home integration into the mix, allowing your power usage to be analyzed, offsetting peak rates while also providing connections to any roof panels you have installed in order to lower energy costs.

Speaking of its solar charging capabilities, this modular station carries an expandable 5.6kW to 16.8kW solar input, as well as the usual AC wall outlet recharging, and the hook-ups for EV piles and generators. Investing in its full system to its absolute limit (three Ultra Pro stations + expansion batteries + max solar input) would provide you the power to run your home for a day after around an hour of the most ideal sunny conditions. Of course, it is also a handy portable option, with an IP54 dust-proof and splash-proof rating, and a design that can withstand severe temperatures from -4 degrees to 113 degrees. Whether you’re using it for year-round needs at home or taking it travelling to campsites, RV trips, and more – it’s quite the sizeable means to keep all your essentials running.

The second of these offers gives you two RAPID 5,000mAh Magnetic Power Banks for $75.99 shipped, after using the sitewide promo code EFRVSALEAFF at checkout for an additional 5% off. Of course, like the above deal, non-members will be paying $9.50 more with the code. These compact devices provide you with Qi2 15W wireless charging speeds or 30W speeds through the built-in USB-C cable or the additional USB-C port. They can recharge to 70% in about 33 minutes and even feature built-in kickstands to prop up as they charge your phone or other devices.

Be sure to check out the lineup of other deals we’re seeing as part of EcoFlow’s Spring-to-Summer Sale, which is taking up to 52% off through may 7 – all with the extra sitewide savings too. You’ll also find the launch deals for the brand’s new WAVE 3 AC/Heater and GLACIER electric coolers that start from $807, with a bunch of bundle options available for them.

EGO Power+ 56V 21-inch electric lawn mower

This EGO 56V 21-inch cordless self-propelled mower comes with a 6.0Ah battery and dual-toggle handles for $449

Amazon is offering the EGO Power+ 56V 21-inch Cordless Electric Self-Propelled Lawn Mower with 6.0Ah battery for $449 shipped. This particular model with the battery normally goes for $550, with March having seen it drop down to $499 and hold strong at that rate until today. Now, you can take advantage of the $101 markdown here to grab one for your lawn care needs at the second-lowest price we have tracked – just $25 above the low from early Christmas sales.

A great replacement for noisy, fume-belching gas-guzzlers, this 56V mower from EGO provides 50 minutes of run time with the included 6.0Ah ARC battery, which you can quickly change out with other batteries you may have for extended performance. The 21-inch deck houses a brushless motor for better efficiency, with a 7-position cutting height range from 1.25 to 4 inches, as well as 3-in-1 functionality for rear bagging, side discharging, and mulching. It starts up at the press of a button, so no more wrestling with pull strings – plus, its self-propelled system is easier to engage thanks to the dual-toggle handle set.

And if you want to stock up on batteries, you’ll find EGO’s 2.5Ah and 5.0Ah ARC models starting from $110 right now.

CRAFTSMAN 2,100 PSI Electric Pressure Washer

Grab the budget-friendly CRAFTSMAN 1,900 PSI or 2,100 PSI electric pressure washers for outdoor cleaning from $149

Amazon is giving folks a solid budget-friendly option for outdoor cleaning needs by offering the CRAFTSMAN 2,100 PSI Electric Pressure Washer for $189 shipped. A tried-and-true model that may be older but still gets the job done, we’ve been seeing this model keep at $219 at Amazon while going for a higher $239 MSRP elsewhere, not receiving any discounts here since the summer of last year. Today, we’re getting some respite from the monotony with a $30 markdown that drops costs to the lowest price we’ve seen in the last two years, sitting just $10 above its all-time lowest rate.

With spring in bloom, there will be plenty of gunk from pollen buildup and more that needs clearing away, and this CRAFTSMAN pressure washer is a popular means to do just that. It delivers a maximum 2,100 PSI of cleaning power for your outdoor spaces and furniture, with a 1.2 GPM flow rate. It sports an integrated soap tank that adds an additional level of cleaning when needed, along with onboard storage for the included nozzles, 25-foot kink-resistant hose, 35-foot power cord, and wand.

If you don’t need such a high PSI, you can save a little more by going with the CRAFTSMAN 1,900 PSI Electric Pressure Washer for $149 shipped. This slightly smaller model offers most of the same features and gear, just with a lesser 1,900 PSI power.

Best Spring EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.

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Waymo says its robotaxis are up to 25x safer for pedestrians and cyclists

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May 1, 2025

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Waymo says its robotaxis are up to 25x safer for pedestrians and cyclists

Waymo has released new research saying that its driverless robotaxis reduce pedestrian- and cyclist-involved collisions by 82%-92%, and crashes that involve an injury by 96%, when compared to the average driver.

Waymo has been operating its autonomous, driverless Level 4 robotaxis for several years now, and is continuing to (slowly) roll them out to more metro areas in the US. They’ve been operating in Phoenix since 2019 in some capacity, and entered San Francisco in 2022, Los Angeles in 2023, and Austin, Texas in 2024, plus they’ve just started testing in Atlanta, Georgia.

In that time, the company has racked up 56.7 million miles of operation, allowing it to have a big enough sample to start understanding how its driving capabilities compare to the overall vehicle fleet.

Today it released a research paper that it has published, suggesting that its vehicles are indeed quite a lot safer, especially when it comes to “vulnerable road users” like pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

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Waymo released a table showing the total number of incidents it had in each location, inclusive of not just crashes with vulnerable road users, but vehicle-to-vehicle crashes as well.

