Connect with us

Published

2 years ago

on

Samuel Bankman-Fried’s poster in downtown San Francisco.

MacKenzie Sigalos | CNBC

Two years ago, Sam Bankman-Fried was a 30-year-old multibillionaire living in a $35 million Bahamas penthouse, partying with his pals while running one of the world’s most valuable crypto companies.

Today, he’s a 32-year-old inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, waiting for a judge to tell him how long he’ll spend behind bars for masterminding “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history,” in the words of U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.

Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of failed crypto exchange FTX, will head on Thursday to a federal court in downtown Manhattan, where U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan will deliver his sentencing. Prosecutors have recommended a prison sentence of 40 to 50 years.

It took jurors only about three hours of deliberations in November to find Bankman-Fried guilty of all seven criminal accounts against him. For a high-profile monthlong trial that involved nearly 20 witnesses and hundreds of exhibits, experts said at the time that they’d never seen such a speedy decision. Bankman-Fried plans to appeal his conviction and sentence.

It was a steep and swift fall from grace for Bankman-Fried, who was once hailed as a titan of the industry and had a peak net worth — on paper — of roughly $26 billion.

Indicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the U.S. Courthouse in New York City, July 26, 2023.

Amr Alfiky | Reuters

Bitcoin arbitrage

It started with the Kimchi Swap.

In 2017, as a quant trader at Jane Street, Bankman-Fried noticed something funny when he looked at bitcoin pricing on CoinMarketCap.com. Instead of a uniform price across exchanges, Bankman-Fried would sometimes see a 60% difference in the value of the digital currency. His immediate instinct, he said, was to get in on the arbitrage trade — buying bitcoin on one exchange and selling it back on another, pocketing the difference.

“That’s the lowest hanging fruit,” Bankman-Fried told CNBC in September 2022.

The arbitrage opportunity was especially compelling in South Korea, where the exchange-listed price of bitcoin was significantly higher than in other countries. It was dubbed the Kimchi Premium, a reference to the traditional Korean side dish of salted and fermented cabbage.

After a month of personally dabbling in the market, Bankman-Fried launched Alameda Research, named after the California county that housed his first office. Bankman-Fried told CNBC that the firm sometimes made as much as a million dollars a day trading bitcoin.

Alameda’s success spurred the launch of FTX. In April 2019, Bankman-Fried co-founded FTX.com, an international cryptocurrency exchange that offered customers innovative trading features, a responsive platform and a reliable experience. FTX’s success led to a $2 billion venture fund that seeded other crypto firms.

The FTX logo soon adorned everything from Formula One race cars to a Miami basketball arena. Bankman-Fried talked about one day buying Goldman Sachs, and he became a fixture in Washington as one of the Democratic Party’s top donors.

Then the market turned.

The so-called crypto winter of 2022 wiped out hedge funds and lenders across the crypto universe. Bankman-Fried boasted that he and his enterprise were immune. Behind the scenes, Alameda was borrowing money to invest in failing digital asset firms to keep the industry afloat.

May of 2022 brought the crash of stablecoin Luna, creating a domino effect that sent crypto prices plunging and devastating other lenders.

How Terra's failed stablecoin could lead to a host of legal problems

Alameda had borrowed from lenders including Voyager Digital and BlockFi, which both ended up going bankrupt. Alameda secured its loans with FTT tokens, minted by FTX. Bankman-Fried’s empire controlled the vast majority of the available currency, with only a small amount of FTT actually circulating at any time.

Alameda marked its entire hoard of FTT at the prevailing market price despite it being a virtually illiquid asset. The fund used the same methodology with other coins as well, including Solana and Serum (a token created and promoted by FTX and Alameda), using them to collateralize billions of dollars in loans. Industry insiders called the tokens “Sam coins.”

Virtual bank run

When faced with margin calls due to falling prices, Bankman-Fried turned to FTX customers’ deposits to the tune of billions of dollars by the middle of 2022. According to the firm’s own bankruptcy filings, it possessed almost nothing in the way of record keeping.

On Nov. 2, 2022, crypto trade site CoinDesk publicized details of Alameda’s balance sheet, which showed $14.6 billion in assets. Over $7 billion of those assets were either FTT tokens or Bankman-Fried-backed coins like Solana or Serum. Another $2 billion worth were locked away in equity investments.

