Sam Bankman-Fried to Walk Free in 2044 – BOP Quietly Knocks 4 Years Off 25-Year Term

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Tanzeel Akhtar

Journalist

Tanzeel Akhtar

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Tanzeel Akhtar is a seasoned journalist who has been reporting on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology since 2015. Her work has appeared in leading publications including The Wall Street Journal,...

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May 26, 2025

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The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) estimates that disgraced FTX fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried will be released on December 14, 2044, less than 21 years after he was sentenced. Bankman-Fried was ultimately sentenced to 25 years behind bars and subsequently ordered to pay a fine of over $11 billion.

Federal prison records show that he has also been moved out of New York federal prison after spending nearly two years behind bars in the Big Apple.

SBF Transferred Out Of NYC

On April 18, Sam Bankman-Fried was transported from Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, NY, to the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City, OK.

While no specific reason was given for Bankman-Fried’s transfer, the one-time “king of crypto” had been sent to solitary confinement earlier this month after an unauthorized interview with Tucker Carlson.

The FTX founder has been in prison since August 2023, when Judge Lewis Kaplan revoked his bail after he leaked excerpts of his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison’s diary to the New York Times, citing potential witness tampering.

The former Alameda Research CEO, who was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Bankman-Fried until early 2022, was largely considered the prosecution’s star witness against the crypto kingpin.

Bankman-Fried was found guilty on all charges in November of 2023 for orchestrating the massive crypto scheme that saw investors drained of over $8 billion.

SBF Associates Face The Music

Meanwhile, Ellison was sentenced to two years in federal prison for her role in the crypto exchange’s collapse. FTX co-founder Gary Wang and the exchange’s director of engineering Nishad Singh were both sentenced to time served by Kaplan, effectively avoiding jail time altogether.

All three cooperated with the federal government in hopes of getting a lesser sentence and testified against their one-time boss.

FTX to Deliver Up to 120% Creditor Payout on May 30

FTX, once a dominant force in the crypto exchange space, collapsed in November 2022 after facing a severe liquidity crisis.

In May, FTX Trading Ltd. and the FTX Recovery Trust announced that distributions under the FTX Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization will resume on May 30, 2025.

The forthcoming round, known as the Second Distribution, will be made to eligible creditors in the Convenience and Non-Convenience Classes who have completed all required steps, including KYC verification, tax form submission, and onboarding with one of FTX’s designated Distribution Service Providers—BitGo or Kraken.

FTX’s restructuring plan, approved in October 2024, prioritized repayments to users with claims under $50,000. Around 98% of affected users will receive 119% of their declared funds.