Guilty: SBF convicted in historic crypto fraud trial 👨🏻‍⚖️; Senior-focused neobank Charlie raises $23M 👵🏼; Adyen & Plaid partner up to drive the future of payments in the US 🇺🇸

FinTech is Eating the World, 3 October

Hey Everyone,

TGIF! What a week it was… 🤯 And it’s not even over as today we’re looking at FTX’s SBF who finally got convicted in historic crypto fraud trial (the breakdown + more deep dives into the craziness of FTX), senior-focused neobank Charlie that just raised $23M (what does this tell us + what’s the biggest market in FinTech nobody’s talking about), and Adyen & Plaid that just partnered up to drive the future of payments in the US (where’s the huge potential at + more deep dives both in Adyen & Plaid). Let’s jump straight into the exciting stuff 🌶

Guilty: SBF convicted in historic crypto fraud trial 👨🏻‍⚖️

The news 🗞️ In a historic verdict, Sam Bankman-Fried aka SBF was found guilty on all 7 counts of fraud and conspiracy in the collapse of his crypto exchange FTX. The conviction marks a pivotal moment for the unregulated crypto industry, proving even its once-untouchable moguls can face serious prison time for breaking the law.

Let’s take a quick look at this.

More on this 👉 The jury reached its verdict in under 5 hours, convicting SBF on charges of wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud, and money laundering conspiracy. He now faces a maximum sentence of 115 years behind bars. Prosecutors accused SBF of looting FTX customer funds to cover losses at his hedge fund Alameda Research.

Former friends turned on SBF at trial, with ex-FTX execs testifying he directed them to misuse client funds illegally. SBF claimed on the stand he simply made business mistakes, but the jury decisively rejected his defense. Oh, well…

The government called it one of the biggest frauds in US history, with $8 billion in customer deposits vanishing when FTX collapsed last November.

✈️ THE TAKEAWAY

Looking ahead 👀 Despite the crypto industry being innovative and having the potential to be the future of finance, this landmark conviction shows that even its brightest stars and most complex operations can't escape basic legal accountability. Looking at the big picture, the verdict will likely encourage more oversight and spur calls for clearer crypto regulations to protect traders and investors (this is good!). While for SBF himself, the fairytale rise and fall is now complete – from billionaire crypto phenom to convicted fraudster awaiting sentencing. But most importantly - justice has been served.

ICYMI: Looking back at the Legacy of FTX 👀 [how big of an impact it had + some bonus dives into FTX and all of the craziness]

The Great FTX Heist: how executives looted $8B in customer funds 🤯