Under new bail agreement, SBF is banned from using online messengers

U.S. prosecutors reportedly agreed to allow Sam Bankman-Fried to stay at home while restricting his use of some electronic devices and apps.

The story of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) continues to unfold as lawyers and the courts continue to argue over his bail conditions.

SBF’s lawyers have reportedly reached a new bail agreement with U.S. prosecutors that will allow him to stay at home while restricting his use of some electronic devices and apps.

According to Reuters, the lawyers reached a new deal on March 27 after a judge suggested SBF needed to be sent to jail pending trial. The new bail conditions have not yet been approved by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is overseeing Bankman-Fried's case.

Among the proposed new conditions, Bankman-Fried will reportedly be prohibited from using an internet-enabled smartphone and any apps other than voice calls and text messages. The agreement also requires SBF to use a basic laptop with limited functionality and monitoring software to track user activity. The use of any other electronic communications devices is prohibited.

In a letter on Monday, SBF's parents reportedly agreed to restrict his use of their devices, while also signing an affidavit not to bring prohibited electronic devices into the home. If there is "reasonable suspicion" of a violation, SBF must submit his devices for search.

The new agreement comes weeks after Judge Kaplan sought to ban SBF from using any electronic devices and the internet as a condition of his bail. The judge argued that SBF had a "garden of electronic devices" that accessed the internet available at Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried's home in California. Judge Kaplan also argued that there was "probable cause" to believe SBF was involved in attempted witness tampering.

In early March, Kaplan reportedly expressed concerns about a proposal to impose certain restrictions on SBF’s phones and other electronic devices. In particular, he suggested that SBF be creative and find ways to circumvent the restrictions.

As previously reported, SBF faces a trial scheduled for October 2, 2023, on charges of stealing billions of dollars of FTX customer funds through Alameda Research. He is also accused of making a large number of illegal political donations. He has pleaded not guilty to eight criminal counts, and if convicted, he could be sentenced to 115 years in prison.

In December 2022, Bankman-Fried was released on $250 million bail, home detention, location monitoring, and the surrender of his passport. Days later, some industry investigators discovered that transactions allegedly involving SBF cashed out about $700,000 on a cryptocurrency exchange in the Seychelles. The FTX founder subsequently denied involvement in this or any other transactions allegedly related to SBF or FTX.

While SBF has not been banned from Twitter so far, he has been away from any social media activity for some time. His last visible activity on Twitter included a retweet on January 20 regarding Sullivan & Cromwell’s continued representation of FTX’s debtors, as well as a “like” on a report that the firm collected $7.5 million in fees in its first 19 days of work at FTX.