If the proposal gets approved, Sam Bankman-Fried will be only using flip phones or other devices that don't have an internet connection.
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), co-founder and former CEO of crypto exchange FTX, may be forced to use a non-smartphone as part of the new bail conditions.
On March 3rd, the US district judge serving on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Lewis Kaplan, suggested that SBF's new bail conditions should ban him from using any device that allows chat or voice communication.
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However, Lewis Kaplan says FTX co-founder shouldn't be completely unavailable via mobile phone. Therefore, Kaplan offers to allow SBF to communicate through "a flip phone or other non-smartphone with either no internet capabilities or internet capabilities disabled.“
On top of that, the judge highlighted that Bankman-Fried will be able to use a phone with an internet connection only in the presence of a lawyer.
The new bail conditions would allow SBF to surf the web via his laptop. However, a VPN will filter his access, limiting him to only two website classes. The first website class contains crucial files related to his case and several governmental websites.
The second class contains 23 websites for ordering food, reading news, or streaming content. The available websites include Wikipedia, DoorDash, Ethersacn, Netflix, and NFL.
Apart from the judge's requests, an attorney, Damian Williams, suggested that bail conditions should remain permanent. Based on some sources, the attorney had negotiated with Bankman-Fried's defense team, hence the proposal submission on March 3rd.
In addition, Bankman-Fried will be barred from contacting former and current FTX and Alameda Research employees. Also, the CEO will not be allowed to use Signal and other message encryption apps.
This restriction proposal came in after SBF allegedly tried to contact the FTX-related firm's general counsel. The leaked messages revealed that Bankman-Fried attempted to make a "constructive relationship" with an anonymous entity.
I would really love to reconnect and see if there’s a way for us to have a constructive relationship, use each other as resources when possible, or at least vet things with each other.
Sam Bankaman-Fried was released on a $250 million bond at the end of December 2022 after his parents secured the bond with the equity in their home in California.
