‘Billions in user funds were lost’ – crypto community reacts to SBF guilty verdict

Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) trial in New York under Judge Kaplan has ended with the jury finding him guilty of all charges brought against him.

The news has created a buzz within the crypto community, generating several reactions from major stakeholders within the industry.

CryptoSlate has curated some of these reactions below:

Hayden Adams, Uniswap’s founder, noted that the guilty verdict doesn’t necessarily translate to a victory for the crypto industry as “billions in user funds were lost and our industry took a massive reputational hit.”

However, he conceded that the verdict was the “right outcome.”

Adams further characterized SBF’s actions and strategies as detrimental to the broader crypto community, saying:

“I don’t buy his effective altruism at all – I think its a clever marketing shtick. Basically, he profits off sketchy business that harms people but gets to call himself an altruist because he claims he will eventually give all his money away”

He added that the real beneficiaries are a select group of law firms and crypto skeptics who will continue to use the incident to beat the industry.

“Next cycle, we need to do better as an industry – focus on the tech + our values, recognize the warning signs, and ignore the personality cult sociopaths,” Adams added.

Alfred Lin, a partner with venture capital firm Sequoia, said:

“Today’s swift and unanimous verdict confirms what we already knew: that SBF misled and deceived so many, from customers and employees to business partners and investors, including myself and Sequoia.”

Lin continued that the firm’s reevaluation of its due diligence also showed that the disgraced founder “deliberately misled and lied” to investors.

Meanwhile, Erik Voorhees, the founder of ShapeShift, used the opportunity to point out the role regulators played in the situation. Voorhees said:

“Let’s remember that he operated “the safe and regulated” exchange, and not a single regulator caught him. It was, instead, the market, which is not only a great fountain of innovation, but also the best arbiter of discipline and justice.”

Adam Cochran, a managing partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, emphasized that the SBF trial serves as a stark reminder for others in the crypto space. According to him, accountability catches up with those who play with people’s funds, and the first to cooperate usually faces the lightest penalties.

Cochran further noted that Bankman-Fried’s legal predicament was substantially worsened by the incriminating testimony of former associates, including former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison.

He concluded that:

“Caroline and others came forward first and will face minimal time…So do you really trust your coconspirators when it’s all on the line?”

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