FTX founder to approve extradition

Disgraced cryptocurrency executive Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to agree to extradition to the United States, according to a person briefed on the matter, as he faces charges that he orchestrated a yearslong fraud culminating last month in the collapse of his crypto exchange, FTX.

In the United States, Bankman-Fried, 30, has been charged with using his customers’ FTX deposits to make lavish real estate purchases, invest in other companies and donate funds to politicians. Bankman-Fried was arrested last Monday at his luxury apartment complex in the Bahamas. After being held overnight in a police cell, he was denied bail by a judge in the Bahamas on Tuesday and transferred to the island’s notorious Fox Hill prison.

In court Tuesday, Bankman-Fried said he wouldn’t waive his right to challenge the extradition. But after a few days in prison, he’s now inclined to go along with the extradition, although his decision could still change, according to the person briefed on the matter, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive legal deliberations. He is expected to state his new position at a court hearing as early as today, the person said.

An extradition sets up what will likely become a monthslong legal drama in the United States. On Tuesday, prosecutors for the Justice Department’s Southern District of New York unsealed a 13-page criminal indictment charging Bankman-Fried with eight counts, including wire fraud against customers and lenders, as well as conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Once he is transferred to the United States, Bankman-Fried will be arraigned in federal court in Manhattan and have a new bail hearing.

After the charges were filed, Mark Cohen, a lawyer for Bankman-Fried, said his client was “reviewing the charges with his legal team and considering all of his legal options.”

The news that Bankman-Fried was expected to agree to extradition was first reported by Reuters.