Investors began withdrawing their holdings from FTX, creating the threat of a virtual bank run. Alameda and FTX now both faced a liquidity crunch.

On Nov. 6, four days after the CoinDesk article, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao dropped the hammer. Binance was the first outside investor in FTX in 2019. Two years later, FTX bought back its stake with a combination of FTT and other coins, according to Zhao.

Zhao wrote in tweet that, because of “recent revelations that have came [sic] to light, we have decided to liquidate any remaining FTT on our books.” FTX executives scrambled to contain the damage, and Alameda traders managed to fend off outflows for a couple days.

On Nov. 7, Bankman-Fried tried to show confidence, tweeting, “FTX is fine. Assets are fine.” The post was deleted.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the jailed founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is sworn in as he appears in court for the first time since his November fraud conviction, at a courthouse in New York, U.S., February 21, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. 

Jane Rosenberg | Reuters

Internal discussions were different. Bankman-Fried and other executives admitted to each other that “FTX customer funds were irrevocably lost because Alameda had appropriated them.” By Nov. 8, the client shortfall had grown to $8 billion. Bankman-Fried was courting outside investors for a rescue package but found no suitors.

FTX issued a pause on all customer withdrawals that day. FTT’s price plummeted by over 75%. Out of options, Bankman-Fried turned to Zhao, who announced that he’d signed a “non-binding” letter of intent to acquire FTX.com.

But a day later, on Nov. 9, Binance said it wouldn’t go through with the acquisition, citing reports of “mishandled customer funds” and federal investigations.

FTX filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11, and Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO of FTX and associated entities. He immediately lost 94% of his personal wealth.

Sullivan & Cromwell, FTX’s longtime attorneys, approached John J. Ray, who oversaw Enron through its bankruptcy, to assume Bankman-Fried’s former position.

On Dec. 12, Bankman-Fried was arrested by Bahamian authorities and extradited to the U.S., where he was taken into custody. Federal prosecutors and regulators accused Bankman-Fried of perpetrating a fraud “from the start,” according to a filing from the SEC. 

Bankman-Fried was released on a $250 million bond and was initially living under house arrest with a court-ordered ankle monitor at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California, on the Stanford University campus. He was soon taken back into custody for alleged witness tampering.

While Bankman-Fried awaited trial, many of his closest friends and confidantes turned into key witnesses for the prosecution, leaving the former crypto billionaire to defend himself. Less than a year after his arrest, the 12-person jury found Bankman-Fried guilty on all criminal charges against him.

— CNBC’s Rohan Goswami contributed to this report.

WATCH: Prosecutors recommend 40-50 year prison sentence for Bankman-Fried

Prosecutors recommend a prison sentence of 40-50 years for Sam Bankman-Fried in FTX fraud

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Environment

Coinbase adds prediction markets and stock trading in push to be one-stop trading app

Published

3 hours ago

on

December 17, 2025

By

Coinbase adds prediction markets and stock trading in push to be one-stop trading app

Brian Armstrong, chief executive officer of Coinbase Global Inc., speaks during the Messari Mainnet summit in New York, on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023.

Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Coinbase is making its biggest push yet to reposition itself as a mainstream trading and financial platform, moving beyond crypto and into the broader retail investing stack as competitors show there’s real money in always-on engagement products.

The digital asset exchange announced Wednesday that it’s rolling out a major slate of new products designed to turn Coinbase into a one-stop financial app, expanding into stocks, more advanced trading, and prediction markets, while doubling down on its on-chain ecosystem and new tools for businesses, developers, and automated financial guidance.

While many of these offerings have been telegraphed for months, Coinbase says the products are now built, and ready to go.

CEO Brian Armstrong is looking to make his platform the place to trade everything.

That includes stocks, a streamlined futures and perpetuals experience, and prediction markets through Kalshi, alongside a tokenization roadmap aimed at eventually bringing more traditional assets on-chain, including equities.

The area of prediction markets, in particular, is quickly getting crowded.

DraftKings has moved to buy its own exchange, FanDuel is teaming up with CME, and Polymarket is entering the U.S. through a newly approved venue. Robinhood, meanwhile, is putting LedgerX at the center of its regulated push.

The defining rivalry in the space remains Kalshi versus Polymarket, regulated rails versus crypto-native liquidity.

Armstrong said the category’s appeal isn’t just trading, but its insight into sentiment, and what people think will happen next on any given topic.

