FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleads “not guilty” to fraud charges, trial set to begin in October

• Former FTX Chief Executive Officer pleaded not guilty but is open to changing his plea in the future.
• Sam Bankman-Fried also filed an application to seal the identities of the entities that signed his $250 million bail.
• The crypto market is still reeling from its $255 billion crash that was triggered by the collapse of FTX.

FTX collapsed and filed for bankruptcy almost two months ago, but the impact of the fallout continues to suppress the crypto market. To add to that, the co-founder of the bankrupt exchange seems to be extending this influence.

FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried denies wrongdoings 

FTX saga took an expected turn today after the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Sam Bankman-Fried, pleaded not guilty in court on Tuesday. The ex-CEO is facing a sleuth of charges, including wire fraud and campaign finance, which are born out of the comingling of customer funds by FTX’s sister company Alameda Research.

Since its bankruptcy in November, FTX is managed by its new CEO, John Ray, who is overseeing its liquidation. Bankman-Fried, on the other hand, was arrested by the Bahamian authorities and deported back to the United States, awaiting charges by the SEC and CFTC.

However, following Sam Bankman-Fried’s “not guilty” plea, the case will go to court trials in early October, according to presiding judge Lewis Kaplan. Bankman-Fried also has the next seven months to change his plea, the chances of which seem slim at the moment.

On the same day, Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers also requested the court to seal the identities of the FTX founder’s bail co-signers. Along with Bankman-Fried’s parents, two other entities signed the $250 million bail last month.

Crypto market’s suffering continues

FTX collapsing was a trigger event for not just its native token, FTT but also for the rest of the cryptocurrencies. This led to the $255 billion crash, which resulted in the crypto market capitalization declining from $1 trillion to $754 billion.

Total crypto market capitalization

The market has been unable to successfully recover from the crash due to a lack of progress in the past two months, with the market capitalization increasing by only $10 billion. To initiate a recovery, the market capitalization needs to reach $800 billion, but this seems unlikely to happen given the continued fear in the market.

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