The founder and former CEO of the defunct FTX exchange was arrested following the abrupt collapse of his cryptocurrency empire, which had a devastating impact on the entire market. Later He was granted a whopping $250 million bail with guarantors and is currently under house arrest..
His parents were guarantors of this bond, but the identities of the other two were kept secret. However, that could change soon, as US District Judge Lewis Kaplan reportedly ordered that information about these people may be made public next month.
According to the January 30 filing, Kaplan sanctioned a joint request by eight media outlets to reveal the identities of the two people. “for the limited purpose of enforcing the right of access claimed by the public«. But he pointed out that neither side of the argument had much support.
THE DISCLOSURE OF THE IDENTITY OF THE GUARANTORS CONTINUES TO BE THE SUBJECT OF DEBATE
The disclosure of the names of the guarantors is not guaranteed either, since the judge has given Bankman-Fried’s legal advisor until February 7 to challenge the sentence.
The judge indicated that an appeal is possible and added that he would extend the deadline until February 14 to allow the presentation of an additional suspension request «if by then a writ of appeal is filed against this order.»
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers, for their part, have continued to argue that their identities must be kept hidden because his parents have already faced criticism and the founder of FTX and the people related to him face serious security risks.
In his decision, Kaplan stated that while he has no reason to believe that threats were made, he has yet to see any evidence to that effect. However, this does not mean that non-parental guarantors also face threats and harassment.
In addition, according to Kaplan, Bankman-Fried’s parents came under close scrutiny due to their close ties to him and the fact that his father worked at FTX for a year before the exchange’s demise.
Judge Lewis Kaplan said,
«Therefore, Respondent’s assertion that non-parental guarantors would face similar encroachments is speculative and entitled to only modest weight.”.
In addition, it considers that the information requested – the names of the guarantors – is traditionally intended to be public information.
Although the identity of the bondsmen is still unknown, most in the community assumed it was Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank, likely because he has continued to publicly support the SBF despite the disaster.
As the time for the identities to be revealed approaches, some users are speculating that O’Leary is one of them despite suffering a $15 million loss.