Sam Bankman-Fried Chilling at the JFK Airport

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the troubled cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was spotted chilling at the American Airlines business class lounge at John F. Kennedy International Airport before flying to Palo Alto, California on Thursday. 

In one of the most controversial cryptocurrency meltdowns, FTX, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, filed for bankruptcy protection on November 11 after users withdrew $6 billion in three days. After a series of events and social media outbursts, Bankman-Fried was arrested on December 13. 

However, on Thursday, a Manhattan court ordered his release from a federal jail. But at what cost? A $250 million bond, with the 30-year-old to be kept under house arrest at the Bankman-Fried family’s Palo Alto residence, and the bond will be backed by his parents’ stake.

According to court documents, Bankman-Fried will be required to wear an ankle monitor, go through routine mental health assessments, and have a $1,000 cap on credit withdrawals. Judge Gorenstein stated that he authorized the bail arrangement because he believed that Mr. Bankman-Fried wouldn’t flee away and wouldn’t pose a threat to the public. 

Earlier, the Bahamas Attorney General Ryan Pinder said, “As a result of the notification received and the material provided therewith, it was deemed appropriate for the Attorney General to seek SBF’s arrest and hold him in custody pursuant to our nation’s Extradition Act.” 

SBF’s last Tweet read, “I still do not have access to much of my data — professional or personal.  So there is a limit to what I will be able to say, and I won’t be as helpful as I’d like.

 But as the committee still thinks it would be useful, I am willing to testify on the 13th.”