Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has a few more days to use his smartphone and play video games before the government locks him in a “Faraday box.”
A judge granted Bankman-Fried’s request to delay implementing his new bail terms until next week, which include strict conditions on his internet and electronic use.
Once the new rules are in place, Bankman-Fried will have to hand over his smartphone to his lawyers in exchange for a new phone that can’t access the internet. He’ll trade in his laptop for a new, heavily monitored model that’s been customized to only allow access to certain websites.
An avid gamer before his arrest, Bankman-Fried will also be banned from using video games that permit chat or voice communication. The bail conditions are a significant shift for the disgraced crypto boss, who was extremely active online before and even after his crypto exchange collapsed.
Prosecutors sought tighter bail conditions after Bankman-Fried contacted a potential witness in his criminal case using an encrypted messaging app, and used a virtual private network to access the internet. A federal judge approved stricter bail terms in a 10-page court order last month.
Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to a litany of criminal charges in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, including bank fraud. He’s awaiting an October trial.
The former crypto mogul has been under house arrest at his parents’ California home on a $250 million bond since December. The government has already been tracking his every move, and experts doubt he is taking much advantage of the delay.
“The leash is very short. Any further breaches of bail conditions likely will land Bankman-Fried in jail pending trial,” said Jacob Frenkel, an attorney at the law firm Dickinson Wright.
As part of the new rules, Bankman-Fried’s parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, will also be subject to strict device monitoring.
Their electronic devices must be password protected and outfitted with monitoring software that will photograph the device’s user every five minutes, according to the bail order. Bankman-Fried will also be required to notify his lawyers before anyone visits him.
His home security system must preserve video footage of everyone who enters the residence. A security guard will screen visitors with a metal detector and take any electronic devices for the duration of the visit.
