Bankman-Fried, Do Kwon and Changpeng Zhao: Top crypto personalities linked to fraud cases

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The decision sets the tone for others accused of crimes involving digital assets. Here's a look at where some of the most prominent criminal cases involving cryptocurrency fraud stand.

DO KWON: The Terraform Labs Co-Founder is wanted for the $40 billion collapse of the TerraUSD algorithmic stablecoin in 2022. Currently in Montenegro, Do faces competing extradition requests from South Korea and the US.

ALEX MASHINSKY: The Celsius Network Founder is charged with making false and misleading statements about Celsius's health before it filed for bankruptcy in 2022. He faces as many as 20 years on securities fraud, wire fraud, and market manipulation charges, 10 years for commodities fraud, and five years for conspiracy.

CHANGPENG ZHAO: The Binance Founder is charged with failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program. Binance will pay $4.3b as part of the deal, with Zhao relinquishing his CEO post and agreeing to pay a $50m fine.

AVRAHAM EISENBERG: The crypto trader is accused of stealing $110 million in 20 minutes by scamming the Mango Markets cryptocurrency exchange. Prosecutors claim he manipulated Mango Markets futures contracts in October 2022, driving up the price of swaps by 1,300%.

FTX COLLABORATORS: Caroline Ellison (Alameda Research CEO), Nishad Singh (FTX Engineering Chief) & Gary Wang (FTX co-founder) pleaded guilty to fraud charges and testified as prosecution witnesses at Bankman-Fried's fraud trial. They will face their own sentencing in the coming months.

RYAN SALAME: The FTX Co-CEO pleaded guilty in September 2023 but didn't testify against Bankman-Fried. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 1 and faces as much as five years for each of the two charges he pleaded guilty to.