What did 'Crypto King' Sam Bankman-Fried do?

Once hailed as the "Crypto King", the founder of FTX crypto currency exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for stealing $8 billion from customers, Hindustan Times reported.

Fried has been ordered to pay $11 billion along with 25 years in prison, which will be followed by three years of supervised release.

The billionaire-turned-defaulter once had a net worth of $26.5 billion, according to Forbes. However, today his net worth has reached zero.

Fried was convicted last November of multiple charges including fraud conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering. He was accused of using customer money deposited to his FTX platform to pay for his lavish lifestyle and cover losses of his hedge fund among other things.

During the court proceedings, Fried showed no "real remorse". He said mistakes were made in dealing with the matter, however, he did not acknowledge violating any financial laws. 

Nicholas Roos, assistant US attorney, said a stiff sentence should be given to Fried because "the defendant could commit crimes again".

Fried, in November 2022, had stepped down from his role at FTX after it went bankrupt.

His parents Stanford law professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried said outside of court that "we are heartbroken and will continue to fight for our son".