U.S. court orders SBF to forfeit $1B, including aircraft and crypto holdings
SBF to forfeit $1B
A U.S. District Court has ordered Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, to forfeit approximately $1 billion in assets, including two private jets, political donations, and a significant stake in Robinhood.
The Final Order of Forfeiture, issued on February 18, 2025, by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, details the seizure of assets accumulated by Bankman-Fried and his affiliated firms, notably Alameda Research, according to Cointelegraph.
Robinhood shares, luxury jets, and crypto holdings seized
Among the most valuable assets forfeited are 55.2 million shares of Robinhood, originally seized by the U.S. Department of Justice in January 2023. Robinhood later repurchased the shares for $605.7 million. Additionally, two private aircraft—a Bombardier Global 5000 and an Embraer Legacy—were included in the court order.
The government also took possession of substantial cryptocurrency holdings, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT), Cardano (ADA), and Dogecoin (DOGE), stored across Binance.US and other financial institutions.
Bankman-Fried's political contributions, funneled through FTX executives Ryan Salame and Nishad Singh, were also seized, with funds being returned to the U.S. government.
Following his conviction on fraud charges, Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He has since filed an appeal, arguing that the prosecution misrepresented FTX’s financial situation to the jury. Meanwhile, FTX has begun repaying creditors, starting with claims up to $50,000.
The forfeiture marks another chapter in the downfall of Bankman-Fried, once a rising star in the cryptocurrency industry, now facing one of the largest financial fraud cases in U.S. history.
Earlier last year, FTX filed a lawsuit against Binance and its co-founder Changpeng Zhao, demanding the return of $1.76 billion, which FTX claims was fraudulently transferred by Binance.