“If you look at things like economic indicators … or elections, people are using prediction markets to try to figure out what is going to happen next month,” Armstrong told CNBC. “Maybe1% of people use it as an asset class to trade, and 99% of people are using it as a way to figure out what’s going to happen — almost like a competitor to traditional media or maybe even entertainment.”

In the company’s third-quarter earnings call with analysts in October, Armstrong showed just how easily prediction market wagers can be manipulated, rattling off several words that were being bet on.

“I was a little distracted because I was tracking the prediction market about what Coinbase will say on their next earnings call,” Armstrong said. “And I just want to add here the words bitcoin, ethereum, blockchain, staking and Web3 to make sure we get those in before the end of the call.”

Read more CNBC tech news

Robinhood underscored that shift this week by expanding prediction markets into sports-style contracts that resemble parlays and prop bets, and by touting the category as its fastest-growing business by revenue.

Coinbase is now bringing the same kind of outcome trading into its own ecosystem, but as a part of a much wider bet that the next-generation brokerage is a single app that blends traditional assets, derivatives, and on-chain rails.

Coinbase is pairing the trading expansion with a tokenization roadmap that signals where it wants the platform to go next, bringing more traditional assets on-chain, including equities.

The company is launching Coinbase Tokenize, an institutional stack intended to support real-world asset tokenization.

Armstrong framed the expansion as a bridge to something bigger.

Trading stocks, he said, is “a good first step,” but the real goal is tokenized equities. If Coinbase can get tokenized equity live, he said, it could “democratize access for people over the world,” and unlock new market structure in the U.S., including more robust, professional futures markets tied to equities.

“So this is the starting point,” he said.

The announcement also extends Coinbase’s push to become a provider of on-chain liquidity — not just a venue for listed tokens.

For businesses and developers, Coinbase is widening its platform story beyond retail trading. The company said Coinbase Business is becoming available to eligible customers in the U.S. and Singapore, and it’s rolling out an expanded API suite spanning custody, payments, trading, and stablecoins.

Armstrong’s broader thesis is that crypto isn’t a niche category, it’s an upgrade cycle for the financial system itself.

“Crypto is updating all financial services,” he said, suggesting that every major asset class will move on-chain over time, from prediction markets and equities to commodities, and eventually real-world assets like real estate.

Even the largest asset managers, he said, are signaling they want to migrate funds on-chain, positioning Coinbase as a central platform for that transition.

Coinbase is also introducing “custom stablecoins” for companies that want branded stablecoin rails, and spotlighting x402, a payments standard the company says is meant to make stablecoin payments easier to attach to web requests — including for automated commerce and agent-driven transactions.

The strategic throughline is retention and diversification.

Coinbase already owns a large crypto-native audience, and it wants that customer to stay on its platform for every asset class, even when crypto volumes cool and transaction revenue compresses.

WATCH: What to know about Robinhood’s new prediction market features

What to know about Robinhood's new prediction market features

Continue Reading

Environment

First savings hits Navee XT5 Pro long-range off-road e-scooter for $1,400, Anker SOLIX 60,000mAh power station $108, Lectric, more

Published

7 hours ago

on

December 17, 2025

By

First savings hits Navee XT5 Pro long-range off-road e-scooter for ,400, Anker SOLIX 60,000mAh power station 8, Lectric, more


Our mid-week Green Deals is headlined by a surprise first-ever holiday deal on the brand-new Navee XT5 Pro Long-Range Off-Road Electric Scooter at $1,400, which boasts some serious premium upgrades. Right behind it, we have Anker’s SOLIX C200 DC Compact Power Station, and its larger C300 counterparts, that start from $108, as well as a roundup of Lectric’s three e-bikes getting up to $500 price cuts and $220 bundles that start from $1,399, Bluetti’s current 48-hour Christmas flash sale through December 18, and much more waiting for you below. And don’t forget about the hangover deals that are collected together at the bottom of the page, like yesterday’s Velotric Christmas e-bike Gift Season Sale, the new $999 low on Heybike’s dual-battery Hauler cargo e-bike, 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.

