Bitcoin (BTC-USD) made a strong move towards its recent all-time high in afternoon trading on Thursday, as former cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried was handed a sentence for his involvement in a large-scale fraud and conspiracy that led to the downfall of his FTX crypto empire. Within the last 24 hours, BTC-USD rose by 2.7% to hit $70.7K at 4:59 p.m. ET, edging closer to its previous peak of $73.7K reached just a fortnight ago.
The cryptocurrency has experienced a 60% surge in value since the start of the year, fueled by robust and consistent inflows into U.S.ETFs that have direct exposure to BTC. Following FTX's collapse in late 2022, Bitcoin's price slumped to around $15K. Michael Silberberg, from Alt Tab Capital, a crypto hedge fund, commented on the situation, saying, "We are closely monitoring the crypto market, and this trial marks the end of an unfortunate era that the industry has since moved past.
Silberberg added, Our primary focus is on compensating affected investors and assessing the impact of that resolution on the market." Prior to SBF's formal sentencing, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan highlighted the significant financial losses incurred, which included $1.7B to investors, $1.3B to Alameda Research lenders, and $8B to FTX customers. Alameda Research, SBF's quantitative trading firm, reportedly borrowed billions in customer funds from its affiliated FTX.
English (US)