Location Any injury Airbag deployed Serious injury+
Phoenix 24 8 0
San Francisco 16 7 2
Los Angeles 8 2 0
Austin 0 1 0
All Locations 48 18 2

But in its press release it highlighted vulnerable road users specifically, showing that Waymo’s robotaxis had a 92% reduction in crashes involving an injury with pedestrians and an 82% reduction with both cyclists and motorcyclists. This increases to a 96% reduction in injuries in intersections, which are one of the most dangerous parts of the road, and 85% reduction in crashes with “suspected serious injuries” or worse.

Due to the high number of miles studied, results for some specific environments and types of crashes are statistically significant, but some of Waymo’s other results are not – because some of these types of crashes are extremely rare. So more research will come as more miles get racked up.

Along with its blog post, Waymo released a short video with some examples of avoided crashes with vulnerable road users:

Waymo’s results show a particularly stark difference given that pedestrian injuries are at a 40-year high in America. Until around 2012, the trendline for pedestrian injury and death was trending downwards, showing that roads and cars were getting safer for other road users.

But in the last 13 years, pedestrian deaths have shot up rapidly, owing both to distracted driving (cellphones, screens in cars) and much larger vehicles. The latter point is finally seeing some attention by the US government – or at least, it was, before this January rolled around (we’ll see if republicans continue on their quest to make literally everything worse).

Waymo’s research has been accepted for publication in the scientific journal Traffic Injury Prevention.

Electrek’s Take

We took a ride in a Waymo when the service first came to LA and you can read my long writeup of that here, including lots of video showing how the car performed in some pretty difficult road situations. I was quite impressed, but it still isn’t perfect.

But Waymo has put quite a premium on safety, which it can do because it’s funded by Google’s deep pockets. It has spent quite a bit of money on developing and attaching its sensor suite to its robotaxis, and the statistics seem to suggest that that expenditure has paid off.

Though it sort of already has paid off, as Waymo’s main driverless competitor, Cruise, ended operations in 2023 after a high-profile crash. Cruise’s vehicle was not at fault for the crash (a human driver caused it, hitting a pedestrian into the Cruise vehicle), but Cruise subsequently was found to have misled investigators, which was a big no-no.

Waymo’s sensor-heavy is different than the approach taken by another company that talks a lot about self-driving, Tesla. Tesla is using a camera-only system, whereas Waymo has several other sensors, like radar and LiDAR (you may have heard about the difference between these two in a recent controversial Mark Rober video, which everyone seems to have missed the point of).

There are some strengths and weaknesses of each approach, and time will tell which one works out the best. Tesla’s solution is more scalable and the company has far more road miles covered than Waymo does, but the quality of Tesla’s data is lower due to its smaller (and cheaper) sensor suite.

Tesla occasionally releases a safety report, but the data included is quite minimal and has not been published in any scientific journals for peer review.

But most observers (other than Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose observational capacities are questionable these days; and Andrej Karpathy, a well-respected top AI researcher and former Tesla AI lead) think that camera-only is not going to be able to get us to true self-driving vehicles.

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Hyundai has an advanced new electric SUV for China: Meet ELEXIO

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2 hours ago

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May 1, 2025

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Hyundai has an advanced new electric SUV for China: Meet ELEXIO

Hyundai-electric-SUV-ELEXIO

It’s not the IONIQ 4, but Hyundai promises it will be a game changer. After unveiling its new electric SUV, ELEXIO, Hyundai said it’s about to “write a new chapter” in the world’s largest EV market.

Hyundai unveils new ELEXIO electric SUV

After Beijing-Hyundai released the first “spy” photos in March, speculation arose that the new electric SUV could be the IONIQ 4.

At first, it almost looked like a smaller, sportier IONIQ 9, but as more images emerged, it became clear that this model is specifically designed for the Chinese market.

The electric SUV features a full-length light bar across the front with a closed-off grille. It’s also much less boxy than the IONIQ 9 with an aerodynamic profile.

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On April 21, Beijing Hyundai revealed its “In China, for China, to the World” strategy in Shanghai, where the ELEXIO made its global debut during a media-exclusive event. Hyundai said the electric SUV’s debut “opened a new starting point for the transformation from traditional fuel vehicle giant to electrification.”

ELEXIO is Hyundai’s “first pure electric platform SUV” in China. Unlike its IONIQ models, the new electric SUV features local technology to attract buyers in China.

During the event, Hyundai called China a “must-fight place” for global automakers and “the core of Hyundai Motor’s global strategy.”

The company plans to build a full lineup of pure electric, hybrid, and extended-range vehicles with advanced new sedans, SUVs, and MPVs.

Its first, ELEXIO, breaks into the high-end segment with “new quality.” Beijing Hyundai said it will continue to anchor its strategic position in the Chinese market.

Hyundai’s new ELEXIO electric SUV will make its public debut on May 7 with an official launch scheduled for later this year.

Like most major automakers, Hyundai aims to keep pace with EV and tech leaders emerging from China, such as BYD. Last year, it opened its first overseas R&D center in China as it looks to spark a comeback. As part of its 8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) investment, Beijing Hyundai plans to boost sales in China while doubling exports.

Will the new ELEXIO SUV help Hyundai compete with BYD and others in China? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: TheKoreanCarBlog, Beijing Hyundai

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