First savings just hit Navee’s newest feature-packed XT5 Pro long-range off-road electric scooter for $1,400

Navee’s official Amazon storefront is undercutting the brand’s direct Christmas Sale pricing on its brand-new XT5 Pro Long-Range Off-Road Electric Scooter for $1,399.99 shipped, after clipping the on-page $200 off coupon. This model just hit the market early last month with a $1,500 price tag, which is where it’s still priced direct from the brand. At Amazon, however, it started off priced at $1,700 and dropped to $1,600 right before Black Friday, with today’s deal being the first official chance at cash savings that we’ve spotted. While this deal lasts, you’re getting $100 off the going rate that sets the bar for future discounts, while also upgrading your commutes/joyrides with the brand’s take on a superscooter.

The most high-end of Navee’s e-scooter lineup that even outpaces the flagship ST3 Pro, this new XT5 Pro Long-Range Electric Scooter is an off-roading superscooter that comes with bolstered durability from its carbon steel frame, while also being the second series to boast the brand’s unique damping arm suspension system. It arrives equipped with a 750W motor that can peak as high as 2,200W for seriously monstrous power, with the entire thing powered by a 596.7Wh battery. This combination gives it a travel range of up to 46.6 miles on a single six-hour charge (with a 1.5-hour flash charging feature available), maxing out at 31 MPH top speeds for the thrill seekers amongst you. It even comes with an add-on option through a 468Wh external battery (sold separately) that increases the mileage with up to 34 miles of extra travel.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

As Navee’s XT5 Pro electric scooter is a more premium commuter, it should be no surprise that it comes loaded with a premium array of features, including smart features like Apple Find My, Bluetooth proximity locking/unlocking, app-based setting customization, and more. Your riding experience is also further heightened by the stock features that include a triple braking system (dual front and rear disc brakes, as well as a rear regenerative EABS brake), 12-inch off-road tubeless tires, an auto-on headlight, mecha-style logo lamps in the stem, a brake-activated taillight, front and rear built-in turn signals, the brand’s traction control system, a 5-inch full color display, and much more.

As I mentioned, alongside this surprise Navee XT5 electric scooter deal, the brand also has its ongoing Christmas Sale with up to 30% discounts still going right now, which offers its e-scooters at some of the best rates starting from $200.

Anker SOLIX C200 DC power station on rock with drone, projector, and speaker

Get 60,000mAh/192Wh support for devices from Anker’s SOLIX C200 DC power station at $108 for Xmas, more from $162

As part of its ongoing Christmas Sale, Anker SOLIX is offering its C200 DC 60,000mAh/192Wh Compact Power Station at $108.49 shipped, which matches in price at Amazon while also beating out the current price of the predecessor PowerCore Reserve by $7. While it carries a $200 MSRP, you can find it starting lower at $170 at Amazon, with discounts over the year having taken the costs as low as $100, most recently during Black Friday through Cyber Monday over two weeks ago. You’re looking at the third-best price we have tracked while the $62 savings last ($92 off the MSRP), only beaten out by that $100 low and $105 rates that sporadically pop up. If you want to go bigger, you can also find the C300 DC and C300 AC 90,000mAh models starting from $162.

If you want to learn more about these compact power stations, be sure to check out our original coverage of these Christmas deals here. You can also go even larger by taking advantage of Anker’s current SOLIX Christmas Sale deals, with up to 65% discounts across its entire power station lineup that starts from $162.

man standing with Lectric ONE e-bike

Save up to $720 on these three Lectric e-bikes with price cuts to lows starting from $1,399 for Xmas

Looking back in on Lectric’s ongoing Christmas Holiday Sale event, we wanted to shine a spotlight on the three e-bikes receiving rare price cuts over the usual free bundle packages – a first for so many models at once. The biggest of these price cuts that also retains a bundle is Lectric’s ONE e-bike Long-Range Belt-Drive Commuter e-bike with a $220 FREE bundle of gear at $1,899 shipped. This entire package would normally run you $2,619 at full price, with a repeat of the $500 price cut we’ve been seeing more frequently since Labor Day to its all-time lowest tracked price, along with a FREE rear cargo rack and fender set. While the deadline to receive it before Christmas has passed, you can still secure it and all the other e-bikes with some of their best deals to kick-off your new year with a new commuting option.

