FTX’s Gary Wang Gets No Prison Time

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Julia Smith

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Julia Smith

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Julia is an experienced editor with a passion for covering a wide variety of beats. She loves all things politics and regularly covers regulatory updates on emerging technology here for Crypto News.

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November 20, 2024 16:04 EST

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FTX co-founder and chief technology officer Gary Wang will receive no prison time for his role in Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto scheme, a New York judge ruled on November 20.

FTX Co-founder Gary Wang Gets Time Served

According to multiple reports, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced Wang to time served, three years of supervised release, and has been ordered to forfeit illicit funds obtained as part of the scheme.

Wang pleaded guilty to criminal fraud charges back in December 2022, where he struck a cooperation deal with U.S. prosecutors following the November 2022 collapse of FTX and its sister company Alameda Research.

As CTO, Wang testified against Bankman-Fried in his landmark October 2023 fraud trial, claiming that SBF had ordered him to design code giving company executives unlimited access to FTX customer funds.

“You’re entitled to a world of credit for facing up to your responsibility,” Reuters quoted Kaplan as saying. “The period of your culpability was in comparison to the periods of culpability of the other defendants in this case extremely small.”

Sam Bankman-Fried Associates Face The Music

Wang appears to be the final former SBF associate to be sentenced for his role in the massive digital scheme.

FTX’s head of engineering, Nishad Singh, was given virtually the same punishment as Wang when Kaplan sentenced him to three years of supervised release, no time served, and forfeiture of $11 billion last month.

Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend and former CEO of Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison, began serving her mandated two years in federal prison last month.

Like Singh and Wang, Ellison struck a cooperation deal with the U.S. government and was largely considered the prosecution’s star witness against Bankman-Fried.

Former FTX Digital Markets CEO Ryan Salame was sentenced to a whopping seven years in federal prison earlier this fall for participating in a straw donor scheme while at the crypto exchange. However, he reportedly did not know the illicit use of investor funds.

Salame’s hefty sentence has prompted some crypto community members to question the fairness of the extent of his punishment, given that he chose not to cooperate with federal prosecutors.

Bankman-Fried, meanwhile, was found guilty on all charges exactly one year ago this month and is serving 25 years in federal prison.

The FTX founder reportedly shares a cell unit with fallen rapper and media mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and plans to appeal his sentence.