Sam Bankman-Fried has been found guilty of defrauding customers of his bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange in one of the biggest frauds ever.
The 31-year-old could be sentenced to more than 100 years in prison after cheating FTX clients out of billions of dollars.
A Manhattan jury convicted him on all seven counts after a month-long trial. He will be sentenced next year.
FTX collapsed last November, shocking financial markets and wiping out the crypto tycoon’s estimated $26bn (£21bn) wealth.
Bankman-Fried – who denied two counts of fraud and five of conspiracy – clasped his hands together as the verdict was delivered.
He admitted “mistakes” in running FTX when he testified last week, but insisted he didn’t steal his customers’ money.
Prosecutors claimed he used the funds for risky bets at his hedge fund Alameda Research – with a huge black hole in the company’s finances emerging when crypto markets fell sharply.
FTX abruptly halted withdrawals last November and crypto’s second-largest exchange went bankrupt.
Bankman-Fried’s fall from grace has seen him compared to well-known financial fraudsters Bernie Madoff and ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Jordan Belfort.
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