If you want to learn more about this premium e-bike, or the other models getting Christmas price cuts, be sure to check out our original coverage of these deals here, while you can also browse the brand’s full Christmas lineup here.

woman using Bluetti Elite 10 mini power station to charge laptop on plane

For 48 hours, you can pick up Bluetti’s latest Elite 10 Mini power station at a new $109 Xmas flash sale low (Save $90), more

As part of its ongoing Christmas Sale, Bluetti has a 48-hour flash sale running that is taking up to $199 off three different offers, with a notable standout in the Elite 10 Mini Power Station for $109 shipped, which sadly cannot be stacked with the exclusive 5% off savings code, but does beat out its Amazon pricing by $10. While carrying a $239 MSRP direct from the brand, you can find it starting lower at Amazon for $199, with the holiday discounts that started last week having only taken the costs down to $149, before falling to $119 and then $109 during this flash sale window. While these $90 savings ($130 off the MSRP) last through December 18, you’re able to score it at a new all-time low price, with another flash offer being two of these stations for $199 shipped.

If you want to learn more about this mini power station, or browse the full lineup of temporary deals, be sure to check out our original coverage of this flash sale here.

RENPHO foot massager next to Christmas tree and presents
REDTIGER F7NP dash cam
Anker eufy solar smart security camera mounted on outdoor wall in rain
Lectric e-bike Christmas banner

Best Winter 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.


Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google
Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

Toyota launches the new Urban Cruiser EV, an ‘authentic’ entry-level electric SUV

Published

7 hours ago

on

December 17, 2025

By

Toyota launches the new Urban Cruiser EV, an 'authentic' entry-level electric SUV

Toyota-Urban-Cruiser-EV

The Urban Cruiser is Toyota’s second fully electric SUV, but it adds some meaningful upgrades over the outgoing bZ4X.

Meet the new Toyota Urban Cruiser electric SUV

Based on a new dedicated EV platform, Toyota calls the Urban Cruiser “an authentic SUV” in terms of design and performance.

Toyota launched the new entry-level electric SUV in Europe with two lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack options: 49 kWh or 61 kWh. The smaller (49 kWh) battery is only available with a 142 hp (106 kW) front-wheel-drive (FWD) motor, rated with a WLTP driving range of 344 km (214 miles).

The larger 61 kWh version is available with FWD or all-wheel drive (AWD) powertrains, delivering WLTP driving ranges of 426 km and 395 km, respectively. The AWD version delivers a combined 181 hp (135 kW).

Advertisement – scroll for more content

Toyota said all Urban Cruiser variants can tow braked loads of up to 750 kg (1,650 lbs). With DC fast charging, the electric SUV can recharge from 10% to 80% in around 45 minutes.

Toyota-Urban-Cruiser-EV-price
The 2026 Toyota Urban Cruiser EV (Source: Toyota)

To improve efficiency, unlock faster charging, and boost driving range, Toyota added a heat pump and battery preconditioning feature as standard.

Thanks to the new dedicated EV platform, the interior is open and spacious. With sliding and split-folding rear seats, the Urban Cruiser rivals “the load-carrying capabilities of larger SUVs,” Toyota said.

Toyota-Urban-Cruiser-interior-space
The interior of the 2026 Toyota Urban Cruiser EV (Source: Toyota)
Toyota-Urban-Cruiser-interior
The interior of the 2026 Toyota Urban Cruiser EV (Source: Toyota)

Measuring 4,285 mm long, 1,800 mm wide, and 1,640 mm tall, the electric SUV is slightly bigger than its popular Yaris Cross. It also gains extra interior space thanks to an extended wheelbase of 2,700 mm (+140 mm compared to the Yaris Cross).

The infotainment system consists of a 10.25″ driver display and a 10.1″ multimedia touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Toyota-Urban-Cruiser-front
The 2026 Toyota Urban Cruiser EV (Source: Toyota)

All Urban Cruiser models are equipped with standard safety features such as Brake Support System, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keep Assist, and Traffic Sign Recognition.

In Germany, the Urban Cruiser EV is on sale, priced from €31,990 ($37,500). Financing is available from €340.41 ($400) a month.

Toyota’s new entry-level electric SUV follows the launch of the refreshed bZ4X. In 2026, Toyota will introduce the C-HR+, bZ4X Touring, and Hilux BEV electric pickup.

For those in the US, Toyota is not expected to launch the Urban Cruiser in the States. However, the new and much-improved 2026 Toyota bZ is among the few EVs in the US with starting prices under $35,000. Next year, it will launch the C-HR, which is expected to be even more affordable.


Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google
Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Trending