Claim Customers recovered, so there was no fraud.
Timeline beat 2017 — Alameda Research
Chapter 11 recoveries and a criminal verdict answer different questions. The jury found a scheme to defraud in 2022; later asset sales do not acquit.
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
Notoriety90
Mystery20
Scale86
Evidence78
Legal impact72
Culture84
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Quick answers
When did FTX collapse?
Withdrawals failed in the first week of November 2022 after a CoinDesk report on Alameda's balance sheet and a public spat over the FTT token. Chapter 11 petitions were filed on 11 November 2022.
What was Sam Bankman-Fried convicted of?
On 2 November 2023 a Southern District of New York jury convicted him on seven counts, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers and lenders, and related conspiracy counts (securities, commodities, and money-laundering conspiracies as charged).
What sentence did he receive?
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan imposed 25 years on 28 March 2024, plus forfeiture set out in the judgment. He appealed. The trial-court sentence is the encyclopedia's recorded term unless an appellate court changes it.
Who cooperated?
Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh pleaded guilty and cooperated with the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Their pleas and testimony were central to the government's case.
What was Alameda Research?
A trading firm founded by Bankman-Fried before FTX and still under his control. Prosecutors and cooperators described it as the entity that used FTX customer assets. Ellison was its CEO at the collapse.
Did customers get money back?
The Delaware bankruptcy estate reported substantial recoveries and a claims process that, in later public updates, pointed toward high nominal recovery on allowed customer claims. That civil result is separate from the criminal conviction.
The collapse year is 2022. The criminal case occupies 2022-2024.
These marks are the ones the trial stipulations and the major wire services agree on.
Timeline
JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember
- Alameda Research
Bankman-Fried founds Alameda Research as a crypto trading firm, later the sibling entity at the center of the criminal case.
- FTX founded
The exchange brand launches and grows through 2020-2021 with tokens, sponsorships, and a Bahamas headquarters story.
- Private peak, then stress
FTX is still a high private-market valuation earlier in 2022 as crypto prices fall. Lending and affiliated-firm risk rise in the sector after other failures.
- CoinDesk balance sheet
On 2 November CoinDesk publishes the Alameda balance-sheet story. Zhao's FTT comments follow. Withdrawals spike.
- Chapter 11
On 11 November FTX and affiliates file in Delaware. Ray becomes CEO. Bankman-Fried leaves control of the estate.
- Arrest in Nassau
On 12 December Bahamian authorities arrest Bankman-Fried on a U.S. request. Extradition to the Southern District of New York follows.
- Cooperating pleas begin
Ellison, Wang, and later Singh plead guilty in late 2022 and 2023, collapsing much of the contested 'inner circle' story.
- Trial and verdict
Trial opens in October. On 2 November the jury convicts on all seven counts. Bankman-Fried had testified in his own defense.
- Sentence
On 28 March Kaplan imposes 25 years and forfeiture. Notice of appeal follows.
- Estate recoveries
Bankruptcy status reports describe large recoveries relative to early 2022-2023 fears, a civil fact often misread as rewriting the verdict.
Claim versus timeline
Each public-record claim on this dossier sits beside the timeline chapter already on the page.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice, not a how-to, not a private file.
Claim The collapse was only a market crash.
Timeline beat 2019 — FTX founded
Crypto prices fell in 2022, but the government's case -- which the jury accepted -- was about misuse of customer property and false statements, not about bitcoin's price alone.
Claim No insider admitted the hole.
Timeline beat 2022 — Private peak, then stress
Ellison, Wang, and Singh pleaded guilty and described the shortfall and Alameda's access. The trial was not a no-witness mystery.
Claim The case was tried in the Bahamas.
Timeline beat 2022 — CoinDesk balance sheet
Arrest and some entities were Bahamian. The criminal trial was in the Southern District of New York. The main bankruptcy is in Delaware.
Beat weight marks
Mark each timeline beat already on this dossier as supported, contested or unknown, using the public-record claims already filed here. Not a verdict.
Editorial marks on this device only. Public-record encyclopedia — not legal advice, not a how-to, not a private file.
| Timeline beat | Supported / Contested / Unknown |
|---|---|
| 2017 — Alameda Research Claim already on file: Customers recovered, so there was no fraud. | |
| 2019 — FTX founded Claim already on file: The collapse was only a market crash. | |
| 2022 — Private peak, then stress Claim already on file: No insider admitted the hole. | |
| 2022 — CoinDesk balance sheet Claim already on file: The case was tried in the Bahamas. | |
| 2022 — Chapter 11 Claim already on file: The case was tried in the Bahamas. | |
| 2022 — Arrest in Nassau Claim already on file: The case was tried in the Bahamas. | |
| 2022 — Cooperating pleas begin Claim already on file: The case was tried in the Bahamas. | |
| 2023 — Trial and verdict Claim already on file: The case was tried in the Bahamas. | |
| 2024 — Sentence Claim already on file: The case was tried in the Bahamas. | |
| 2024 — Estate recoveries Claim already on file: The case was tried in the Bahamas. |
After March 2024 the live files are appeal and distributions; the jury's 2023 findings are the criminal core.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice. Not a how-to. Graphic detail is withheld. Wars belong in a separate atlas.